Safe To Delete Library Caches Mac

05.04.2020
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Mac storage space is important to us. And it should be important to you too. The performance of our Macs is tied to our available storage space. A Mac with a full hard disk is going to be very slow and make it harder for apps and the OS to run smoothly.

Today we want to discuss the silent storage killers – the Pages, Notes, and Keynote apps.

If your head is spinning, we don’t blame you. But fear not because we're going to show you how to clear out the junk made by these apps and reclaim a nice chunk of your Mac storage space. How to clear document version history and auto-save cache manually. Apr 18, 2017 Some Mac users may want to clear caches and clean out temporary files from Mac OS. Caches and temporary files can include things like web browser cache and history, messaging cache, app specific temp files and caches, partially completed downloads, and much more. For Xcode 8: What I do is run sudo du -khd 1 in the Terminal to see my file system's storage amounts for each folder in simple text, then drill up/down into where the huge GB are hiding using the cd command. 2020-2-1  This could be caused by a corrupt library cache. To prevent the cache from becoming corrupt, you should delete everything in the Caches folders once a month, about the same time you run the file system checker mentioned in a previous article.+ +Here’s how to clean your caches:+ +1. Choose Usersyour user nameLibraryCaches.+ +2. How to Clear Cache on a Mac. Darina Stavniychuk. Type in /Library/Caches and hit enter to proceed to this folder. If everything works fine then you can delete the backup later. To be on the safe side, use CleanMyMac, it works with a Safety Database and knows how to clear app cache safely. As if that wasn’t enough it will also remove.

It's easy to identify big video files and other obvious storage space hogs. But what about apps that create small temporary and cache files? These files are tiny on their own but if they are constantly generated by the app and the user (when saving files) then over time these grains of sand can become a full-scale beach.

Why documents use more space than you think and what to do

If you are a regular user of Pages, Notes, or Keynote, then you potentially have thousands of old documents, old versions of these old documents, and cache files related to these old documents. If your head is spinning, we don’t blame you. But fear not because we're going to show you how to clear out the junk made by these apps and reclaim a nice chunk of your Mac storage space.

How to clear document version history and auto-save cache manually

When working on a document you can always roll back to a previous version with the Version History screen. But if you don’t want or need to roll back on certain documents, it would be a good idea to remove document versions and free up some space.

We’re going to show you have to accomplish that and also clear the cache for Pages, Keynote, and Notes. All you need is Finder and a bit of bravery. Before using these manual solutions, please make sure that your current documents are saved, and you don't need old (unsaved) versions of your documents.

Ready? Let's go!

To manually remove versions and cache from Pages:

  1. Open Finder
  2. Click on the Go menu
  3. Select Go To Folder
  4. Type in /Users/yourusername/Library/Containers/com.apple.iWork.Pages/Data/Library/Caches
  5. To be safe backup the Caches folder to an external location
  6. Then you can move the original Caches folder to the Trash and then empty your Trash

The steps for Notes and Keynote are the same, just using a different file path.

Notes - /Users/Username/Library/Containers/com.apple.Notes/Data/Library/Caches

Keynote - /Users//Library/Containers/com.apple.iWork.Keynote/Data/Library/Caches

Delete those folders, and your Mac should be a lot cleaner, with a significant amount of freed up space for personal file storage or a better performing system.

The problem with the manual approach is the potential for deleting the wrong thing as well as the black and white nature of the manual removal. You either have all your app cache, or you have none of it. Wouldn’t it be better if there was a way to remove the bulk of old document versions but keep a select few in case you ever need to go back to a previous version?

Well, there is a way, and that’s what we’re going to cover next.

How to take easily remove document versions

Instead of completely removing the file history of your Notes, Pages, and Keynote documents, why not get a clear overview of all your document history and then make your own decision? This way you can keep some basic version history while removing the majority of the version files that you’ll never need.

You free up a lot of storage space on your Mac while still having backup versions if you ever need them. It's the best of both worlds.

This can’t be done manually but can be achieved with CleanMyMac’s version module. It will give you an overview of your version history for Pages, Notes, and Keynote. CleanMyMac will present early versions of backup files from every four-hour block of time working on the file.

So if you were working on a Keynote presentation for 12 hours total, you might have hundreds of versions auto-saved by the app. CleanMyMac will keep the last version from each four-hour block for a total of three versions. Let’s see how it works.

To review and clean document versions follow these steps:

  1. Download and launch CleanMyMac X.
  2. Click on the System Junk module.
  3. Click on Scan.
  4. Click on Review Details.
  5. Find and click on the Document Versions folder.
  6. Select Pages/Notes/Keynote.
  7. Expand the document file of your choosing and select the versions you want to remove.
  8. Click the Clean button at the bottom.

If you don't want to review your documents and you just want CleanMyMac to remove 99.9% of version history and cache junk immediately, it can be done in just two clicks:

  1. Launch CleanMyMac X
  2. Click on System Junk module
  3. Click Clean

These methods don?t just work for document apps like Pages, Notes, and Keynote. They work for many other macOS apps that store caches, including 'cache eaters' like Chrome and Safari.

