How to Clear Cache on Mac Safely

Caches are temporary copies that make apps faster. They grow quietly and some reach gigabytes. Clearing the right ones is safe and frees real space. Clearing the wrong ones can slow your Mac or confuse an app. This guide shows the safe way, one app at a time.

How risky is each cache?#

Where the big ones live#

Search a location or filter by type. Open an entry for what to do.

Step 1: Measure before you delete#

Find out which cache folders are big before you decide anything.

$ du -sh ~/Library/Caches/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h | tail -n 10

If you would rather see it visually, a disk analyser such as DaisyDisk draws your folders by size. It is optional, and the command above does the same job. See our comparison of CleanMyMac and DaisyDisk if you are weighing a paid tool.

Step 2: Clear one app's cache#

Safe cache clean, per app

1. Quit the app completely Use the app's Quit menu. Check Activity Monitor if it may still be running.
2. Open Finder → Go → Go to Folder and enter ~/Library/Caches
3. Find the folder named after the app or its developer
4. Drag that folder to the Trash. Leave the Caches folder itself
5. Empty the Trash, or keep the folder there for a day in case something misbehaves
6. Relaunch the app and expect the first launch to be slower

Step 3: Browser caches#

Safari#

Open Safari → Settings → Privacy → Manage Website Data, select entries or remove all. Safari also offers Develop → Empty Caches if you have turned on the Develop menu in Advanced settings.

Chrome#

Open Chrome → Clear Browsing Data, choose a time range, tick Cached images and files, and clear. Leave other boxes unticked unless you want to sign out of sites.

Firefox#

Open Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data → Clear Data, and tick only the cached web content.

When caches are not the problem#

If you clear a few gigabytes and System Data stays enormous, caches were never the main cause. Local snapshots, old device backups and developer files are more common. Our System Data guide walks through all of them, and How to Reduce System Data Without Losing Files gives a safe order of operations. To check how much headroom you really have, the storage size calculator converts between GB and GiB so the numbers match.

A slow Mac is also not always a cache issue. Start with why a MacBook runs slowly.

Should I use a cleaner app?#

Cleaner apps automate the steps above and show the result in a friendlier way. They cannot do more than you can do by hand. We are evaluating the main options in Best Mac Cleaning Software.

Frequently asked questions#

Is it safe to delete everything in ~/Library/Caches?#

It usually works, but it deletes caches for apps that are open and can cause glitches. Clear one app at a time instead.

Will clearing cache speed up my Mac?#

Not by itself. It frees space, and it can fix an app that misbehaves because of a damaged cache. Speed problems usually have other causes.

How often should I clear caches?#

Rarely. Do it when space runs low or an app acts strangely. Caches exist to save time, and macOS manages most of them.

Does a restart clear caches?#

It clears some temporary files and resets memory. It does not empty app caches in your Library folder.