macOS Disk Usage & Storage Investigation Commands

Filesystem Usage

Show filesystem usage:

bash

1df -h

Show filesystem usage for root volume:

bash

1df -h /

Top-Level Directories

Show largest directories on the root filesystem:

bash

1sudo du -xhd 1 / | sort -h

Show largest directories in your home folder:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~ | sort -h

Show largest directories in Library:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library | sort -h

Drill Down Into Large Folders

Application Support:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/Application\ Support | sort -h

Caches:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/Caches | sort -h

Containers:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/Containers | sort -h

Group Containers:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/Group\ Containers | sort -h

Cloud Storage:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/CloudStorage | sort -h

Developer:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/Developer | sort -h

Downloads:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Downloads | sort -h

Documents:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Documents | sort -h

Largest Files

Find files larger than 1 GB:

bash

1find ~ -type f -size +1G -exec ls -lh {} \;

Find files larger than 5 GB (whole disk):

bash

1sudo find / -type f -size +5G 2>/dev/null

Top 50 largest files in home directory:

bash

1find ~ -type f -exec du -h {} + 2>/dev/null | sort -hr | head -50

Largest Directories

Top 50 largest directories:

bash

1find ~ -type d -exec du -sh {} + 2>/dev/null | sort -hr | head -50

Time Machine

List local snapshots:

bash

1tmutil listlocalsnapshots /

List snapshot dates:

bash

1tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates

Docker

Disk usage:

bash

1docker system df

Detailed usage:

bash

1docker system df -v

Remove unused objects:

bash

1docker system prune

Remove everything unused (including volumes):

bash

1docker system prune -a --volumes

pnpm

Show store path:

bash

1pnpm store path

Show store size:

bash

1du -sh "$(pnpm store path)"

Remove unused packages:

bash

1pnpm store prune

Homebrew

Cache size:

bash

1du -sh ~/Library/Caches/Homebrew

Cleanup:

bash

1brew cleanup

Remove old downloads:

bash

1brew cleanup -s

Xcode

Developer folder:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/Developer | sort -h

DerivedData:

bash

1du -sh ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData

Delete DerivedData:

bash

1rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/*

List installed simulators:

bash

1xcrun simctl list

Delete unavailable simulators:

bash

1xcrun simctl delete unavailable

Google Drive / Cloud Storage

Cloud storage usage:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/CloudStorage | sort -h

List providers:

bash

1ls ~/Library/CloudStorage

Show total size:

bash

1du -sh ~/Library/CloudStorage/*

APFS Snapshots

List APFS snapshots:

bash

1diskutil apfs listSnapshots /

Mounted Volumes

List mounted disks:

bash

1diskutil list

Detailed APFS information:

bash

1diskutil apfs list

Caches

Show cache sizes:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/Caches | sort -h

System caches:

bash

1sudo du -xhd 1 /Library/Caches | sort -h

Quick Summary

Top-level home usage:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~ | sort -h

Top-level Library usage:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library | sort -h

Largest files:

bash

1find ~ -type f -size +1G -exec ls -lh {} \;

Filesystem usage:

bash

1df -h

Docker usage:

bash

1docker system df

pnpm cleanup:

bash

1pnpm store prune

Homebrew cleanup:

bash

1brew cleanup

Tip

If du reports "Operation not permitted", grant your terminal Full Disk Access:

System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access

Then restart the terminal and rerun the commands.

Filesystem Usage

Show filesystem usage:

bash

1df -h

Show filesystem usage for root volume:

bash

1df -h /

Top-Level Directories

Show largest directories on the root filesystem:

bash

1sudo du -xhd 1 / | sort -h

Show largest directories in your home folder:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~ | sort -h

Show largest directories in Library:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library | sort -h

Drill Down Into Large Folders

Application Support:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/Application\ Support | sort -h

Caches:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/Caches | sort -h

Containers:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/Containers | sort -h

Group Containers:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/Group\ Containers | sort -h

Cloud Storage:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/CloudStorage | sort -h

Developer:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/Developer | sort -h

Downloads:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Downloads | sort -h

Documents:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Documents | sort -h

Largest Files

Find files larger than 1 GB:

bash

1find ~ -type f -size +1G -exec ls -lh {} \;

Find files larger than 5 GB (whole disk):

bash

1sudo find / -type f -size +5G 2>/dev/null

Top 50 largest files in home directory:

bash

1find ~ -type f -exec du -h {} + 2>/dev/null | sort -hr | head -50

Largest Directories

Top 50 largest directories:

bash

1find ~ -type d -exec du -sh {} + 2>/dev/null | sort -hr | head -50

Time Machine

List local snapshots:

bash

1tmutil listlocalsnapshots /

List snapshot dates:

bash

1tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates

Docker

Disk usage:

bash

1docker system df

Detailed usage:

bash

1docker system df -v

Remove unused objects:

bash

1docker system prune

Remove everything unused (including volumes):

bash

1docker system prune -a --volumes

pnpm

Show store path:

bash

1pnpm store path

Show store size:

bash

1du -sh "$(pnpm store path)"

Remove unused packages:

bash

1pnpm store prune

Homebrew

Cache size:

bash

1du -sh ~/Library/Caches/Homebrew

Cleanup:

bash

1brew cleanup

Remove old downloads:

bash

1brew cleanup -s

Xcode

Developer folder:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/Developer | sort -h

DerivedData:

bash

1du -sh ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData

Delete DerivedData:

bash

1rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/*

List installed simulators:

bash

1xcrun simctl list

Delete unavailable simulators:

bash

1xcrun simctl delete unavailable

Google Drive / Cloud Storage

Cloud storage usage:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/CloudStorage | sort -h

List providers:

bash

1ls ~/Library/CloudStorage

Show total size:

bash

1du -sh ~/Library/CloudStorage/*

APFS Snapshots

List APFS snapshots:

bash

1diskutil apfs listSnapshots /

Mounted Volumes

List mounted disks:

bash

1diskutil list

Detailed APFS information:

bash

1diskutil apfs list

Caches

Show cache sizes:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library/Caches | sort -h

System caches:

bash

1sudo du -xhd 1 /Library/Caches | sort -h

Quick Summary

Top-level home usage:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~ | sort -h

Top-level Library usage:

bash

1du -hd 1 ~/Library | sort -h

Largest files:

bash

1find ~ -type f -size +1G -exec ls -lh {} \;

Filesystem usage:

bash

1df -h

Docker usage:

bash

1docker system df

pnpm cleanup:

bash

1pnpm store prune

Homebrew cleanup:

bash

1brew cleanup

Tip

If du reports "Operation not permitted", grant your terminal Full Disk Access:

System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access

Then restart the terminal and rerun the commands.