Jul 31, 2015 Deleting downloads on Mac can be a pain because It involves two separate things: cleaning up your Downloads folder and then removing the downloads history from your browser. So, in short, you'll need to: find your Downloads folder, remove your downloads, clear your downloads history in your browser, and (finally) empty your Trash.
How to remove downloads from my Macbook Pro? I have installed the apps, but do not want the installation package to take up my Mac storage.
Apr 21, 2020 To delete an item from your Mac, hover your pointer over the item, click the More options button, then click Remove Download. To delete an item on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, tap Downloaded, swipe left on the item, tap Delete, then Delete Download. Find the “Locked” checkbox and deselect it. Alternatively, you can unlock a file using your Mac’s Terminal. Open the Terminal (Applications - Utilities - Terminal) and type the following command: chflags nouchg / path / to /file. When the file unlocks, you can go ahead and delete the file, as you normally would. As you download, use, change, save and delete files, the information is stored at different places on the hard drive. This fragmentation can cause your computer to run less efficiently. Large amounts of downloading and file deletion contributes to fragmentation. Since you can use the Disc Defragmenter tool to clean up your hard drive.
Apple Mac gains lots of users for its clean interface and smooth running. However, like Windows computer or desktop, one thing Mac also suffers from is that everyday's downloads of music, videos, apps, etc. have taken up the space and can also slow down your Mac.
In this post, we will share you 3 ways to delete downloads from your Mac directly, empty download folders from your Safari, Chrome and Firefox, and clean up your Mac downloads with the Mac cleaners.
Delete Downloads on Mac
Part 1. How to clean up Mac downloads permanently and securely
The above ways will help you delete downloads from your Mac manually. However, if you think it a little complicated, you can use the Mac Cleaner to help you delete downloads on Mac automatically. It can helps you delete everything in the folder, including videos, music, files, apps, etc. Moreover, it deletes downloads permanently with recovery.
Step 1. Run Mac Cleaner
Download Aiseesoft Mac Cleaner and launch it. Check the system status of your Mac.
Step 2. Scan download folder
Click the section you want to scan in the left sidebar, Here we can choose 'Privacy'. Click the 'Scan' button to scan your Mac download history.
'Uninstaller' enables you to delete download apps from your Mac.
Step 3. Delete downloads on Mac
When the scanning done, you can click 'Review' button to review the scan results. Checkmark the items that you want to delete, and click 'Clean' button to start to delete downloads from your Mac.
Note: You can hit 'Re-scan' to scan your Mac computer again to get a deep downloads deletion.
Part 2. How to delete downloads from Mac directly
Once you download the files or apps to your Mac, then you can find the downloads and delete them manually by yourself. You should note that this way is available for Mac OS X 10.2 or above.
Step 1Find and click 'Finder'.
Step 2Press the hotkeys 'command + Shift +G' to go to the pop-up of 'Go to Folder' and then type in '~/' and click 'Go'.
Step 3Click 'Downloads' from the left sidebar, and view the detailed downloads in the right window. Find a download or downloads that you want to download, right click it with your mouse, and click 'Move to Trash'. Then go to your Trash, to empty the trash.
Part 3. How to delete downloaded programs on Mac from Safari/Chrome/Firefox
Commonly, most downloads are from your browser on Mac, so in this method, we will share the way to delete downloads from Safari, Chrome and Firefox on your Mac. This method will be available for your iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro, Macbook Air, Macbook Pro, etc.
Clean up the downloads from Safari
Safari, as the default browser, brings many downloads to your Mac without doubt. Follow the steps as below to delete download history from Safari.
Step 1Run Safari browser, and click 'History' in the menu bar on the top side of your screen.
Step 2Select on 'Clear History' > 'All history' from the drop-down as the time range you wish > 'Clear History' to clear up all download history from your Safari.
Remove download history from Chrome
Chrome is also the browser used widely by many of you. So downloads from Chrome will be not less. Take the steps as the following to delete the downloads on Mac from Chrome.
Step 1Launch the Chrome browser on your Mac.
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Step 2Click 'History' in the menu bar > 'Show Full History' > 'Clear browsing data…' > Select 'the beginning of time…' for the time period you wish to erase > Check the deleting content to select 'Cache images and files' > 'Clear browsing data' to delete the downloaded pictures and other files on your Mac.
Empty the download folder from Firefox
Firefox, similar to Chrome, is also popular among users. Check the solution below to empty the downloaded apps or files from Firefox on Mac.
Step 1Run Firefox on your Mac.
Step 2Click 'History' in the menu bar > 'Clear Recent History…' > Select 'Everything' as the time range to clean > Click on the 'Details' arrow to checkmark the 'Browsing & Download History' box > Click on 'Clear Now'.
Here you also delete the download history from your Mac. For more details to delete history from Mac, visit here.
Way 3. How to clean up Mac downloads permanently and securely
The above ways will help you delete downloads from your Mac manually. However, if you think it a little complicated, you can use the Mac Cleaner to help you delete downloads on Mac automatically. It can helps you delete everything in the folder, including videos, music, files, apps, games like Fortnite, etc. Moreover, it deletes downloads permanently with recovery.
