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Tech Tip

How to Free Space on Your Mac, One Way or Another

Q. I am trying to conserve space on my Mac, and I read about the storage-optimization tools on the Storage tab in the About This Mac box. However, when I open the box and click the Storage tab, I don’t have a Manage button to click and start the cleanup process. Why?

A. Apple added the Optimized Storage feature to its macOS Sierra (10.12) update. If your operating system is older than last year’s release, you will not see the Manage button on the Storage tab that leads you to the new space-saving utilities.

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As shown at the top, versions of the Mac operating system before macOS Sierra do not include the Manage button for optimizing storage. In macOS Sierra and the current High Sierra, click the Manage button (middle, circled) to open the menu of space-saving options, shown at the bottom.Credit...The New York Times

You can see what version of the system you are using by going to the Apple menu, selecting About This Mac and clicking the Overview tab. If your Mac is running OS X El Capitan (version 10.11) or earlier, you need to update your operating system to use the storage-optimization feature.

If you cannot (or do not want to) update your Mac’s operating system, you can manually free up space by deleting unneeded files, old mail attachments and other clutter. You can also find programs to automatically sweep your computer and collect unnecessary files. Clean My Mac 3 ($40, with a free trial period available), Cocktail (on sale for $19, also with a free trial period) and the free AVG Cleaner for Mac are three possibilities.

For those who upgrade (or who have already), Apple’s support site has a guide to using the storage-optimizing tools in macOS Sierra and the new macOS High Sierra. Among other things, you can use the feature to seek out and delete files you no longer need, store documents and photos in iCloud and automatically empty the Mac’s trash can.

Personal Tech invites questions about computer-based technology to techtip@nytimes.com. This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually.

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