In daily use, we usually download many applications, pictures, music files, etc. from browsers or through e-mails. On a Mac computer, all downloaded programs, photos, attachments, and files are saved to the Download folder by default, unless you have changed the downloading settings in Safari or other applications.
If you haven’t cleaned up the Download folder for a long time, there will stack up lots of useless downloads on the Mac. You have downloaded and installed a certain app from Safari, for example, and its installation package (the .dmg file) is no longer necessary. But all the .dmg files will stay on your Mac, taking up precious storage space.
Knowing how to delete downloads on Mac will surely help you manage your Mac better. This post will show you several effective ways how to clear downloads and download history on MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and iMac.
Part 1. How to Delete Downloads and Download History in One Click on Mac
If you need to not only the downloaded files but also the download history, you may use a Mac cleanup utility. MobePas Mac Cleaner is an all-in-one Mac cleaner that allows you to remove all download files as well as download history on your Mac with a quick click.
To delete downloads and download history in browsers on Mac:
Step 1: Download, install, and launch Mac Cleaner on your Mac.
Step 2: In the home interface, click on the “Privacy” option at the left sidebar.
Step 3: Click on the “Scan” button.
Step 4: After the scanning, choose the specific browser you want to erase the downloads. You can choose to delete downloads of Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox, and Opera.
Step 5: Check the options of “Downloaded Files” and “Downloaded History”. And then click the “Clean” button to clear the Safari/Chrome/Firefox downloads and download history on your Mac.
MobePas Mac Cleaner can also delete cookies, caches, login history, and other browsing data in Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera.
To clear downloaded mail attachments on Mac:
On some occasions, we would download email attachments sent by our friends. And those mail attachments also occupy a lot on the Mac. With MobePas Mac Cleaner, you can remove the downloaded mail attachments to relieve some storage space. Moreover, deleting downloaded files from Mail on the Mac won’t affect their original files in the mail server. You can still re-download them back if you want.
Step 1: Open Mac Cleaner.
Step 2: Choose “Mail Trash” in the left sidebar and click “Scan”.
Step 3: After scanning, select “Mail Attachments”.
Step 4: Select the old or unwanted mail attachments and click “Clean”.
If you need to delete downloads from applications other than browsers and Mail, click Large/Old files on Mac Cleaner and find out the downloaded files you want to delete.
In addition to deleting download files and history on Mac, MobePas Mac Cleaner is such a quick and powerful app that can not only help you detect and monitor Mac performance, including the whole system status, disk utilization, battery usage, and CPU usage but also uninstall apps, remove duplicate or similar images and files, as well as scan out large and old junk files and clean them up.
Part 2. How to Delete All Downloads on Mac
All the downloaded files will automatically go to Downloads on Mac if you haven’t changed the default settings. You can also remove all of the downloaded files from that Downloads folder.
To clear the files in that folder, you should know how to get access to the Downloads folder on Mac first:
- Open Finder from your dock.
- In the left sidebar, under the “Favorites” sub-menu, click on “Downloads”. Here comes the Downloads folder. (If there is no “Downloads” option in your Finder > Favorites, head to Finder > Preferences. Open the “Sidebar” tab and then tick “Downloads” to turn it on.)
- Or you can click Finder > Go menu > Go To Folder and type in ~/Downloads to open the folder.
To remove all downloads on Mac directly from the Downloads folder:
Step 1: Go to Finder > Downloads.
Step 2: Press the “Command + A” buttons on the keyboard to select all the download files.
Step 3: Right-click the mouse and choose “Move to Trash”.
Step 4: Empty the Trash on your Mac to clean them up completely.
Can I delete everything in my Downloads folder on Mac?
There are two types of files in the Downloads folder: .dmg files and other pictures or music files. For .dmg files that are the installation packages of applications, if the apps are already installed on the Mac, then it is completely safe to delete all the .dmg files in the Downloads folder.
As for pictures and music files, you have to make sure those pictures and music have been added to iTunes and iPhoto libraries, and the option of “copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library” has been turned on. Otherwise removing the files in the Downloads folder will lead to file loss.
How to permanently delete downloads on Mac?
If you are seeking a way to permanently remove downloads on a MacBook or iMac. MobePas Mac Cleaner can help a lot. The Eraser function in Mac Cleaner allows you to completely delete download files and no one can restore them in any form.
Part 3. How to Clear Downloads on Mac from Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox
Another way to get rid of the downloads on Mac is to erase them from browsers. Specific steps may be different on different browsers. Three frequently used browsers are demonstrated below.
Clear Google Chrome Downloads on Mac:
- Open Google Chrome on your Mac.
- Click on the icon with three horizontal lines next to the address bar.
- Select “Downloads” in the drop-down menu.
- In the “Downloads” tab, click “Clear All” to erase all the downloaded files and their history.
Clear Firefox Downloads on Mac:
- Launch Firefox. Click on the “Firefox” icon with a down arrow at the top left corner.
- In the drop-down menu, choose “Downloads”.
- And then click on “Show all Downloads” to show the download list.
- Click “Clear List” at the left bottom to remove all the items in the download list.
Clear Safari Downloads on Mac:
- Open Safari on the Mac.
- Click the gear icon beside the search bar.
- In the drop-down menu, choose “Downloads”.
- Click the “Clear” button at the left bottom to delete all the downloads.
Have you learned the ways to clear downloads on Mac now? If you find this guide useful, please feel free to share it with your friends and family! Or if you still have any trouble in deleting downloads on your Mac, welcome to leave a comment below to let us know.