# How to see free disk space on your Mac desktop

> Source: https://macplus.pro/storage-widget-mac-desktop.html  
> Language: en  
> Updated: 2026-09-24

Apple doesn’t document a storage widget for the Mac, but free space is one click away: choose **View > Show Status Bar** in a Finder window, or open System Settings, General, then Storage. For an actual desktop widget, add a free one, such as Disk Usage Widgets, through **Edit Widgets**.

Apple doesn’t document a storage widget for the Mac. Free disk space is already visible without installing anything, in the Finder status bar, the Get Info window, and System Settings’ Storage pane — and the disk icon itself can show it permanently on the desktop. If you specifically want a widget, small App Store apps add one, menu-bar tools show the same numbers a different way, and Mac+ includes a storage widget among its twelve. Below: the built-in routes in full, then the real widgets and their prices, checked 24 September 2026.

By [Adrien Pennetier](https://macplus.pro/about.html)

macOS developer, creator of Mac+

Updated 2026-09-24 · 8 min read

![Mac desktop animated by the Plasma scene, showing a month calendar widget, a weekend countdown card, and two desktop icons](https://macplus.pro/img/scene-plasma.jpg)

Mac+’s Plasma scene animates the desktop behind widgets like this month calendar and weekend countdown.

## Apple doesn’t list a storage widget — but three built-in views already show free space

Apple’s [widget guide](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mchl52be5da5/mac) describes widgets for “your schedule, favorite devices, the weather, top headlines, and more”, added by Control-clicking the wallpaper and choosing **Edit Widgets**, then “drag the widget to any position on the desktop.” It documents no storage widget. That’s not a gap to work around with a trick — it just means the fastest views of free space live somewhere else, and macOS already has three of them.

Open any Finder window and choose **View > Show Status Bar**. Apple’s own description of what appears there: the status bar “displays the number of items in the disk or folder, and the amount of available disk space.” No app, no extra setting — just that one menu choice.

Select a disk and choose **File > Get Info**, or press Command-I, to open its information window. For what that window actually shows, Macworld is specific: “The Info window shows the capacity, available space, and used space.” A faster version skips the menu entirely — select the disk and press the Space bar to preview it, which Macworld describes as opening a window that “shows the capacity of your storage device and the available space.”

For a full breakdown of what’s filling the disk, choose Apple menu > System Settings, click **General**, then **Storage**, then **All Volumes**. Apple’s storage guide explains the color coding directly: “Light gray space represents free storage space.”

## Put the disk itself on the desktop, with its free space underneath

There’s a fourth built-in route, and it’s the only one that stays visible on the desktop without opening anything. It takes two separate settings.

First, make sure a disk actually appears on the desktop. Choose **Finder > Settings**, and under **Show these items on the desktop**, turn your disks on. Apple’s own description of the option: “Show connected hardware on the desktop.”

Second, click the desktop, choose **View > Show View Options**, and turn on **Show item info**. Apple notes the option is “only available for Icon view.”

With both settings on, a line of text appears under the disk icon. Apple’s own pages don’t spell out what that line contains, but [OSXDaily](https://osxdaily.com/2007/06/01/display-disk-space-and-file-info-on-the-desktop/) has documented it since 2007 (updated 2016): “Now your data drives will show total and free space.” That’s the closest thing macOS has to a permanent, on-desktop storage readout without installing anything. It isn’t a widget, though, and Apple’s current help pages don’t name the individual checkboxes involved.

## Real storage widgets from the Mac App Store

If you want an actual widget — something sitting on the desktop or in Notification Center, not a window you open — three App Store apps are built specifically around disk space. Listings checked 24 September 2026.

[Disk Usage Widgets](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/disk-usage-widgets/id6504800979?mt=12) (Sergei Saliukov) is free and needs macOS 14 or later; version 64.1 shipped 12 September 2026. Its listing promises “real-time storage data through convenient widgets,” and the developer’s own setup is three steps: right-click the desktop and edit widgets, search for the app, then click or drag its widget onto the desktop.