Step 1. Run Mac Cleaner
Download Aiseesoft Mac Cleaner and launch it. Check the system status of your Mac.
Step 2. Scan download folder
Click the section you want to scan in the left sidebar, Here we can choose 'Privacy'. Click the 'Scan' button to scan your Mac download history.
'Uninstaller' enables you to delete download apps from your Mac.
Step 3. Delete downloads on Mac
When the scanning done, you can click 'Review' button to review the scan results. Checkmark the items that you want to delete, and click 'Clean' button to start to delete downloads from your Mac.
Note: You can hit 'Re-scan' to scan your Mac computer again to get a deep downloads deletion.
Conclusion
Here are 3 ways to delete downloads on Mac. You can use the first and second method to remove downloads from Mac manually. Moreover, you can use the last recommended way to clean up downloads on Mac permanently and securely. Last reminder is that you had better backup Mac before deleting everything to avoid any regret.
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June 04, 2019 15:55 / Updated by Louisa White to Mac Cleanup
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Summary :
This tutorial teaches you how to delete downloads on Mac, Windows 10, iPhone, iPad, Android. You can save more space by deleting unwanted downloaded files on your device. Still, if you mistakenly deleted files on device, MiniTool free data recovery software is here to help.
The downloaded files from online websites are stored on your device hard drive or memory card. If you don’t need those files, you can delete those cumbersome downloads to free up storage space on your device.
This post teaches you how to delete downloads on Mac, Windows 10/8/7, iPhone, iPad, Android. Check the detailed guides below.
How to Delete Downloads on Mac
- You can launch the Finder app on Mac.
- Scroll download to find Downloads option from the left panel. Click Downloads under Favorites and all downloads on Mac will be shown in the right window.
- Select one or more files you want to delete, if you want to select all downloads, you can press Command + A
- Then right-click the mouse and choose Move to Trash. You can also click File -> Move to Trash from the Finder menu to delete downloads on Mac, or directly drag the selected files to Trash bin which is located in the bottom-right corner of Mac screen. You can also press the shortcut key to move selected downloads to Trash: Command + Delete.
- The deleted downloads are still in the Trash and existed on Mac hard drive. If you want to delete them permanently, you can click Finder at the top of screen and click Empty Trash, or press Command + Shift + Delete to delete all files in Mac Trash bin.
Tip: After you emptied the Trash bin on Mac, theoretically you cannot find and recover the deleted files. So be careful to delete file. If you mistakenly deleted some files, you can use the best free Mac data recovery software to easily retrieve deleted files on Mac.
How to Delete Downloads on Windows 10/8/7
Deleting Downloads On Macbook
- At first, you can press Windows + E, or click This PC to open Windows File Explorer.
- Click the Downloads folder, and you will see all downloaded files and folders are listed in the window now.
- You can select one, several or all files and folders, right-click the mouse and select Delete to deleted all downloads on Windows 10/8/7. All the deleted files will be moved to the Recycle Bin.
If you haven’t emptied the Recycle Bin, then you have a chance to restore the mistakenly deleted files from Recycle Bin. However, if you’ve emptied the Recycle Bin, then you have to recur to the best free data recovery software for Windows to recover deleted files.
How to Delete Downloads on iPhone/iPad
- Open Settings -> General -> Storage & iCloud Usage -> Manage Storage.
- Click the app and select Delete App.
- Then go to App Store to reinstall the apps on your iPhone/iPad.
How to Delete Downloads on Android
Normally you have 2 ways to clear downloads on Android phones.
Uninstall Downloads On Mac
Method 1. Delete Downloads on Android through Settings
- You can open Settings on Android, look for the Apps or Applications icon.
- Click one app, and click Delete or Uninstall button to remove downloaded apps on Android.
Method 2. Clear Downloads on Android with App Manager
- Open the App Tray on Android
- Find and click Downloads
- Then tap and hold a file you want to delete. Select all the files you want to delete.
- Tap the Delete icon at the top-right corner to delete downloaded files on Android.
If you want to delete usage history in App, Google Chrome, Firefox, etc. in Windows 10/8/7, you can check: How to Delete Usage History (App, Google, Firefox) in Windows
How to Recover Deleted/Lost Files and Folders on Windows 10/8/7
If you mistakenly deleted some important files from your Windows computer and emptied the Recycle Bin, you can use MiniTool Power Data Recovery to easily recover files for free.
Free download and install MiniTool Power Data Recovery on your Windows 10/8/7 PC, and follow the 2 simple steps below to easily recover deleted/lost files.
How To Delete Downloaded Files On Mac
Step 1. Launch MiniTool Power Data Recovery and click This PC. Choose a partition or drive where contains your deleted or lost files, and click Scan button to let this free file undelete software to scan data in the chosen drive.
Is It Ok To Delete Downloads On Mac
Step 2. After the scan is finished, you can find and check needed files, and click Save button to recover the needed files. Thus, you can easily get back the deleted/lost files and folders.