What to do if Mac says disk is full?

If your Mac is constantly telling you that your startup disk is full, one of the first places you should look is the Messages app. Over time, every photo, video, and file attachment sent or received in a text conversation quietly accumulates in the background, often taking up tens of gigabytes of space without you realizing it . Here is a guide on cleaning message attachments to help you understand what to do if Mac says disk is full?

When you send or receive a file via iMessage, macOS saves a copy of it directly to your internal hard drive so you can access it later. This includes high-resolution photos, videos, memes, and other documents. If you or your contacts frequently share media, these files can quickly add up and contribute heavily to the "Messages" category in your storage settings.

What to do if Mac says disk is full? To prevent this buildup from happening again in the future, you can set messages to delete themselves automatically after a certain period. This is the most effective long-term solution.

1. Open the Messages app.

2. Click Messages in the top menu bar and select Settings (or Preferences).

3. Click the General tab.

4. Find the Keep Messages dropdown menu and select either 30 Days or 1 Year.