[Disk Usage – Widgets](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/disk-usage-widgets/id6499427348?mt=12) (Guang Hui YANG) costs $1.99 and needs macOS 14.0 or later; version 1.13 shipped 11 February 2026. The vendor says “you can monitor your system, USB, network drives and internal memory effortlessly through customizable widgets.”

[Hard Disk – Monitor Disk Usage](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hard-disk-monitor-disk-usage/id1043842695?mt=12) (Stefan Van Damme) also costs $1.99 and needs macOS 15.6 or later on the Mac, alongside iPhone, iPad, Vision and Watch versions; version 1.3.7 shipped 9 September 2026. It’s described as “a simple widget that displays the text label showing the current free space, used space, and total capacity of your device.”

A fourth option, [DiskCleanKit](https://diskcleankit.com/features/widgets/), bundles widgets with its cleanup tools: its “Disk Space Widgets show storage usage for all drives - system and external,” on an app requiring macOS 13 or later. DiskCleanKit offers a free tier and a $1.99-a-month Pro plan; its site doesn’t say whether the widgets specifically require Pro, so check before assuming either way.

## Menu-bar monitors show the same numbers, just not as a widget

A few well-known Mac system monitors track disk space too, but they live in the menu bar, not on the desktop — a genuinely different tool for a related question.

[Stats](https://mac-stats.com/), the free, open-source menu-bar app, includes a Disk module: “check free and used disk space, read and write activity and SMART health for every drive,” among its 13 menu-bar widgets. It requires macOS 12 or later. Stats can also place some of its modules as desktop widgets once you enable that option — our [CPU and RAM widget guide](https://macplus.pro/cpu-ram-widget-mac-desktop.html) walks through that setup — but a desktop disk widget specifically isn’t part of its documented feature list.

[iStat Menus](https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/) 7.5, from Bjango, puts “used space, free space, and disk activity” in the menu bar and requires macOS 11 or later; it’s also available through Setapp. Bjango renders its price at checkout rather than publishing one on the page, so there’s no figure to repeat here.

[Disk-O](https://www.widgetworx.com/apps/disko.html), from WidgetWorx, is another menu-bar disk monitor, now at version 2.15. It lets you “choose from 8 different visualization styles” and can warn you when free space runs low; its price isn’t listed on the vendor’s page either.

## Mac+: a storage widget among twelve

[Mac+](https://macplus.pro/mac-desktop-widgets.html) is a Mac app for animated wallpapers, desktop widgets and folder icons, and one of its twelve desktop widgets is called Storage. The full set — clock, date, Focus, timer, season, weekend, weather, battery, storage, memory, network and moon — runs from the menu bar, in three sizes and four shapes, placed anywhere on the desktop.

Mac+ is a free download; the free tier includes 2 widgets, and the site doesn’t say which two, so don’t assume storage is included. Unlocking all 12 needs Pro, at €9.99 once or €1.99 a month with a 7-day trial. Mac+ requires macOS 13 Ventura or later, runs on Apple Silicon and Intel, and renders locally with no account, ads or telemetry.

What the site doesn’t say matters here too: it doesn’t document what the storage widget actually displays — free space, used space, a percentage, more than one drive — and makes no claim about external or network drives, alerts, or refresh frequency. Treat it as one glanceable option among the ones above, not a diagnostic tool.

## Which option should you actually use?

For a number you can check in passing, the Finder status bar or Get Info cost nothing and need no setup. For something permanently visible without an app, the disk icon with item info turned on is the only native option that lives on the desktop itself. For an actual widget, Disk Usage Widgets is the free one among the three App Store options; Stats covers disk space alongside everything else it tracks, in the menu bar. Mac+ is worth it if you already want its animated wallpapers or its other widgets and are fine with a storage widget whose exact display isn’t documented.

