How to clear cache on Mac, safely

Where Mac caches live

• Your apps’ caches: ~/Library/Caches, one folder per app (browsers, Spotify, Homebrew, Xcode and so on).
• Developer tool caches: for example ~/.npm, ~/Library/Caches/pip, Gradle’s caches and Xcode’s DerivedData.
• Browser caches: best cleared from the browser’s own settings (Safari, Chrome and Firefox each have a clear-browsing-data option).
• System caches: managed by macOS. Leave these alone; restarting, or starting up in safe mode, clears some of them.

How to clear app caches by hand

• Quit the app first. Clearing a cache while its app is running can crash it or lose work.
• In Finder, choose Go, Go to Folder, type ~/Library/Caches, and look at the folders by size.
• Move the folders of apps you no longer use, or that have grown huge, to the Trash. Leave the Caches folder itself in place.
• Restart, use the app once to check it works, then empty the Trash.

What to expect

Caches of apps you use every day come back as you use them, so clearing them frees space only for a while and the app may be slower the first time. The lasting wins are caches of apps you no longer use, developer caches you can rebuild, and large one-off downloads. For bigger gains, see how to free up space on your Mac.

How DiskApp helps

DiskApp lists every folder in your Library’s Caches with its size and pre-selects only the ones nothing has touched in a month. It won’t clear an app’s cache while that app is running, and everything goes to the Trash. Seeing the list is free. See Clean up.