Make your Mac
and iPhone faster.
Step-by-step guides using the tools Apple already gives you. Every guide works without spacerecover. If you’d rather it was done for you, we’ll show you how at the end.
MAC GUIDES
Faster, roomier Mac.
How to speed up a slow Mac: 12 fixes that actually work
A practical checklist to make a slow Mac faster using built-in tools: find what is using memory and CPU, stop login items, free up disk space, update macOS and more.
Read the guideHow to stop apps opening at startup on a Mac
Too many apps launching when you log in make a Mac slow to start. Here is how to remove login items and background items, and stop windows reopening.
Read the guideHow to use Activity Monitor to find what is slowing down your Mac
A plain-English guide to Activity Monitor: what the CPU, Memory, Energy and Disk tabs tell you, what common processes like kernel_task and WindowServer are, and when to quit something.
Read the guideHow to fix “Your system has run out of application memory” on a Mac
What the Mac out of application memory warning means, why low disk space makes it worse, and how to fix it with Activity Monitor and a few settings changes.
Read the guideHow to speed up Safari and Chrome on a Mac
A slow browser makes the whole Mac feel slow. Here is how to find heavy tabs, remove extensions, clear website data, and use Chrome Memory Saver and Safari settings.
Read the guideHow to free up storage space on a Mac
Your Mac says your disk is almost full? Here is how to see what is using space and safely clear it with built-in macOS tools, from Downloads and Trash to backups, caches and apps.
Read the guideWhat is System Data on a Mac, and how do you reduce it?
System Data in Mac storage can grow to tens of gigabytes. Here is what it contains, why it changes, and the safe ways to reduce it without deleting files macOS needs.
Read the guideHow to clear the cache on a Mac safely
How to clear app, browser and user caches on a Mac without breaking anything, what caches are, when clearing them helps, and which folders you should leave alone.
Read the guideHow to find large files on a Mac
Three built-in ways to find the biggest files and folders on your Mac: Storage settings, a Finder size search, and a read-only Terminal command.
Read the guideHow to uninstall apps completely on a Mac, including leftovers
Dragging an app to the Trash can leave caches, settings and support files behind. Here is how to uninstall Mac apps properly and safely find what they left behind.
Read the guideHow to find and delete old iPhone backups on a Mac
Old iPhone and iPad backups can take tens of gigabytes on your Mac. Here is how to find them, decide which to keep, and delete or move the rest safely.
Read the guideHow to use iCloud to free up space on your Mac
Store in iCloud and Optimize Mac Storage can free lots of space by keeping files and photos in iCloud. Here is how they work, how to turn them on, and the trade-offs.
Read the guideNot enough space to update macOS? How to make room
If your Mac says there is not enough storage to install a macOS update, here is how to find out how much you need and free it up quickly and safely.
Read the guideHow to compress videos on a Mac without losing much quality
Make video files smaller on a Mac using built-in tools: Finder’s Encode Selected Video Files, QuickTime Player, Photos and iMovie, plus how to choose a resolution and codec.
Read the guideHow to find and remove duplicate photos on a Mac
Use the Duplicates album in Photos for Mac to merge duplicate photos and videos, then clear Recently Deleted to actually free up the space.
Read the guideHow to clear Xcode DerivedData, archives and simulators
Xcode can use tens of gigabytes. Here is how to safely delete DerivedData, old archives, device support files and unused simulators and runtimes on your Mac.
Read the guideHow to clear Homebrew, npm, pip, Gradle, CocoaPods and Docker caches on a Mac
Package managers and dev tools keep large caches. Here are the official commands to clean Homebrew, npm, Yarn, pnpm, pip, uv, Gradle, CocoaPods, Dart, Cargo and Docker safely.
Read the guideHow to find and remove local AI models on a Mac (Ollama, Hugging Face, LM Studio)
Local AI models can each be several gigabytes. Here is where Ollama, Hugging Face and LM Studio store them on a Mac and how to remove the ones you no longer use.
Read the guideIPHONE GUIDES
More room on your iPhone.
How to speed up a slow iPhone: 10 fixes
A practical checklist to make a slow iPhone faster: restart, update iOS, free up storage, check battery health, limit background activity and reduce motion.
Read the guideHow to clear the Safari cache on iPhone
Clear Safari history, cache and cookies on iPhone, or clear only website data to keep your browsing history. Fixes slow or broken pages and frees a little storage.
Read the guideHow to free up storage on your iPhone
iPhone storage full? Here is how to see what is using space and clear it with built-in iOS settings: offload apps, clear Recently Deleted, trim Messages, shrink videos and more.
Read the guideWhat is System Data on iPhone, and how do you reduce it?
System Data on iPhone can use many gigabytes. Here is what it includes, why it changes size, and safe ways to bring it down without erasing your phone.
Read the guideHow to offload unused apps on iPhone (and how it differs from deleting)
Offloading removes an app but keeps its data, so you can free space without losing anything. Here is how to offload apps manually or automatically on iPhone.
Read the guideHow to reduce Messages storage on iPhone
Messages attachments can take many gigabytes on iPhone. Here is how to review large attachments, delete old conversations automatically, and keep the photos you care about.
Read the guideHow to find and delete duplicate photos on iPhone
Use the built-in Duplicates album in the Photos app to merge duplicate photos and videos on iPhone, then empty Recently Deleted to free the space.
Read the guideDeleted photos but iPhone storage did not change? Empty Recently Deleted
Deleted photos and videos stay on your iPhone for up to 30 days in Recently Deleted. Here is how to empty it to free the space, and what to know first.
Read the guideHow to reduce video size on iPhone and record smaller videos
Videos are the biggest use of storage on most iPhones. Here is how to record smaller videos with the right camera settings, trim clips, and make smaller copies of existing videos.
Read the guideiPhone storage full even with iCloud Photos? Here is why
iCloud Photos does not automatically free space on your iPhone. Learn how Optimize iPhone Storage works, why deleting photos removes them everywhere, and how to free space safely.
Read the guideLet spacerecover do the digging.
spacerecover finds caches, old installers, large files, leftovers and duplicate photos, explains each one, and clears only what you approve. The scan is free.