Start with the largest regions
Small files are rarely the fastest path to meaningful space. A proportional disk map helps you begin with the largest folders, archives, media libraries, application data, and developer files.
Categories are a starting point
Labels such as Documents, Applications, Other, and System Data are summaries. They do not replace the underlying path. Always inspect where an item lives and what created it.
Logical size versus disk usage
Logical file size describes the content length. Allocated size reflects the space the file system assigns. Compression, sparse files, block sizes, and file system behavior can make them differ.
A safer investigation order
Map the disk, open the largest folder, inspect its largest children, check the path and category, then reveal the item in Finder. Avoid deleting unfamiliar system or application data only because it is large.