Sort Mac files by size or modification date

The problem

Finding yesterday's draft and finding a large file are different tasks. Choose a sort order that answers the question you actually have.

Step by step

1. Open the sort menu and choose modification date.
2. Look under today, yesterday or a specific date, then preview the candidate.
3. Switch to size sorting to inspect larger items.
4. Let background folder-size calculation finish before making a cleanup decision.

Know the limits

Modification time is not creation time. An unavailable folder size does not mean zero bytes.

Common question

Should I delete the largest item?

Size only narrows the candidates. Decide using the contents, backup status and whether the file is still needed.

Related guides

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