*Seeing free disk space on a Mac: options compared (checked 24 September 2026)*

| Option | Where it shows | Price | Requires |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Finder status bar / Get Info | Finder window / info window | Included | — |
| Disk icon + item info | Under the disk icon on the desktop | Included | Icon view |
| Disk Usage Widgets (Sergei Saliukov) | Desktop / Notification Center widget | Free | macOS 14 or later |
| Disk Usage – Widgets (Guang Hui YANG) | Widgets (system, USB, network drives) | $1.99 | macOS 14.0 or later |
| Hard Disk (Stefan Van Damme) | Widgets; also iPhone/iPad | $1.99 | macOS 15.6 or later |
| Stats | Menu bar (Disk module) | Free, MIT | macOS 12 or later |
| Mac+ | Storage widget among 12, 3 sizes × 4 shapes | Free: 2 widgets / Pro: 12 (€9.99 once or €1.99/mo) | macOS 13 or later |

For the wider set of Mac+’s widgets beyond storage, see [the Mac+ desktop widgets page](https://macplus.pro/mac-desktop-widgets.html), or compare [every widget app side by side](https://macplus.pro/mac-desktop-widget-apps-compared.html).

## Keep an eye on disk space from the desktop

1. In a Finder window, choose **View > Show Status Bar**: the bar shows the amount of available disk space.
2. Choose **Finder > Settings** and, under **Show these items on the desktop**, turn on your disks — Apple describes this as showing connected hardware on the desktop.
3. Click the desktop, choose **View > Show View Options**, and select **Show item info** (only available for Icon view).
4. For the full breakdown, open System Settings, click **General**, then **Storage** and **All Volumes**.
5. For an actual widget, install a storage widget app, Control-click the wallpaper, choose **Edit Widgets**, search for the app, and drag its widget onto the desktop.

Free download; macOS 13 Ventura or later, Apple Silicon and Intel. Pro unlocks all 12 widgets, including storage: €9.99 once or €1.99/month, 7-day trial.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is there a storage widget for Mac?

Apple’s widget guide doesn’t list one. Third-party apps such as Disk Usage Widgets, Disk Usage – Widgets and Hard Disk add a real desktop widget, and Mac+ includes a storage widget among its twelve.

### How can I see free disk space on my desktop without installing anything?

Turn on the Finder status bar with View > Show Status Bar for a quick number, use Get Info (Command-I) or Quick Look on a disk for more detail, or show the disk icon on the desktop with item info turned on underneath it.

### Why doesn’t my disk icon show its free space?

Two things need to be true at once: the disk has to be shown on the desktop (Finder > Settings), and Show item info has to be turned on in View > Show View Options while the desktop is selected.

### Can a widget show my external or network drives?

Disk Usage – Widgets says it monitors system, USB and network drives; DiskCleanKit says its widgets cover all drives, system and external. Apple’s own status bar only shows the disk behind the Finder window you have open.

### Where does macOS show what’s actually using my storage?

System Settings > General > Storage > All Volumes breaks it down by category, with light gray marking free space, as Apple’s storage guide describes it.

### Does Mac+ have a storage widget?

Yes — storage is one of its twelve desktop widgets. The site doesn’t say what the widget displays beyond that, or whether it’s part of the 2-widget free tier, so don’t assume either detail.

## Keep reading

[Explore Mac+ desktop widgets →](https://macplus.pro/mac-desktop-widgets.html)

[How to add widgets to your Mac desktop →](https://macplus.pro/how-to-add-widgets-to-mac-desktop.html)

[See CPU and RAM on your Mac desktop →](https://macplus.pro/cpu-ram-widget-mac-desktop.html)

[Compare Mac desktop widget apps →](https://macplus.pro/mac-desktop-widget-apps-compared.html)

## Sources

- [Apple Support — Get file, folder, and disk information on Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mchlp1774/mac)
- [Apple Support — See used and available storage space on your Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/syspf9b375b9/mac)
- [Apple Support — Change Finder settings on Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mchlp2803/mac)
- [Apple Support — Add and customize widgets on Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mchl52be5da5/mac)
- [OSXDaily — Display Disk Space and File Info on the Desktop (2007, updated 2016; checked 24 September 2026)](https://osxdaily.com/2007/06/01/display-disk-space-and-file-info-on-the-desktop/)
- [Stats — official README (Disk module and macOS requirements; checked 24 September 2026)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/exelban/stats/master/README.md)
- [Disk Usage Widgets on the Mac App Store (Sergei Saliukov; checked 24 September 2026)](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/disk-usage-widgets/id6504800979?mt=12)

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