The results of cache and document version cleaning

We ran CleanMyMac X on a typical Mac system that uses Pages, Notes, and Keynote on a regular basis. As you can see below, the removal of the cache and version history freed up 5 GB of space.

Did you ever imagine that document apps could be wasting so much space?

Try these cleaning methods yourself and see how much hard disk space you can reclaim from the silent storage killers.

In doing so you will become the killer of junk!

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You’ve probably heard and seen the term 'cache' used on your Mac but do you know what it is?

Cache files are basically temporary data stored on your hard drive and used to speed up processes. For instance, Safari will download images on a webpage into cache so that next time you visit the site you don’t have to download the images again.

How are cache files different from cookies?

Cookie files are tiny members of the big cache family. This form of cache is collected by your browser to remember previously visited websites. Cookies collect the details of your visit, its duration, actions on a page, etc. Advertisers also use these to follow you around the internet. However annoying they are, cookies are a part of internet reality that we cannot help but “Accept.”

There are many reasons to remove old cache from your MacBook and disk space issue is only one of them. So what are the other benefits ?

  • Fixing issues with laggy web pages that load outdated content
  • Removing personal data stored by websites and applications.
  • You need to force-delete outdated cache from an app.

Are you ready to reclaim space on your Mac? Let’s go!

What are main cache types?

There are roughly three main types of caches you can clean on your Mac:

  • System cache
  • User cache (including app cache and DNS cache)
  • Browser cache.

This article will go over cleaning up all three.

Now, when it comes to clearing cache on Mac, there are two ways you can do it. You can clean them up manually step-by-step, or you can clean them in second with a cleaning utility like CleanMyMac X. If you want to clear cache on your Mac right now, we suggest doing it the easy way:

  1. Launch CleanMyMac X (2019 version is preferable)
  2. Select System Junk
  3. Click 'Scan', and then “Clean”

That’s it, all cache files cleaned! CleanMyMac X works on all systems, including the latest macOS Catalina. You can download CleanMyMac X for free here and try.

However, if you’d like to clean them all manually, follow the steps below.

How to empty user cache on Mac?

Potential space reclaimed from junk - Up to 70%

As you can see, a single user cache folder on my computer takes up enormous 1.6 GB of space. And that’s just one folder out of hundreds. That means a good cleaning could free up gigabytes of free space and speed up your Mac in the process.

To clear your user cache, do the following:

  1. Open a Finder window and select “Go to Folder” in the Go menu.
  2. Type in ~/Library/Caches and hit enter to proceed to this folder.
  3. Optional step: You can highlight and copy everything to a different folder just in case something goes wrong.
  4. Go into each of the folders and clean out everything.
    Note: We recommend that you remove the insides of these folders, but not the folders themselves.

Now, repeat the same steps above, but substitute…
~/Library/Caches with… /Library/Caches

Make sure that once you have finished clearing out these caches for additional hard drive space, you empty out your Trash. To do this, Control-click on the Trash icon in the dock and select “Empty Trash.” Restart your Mac afterward so your Mac can begin to create new, fresh cache files.
To help you make sense of your Library folder here's a brief explanation what each sub folder stands for.

4 main types of cache within Library folder


Caches
Temporary data created by apps and websites. Your apps keep generating cache files for as long as they are active. Relying on such pre-loaded content reduces memory load and speeds up data exchange.
Preferences
Prererences folder is where you’ll find customized settings for your apps. Sometimes, there is a need to reset an app and delete its corrupted Preferences file. Preference files always end with .plist — so they are easy to spot and delete.

App support
App support folder contains large pieces of app data, like game saves. App support files may remain on your Mac long after you’ve deleted the app itself. That’s why “cleaners” for system junk were invented.

Containers
Containers folder is an exchange buffer that apps use to communicate with one another. This is often referred to as “sandboxing.” Containers folder is automatically emptied after you restart your Mac.

If you aren’t comfortable with the risk of deleting user cache manually, a specialist cleaning app CleanMyMac X can do it for you. It will only remove files you don’t need and will find up to 7x more temporary cache files to remove from all over your system.

How to delete system and app cache on Mac

Potential space reclaimed from junk - Up to 10% (manual methods) or 15% (using cleaner)

Next up we’re looking at your system cache files. These hidden cache files are mainly created by the apps that run on your Mac.

What is app cache? In short, it’s any media downloaded by the apps you use in order to work faster and not load it every time you open the app. Do you need it? It’s debatable, but app cache takes up disk space and can be cleaned.

You can delete app cache on Mac in the same way as user cache, by going to ~/Library/Caches and removing the insides of the folders with the app name.

Proceed with caution! Not all app cache can be safely cleared. Some app developers keep important user info on cache folders. Backing up a folder before you delete is always a good idea. If everything works fine then you can delete the backup later.

