How to Clear Cache on Mac: The Complete 2026 Guide

Updated March 2026 · 8 min read

"Clear your cache" is the first thing anyone suggests when your Mac is slow, running out of space, or acting weird. But there are actually five different types of cache on your Mac, and they each live in different places.

Here's every type, where to find it, and how to clear it safely.

Quick reference

1. Browser cache

Safari

1. Open Safari → Settings (Cmd+,)
2. Advanced tab → check "Show features for web developers"
3. Develop menu → Empty Caches

Chrome

1. Cmd+Shift+Delete
2. Select "Cached images and files"
3. Time range: All time → Clear data

Firefox

1. Cmd+Shift+Delete
2. Check "Cache" → Clear Now

Browser caches are always safe to delete. Sites will just load slightly slower on first visit.

2. App cache

This is the big one. App caches live in ~/Library/Caches/ and can easily total 20–50 GB:

open ~/Library/Caches

Common space hogs:

• Spotify — 2–8 GB of offline music cache
• Slack — 1–5 GB of message and file cache
• Google Chrome — 2–10 GB across profiles
• Microsoft Teams — 1–4 GB
• Docker — 5–30 GB of image layers

You can delete individual app cache folders. The app will recreate them — you might just need to log in again.

3. System cache

System-level caches live in /Library/Caches/ (note: no tilde). These include font caches, kernel caches, and shared framework caches.

sudo open /Library/Caches

⚠️ Be more careful here. Most items are safe, but some system caches help macOS boot faster. When in doubt, leave it.

4. DNS cache

If websites aren't loading or you're getting "server not found" errors, clearing DNS cache often helps:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

This is instant and has zero risk.

5. Developer caches

If you code on your Mac, these can be enormous:

All of these are safe to delete. Run npm cache clean --force, brew cleanup, or just delete the folders directly.

How often should you clear cache?

For most people, once a month is enough. If you're a developer or creative professional, every two weeks is better — your caches grow faster.

Signs you need to clear cache now:

• Mac says storage is almost full
• Apps are running slower than usual
• You see "System Data" using 50+ GB in Storage settings
• You haven't cleared cache in 6+ months

Is it safe to clear all caches at once?

For user-level caches (~/Library/Caches/): yes, completely safe. The worst that happens is apps take a moment to rebuild their cache on next launch.

For system-level caches: mostly safe, but it's better to be selective. That's why CleanDisk labels every item — so you know exactly what you're deleting.

The hidden caches most guides miss

Most "clear cache on Mac" articles cover browser and app caches. But the biggest space wasters are often caches that don't live in ~/Library/Caches/ at all.

Xcode DerivedData (5–80 GB)

If you've ever opened Xcode, you have a DerivedData folder at ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/. It stores compiled binaries, index data, and build logs for every project you've ever opened — and Xcode never cleans it up, even after you delete the project.

du -sh ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/
rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/*

Completely safe. Xcode rebuilds on next compile. See our complete DerivedData guide for details.

Docker images and volumes (5–100 GB)

Docker stores images, containers, and volumes in ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/vms/0/data/. Even stopped containers and unused images consume space. Clean up with:

docker system prune -a --volumes

This removes all stopped containers, unused images, and orphaned volumes. Active containers are not affected.

npm, pnpm, and yarn cache (1–15 GB)

JavaScript package managers cache every package you've ever installed:

# Check sizes
npm cache ls 2>/dev/null | wc -l
du -sh ~/.npm/ ~/.pnpm-store/ ~/Library/Caches/Yarn/ 2>/dev/null

# Clean all three
npm cache clean --force
pnpm store prune
yarn cache clean

Homebrew downloads (1–10 GB)

Homebrew keeps downloaded bottles (installers) even after installation:

brew cleanup --prune=all

This removes all cached downloads and old versions. The installed packages are not affected.

pip and conda cache (0.5–8 GB)

# pip
pip cache purge

# conda
conda clean --all

Premiere Pro Media Cache (5–50 GB)

Adobe Premiere stores transcoded media at ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/Media Cache Files/. This persists even after you delete the Premiere project. It's one of the largest single caches we've seen — one user had 52 GB from projects deleted months ago. Clear it in Premiere: Edit → Preferences → Media Cache → Delete.

How to automate cache cleaning

Manual cleaning works, but it's easy to forget. Here are three approaches:

Option 1: Scheduled Terminal script

Create a shell script that clears the safest caches and run it monthly via cron or a calendar reminder:

#!/bin/bash
# safe-cache-clean.sh
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/*
rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/*
rm -rf ~/Library/Logs/*
brew cleanup --prune=all 2>/dev/null
npm cache clean --force 2>/dev/null
echo "Cache cleared at $(date)"

⚠️ This script deletes everything in ~/Library/Caches/ — safe for most users, but you'll need to re-login to some apps afterward.

Option 2: Use CleanDisk

CleanDisk scans all five cache categories in 60 seconds and labels every item by safety level. It finds caches that a simple rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/* misses — like Xcode DerivedData, Premiere Media Cache, and Docker images. The scan is free; deleting requires a $2.99/month subscription.

Option 3: Use OnyX (free)

OnyX can clear system and user caches via its Maintenance tab. It's free but doesn't cover creative app caches or developer tool caches. Good for basic system maintenance. See our full comparison of Mac cleaners.

Frequently asked questions