To be on the safe side, use CleanMyMac, it works with a Safety Database and knows how to clear app cache safely. As if that wasn’t enough it will also remove more junk than manual methods.

How cache is created? An example from Photos

Every time you do image manipulations, like rotating a picture, its additional copy is created on your drive. In this manner, just 4 rotations are enough for an image size to grow from 2.5 MB to 10 MB of disk space taken. If you edit photos and videos on a regular basis, you may notice that your editor application also keeps temporary data — like intermediate version of your files.

How to clear browser cache on Mac

Potential space reclaimed from junk - Up to 15%

We all love to surf the web but every site we visit adds to the growing browser cache. Clearing your browser cache doesn’t just free up space, it will can also clear your browsing history to secure your privacy.

Browser cache temporarily stores website data such as images, scripts, and other stuff, in order to make your browsing faster when you revisit the same site. If you’re worried about your privacy or want to hide pages you’ve visited, you can clear your Internet cache (or browser history). Also, resetting your browser cache will potentially help to get rid of 404, 502, and other errors caused by corrupted cache.

Each browser has its own cache location, so the process of clearing is different in each case. For instance, Chrome cache location is in Settings, Safari stores its cache in Privacy, and Firefox cache location is History tab.

Here’s a quick introduction into how to delete browser cache on Mac.

How to clear cache in Chrome

Here’s how to clear browser cache in Chrome manually:

  1. Click the 3-dot icon in the top right corner of Google Chrome browser.
  2. Choose Settings.
  3. At the bottom of the menu, choose Advanced.
  4. Click “Clear browsing data.”
  5. Deselect all, but Cached images and files.
  6. Timewise, choose All time.
  7. Hit “Clear data” button.

How to clear cache in Firefox

Here’s how to delete cache in Firefox manually:

  1. Click the hamburger icon in the top right corner.
  2. Choose Privacy & Security on the left sidebar.
  3. Scroll to the section 'Cached web content' menu item.
  4. Now, click Clear Now to delete Firefox cache.
  5. Exit/quit all browser windows and re-open the browser.

In the same menu, checkmark Override automatic cache management and limit the cache size in MB. Go with the default amount of 350 MB, which is enough for most users' needs.

TIP:

If for some reason you cannot open a web page, try putting cache: in front of the URL address. This redirects you to the site’s cached copy.

For example: cache:macpaw.com

It works most of the time and can magically open even the otherwise blocked sites.

How to clear cache in Safari

Safari is a little trickier than the rest of the browsers. You could remove caches together with all the other website history through History — Clear History in menu bar.

But if you need more precision, here’s how to empty cache on Safari browser:

  1. In the top menu, choose Safari.
  2. Click Preferences.
  3. Choose the Advanced tab.
  4. Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
  5. Now go to Develop in menu bar.
  6. Choose Empty caches.

Make sure you close/quit the browser and restart it after clearing cache. Note, that all your auto logins and predicted websites in the address bar will be cleared.

Manual methods remove most of the browser junk but if you want to remove all of it, from all your browsers at once, there’s a safer and faster method to clear your internet cache on any browser.

For most of the case which iTunes run slowly, the library of iTunes/iPhone can be the main reason, thus Tenorshare TunesCare will help you to recover iTunesDB and iTunesCDB files to ensure the running speed if iTunes.Launch the program and connect your iOS device with Tenorshare TunesCare, you will see 'Fix iTunes Sync Problems' highlighted and click the button. To speed up installation, ignore the message that asks you to add songs in your Music Folder to iTunes. Loading icloud music library taking forever mac. Just have a try! Optimize iTunes with Tenorshare TunesCareis designed for fix iTunes syncing problems and all iTunes errors. Speed Up InstallationiTunes installation package is usually very big and it takes quite a long time to complete the installation.

How to clear cache files on Mac with a single click of a button

Instead of searching all over your Mac to find and remove cache files yourself, you can clear user caches on a Mac using CleanMyMac X. It makes removing cache files as easy as can be.

To get rid of cache files with CleanMyMac X:

  1. Download CleanMyMac X (free) and launch it.
  2. Select Smart Scan in the left menu.
  3. Hit Scan at the bottom of CleanMyMac X.
  4. Then click Clean.

And you're done! If you’d like to remove only cache files and nothing else, click on Review Details before clicking Clean. Deselect everything but System Cache Files and User Cache Files, then click Clean.

The easy way to clear all browsing data

Instead of clicking between browsers and being limited to what they let you clean, take full control of all your browser cleaning with this simple method:

  1. Open CleanMyMac and select the Privacy module
  2. Click on your browser of choice
  3. Make your selections from the list of all your cache and privacy tracks
  4. Click Remove to clean your browser

Cleaning your Mac has never been easier. Download CleanMyMac X and try for free to get yourself a faster, cleaner Mac — without worrying about cleaning the wrong thing.

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And if you’re looking to clear just browser cookies, check out this easy one-minute explanation we’ve made for you.

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