How to clear cache on a Mac
Clearing app and browser caches can free disk space or fix stale website data on a Mac, MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. The right steps depend on whether you mean app files, Safari, Chrome, Firefox or DNS.
Skip the manual hunt: scan your Mac free. Broomkit shows the size before anything moves. No account, no card; a licence is only needed to move files to the Trash.
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To clear cache on a Mac, open Finder, press ⇧⌘G, go to
~/Library/Caches, and delete the contents of the folders inside —
not the folders themselves. Then empty the Trash. Quit apps first: a
running app may hold cache files open and rewrite them immediately.
This is safe. Every file in ~/Library/Caches exists to be regenerated:
apps rebuild what they need on the next launch. The only cost is that the first
launch after clearing is slightly slower while the cache refills. Never touch
/System/Library/Caches (kernel caches that can prevent boot) or
~/Library/Containers as a whole (live app data such as Notes).
The steps are identical on a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro or iMac. On one Mac we measured, application caches alone held 28.5 GB, and Chrome’s cache was 13.5 GB of that — regenerable files, not bookmarks or passwords.
Choose the fix that matches your goal.
- Free space from apps: clear the contents of
~/Library/Caches. - Reclaim space from apps you removed: a cache purge will not touch these — use a Mac uninstaller that finds leftovers by bundle ID.
- Fix a website that looks outdated: clear that browser's cached web content.
- Reduce System Data: inspect caches, backups and app leftovers rather than deleting one system folder. See what System Data on a Mac is.
- Fix a connection problem: flush DNS separately; it does not free disk space.
How to clear application cache on a Mac
- Quit every app you can. Running apps hold cache files open.
- In Finder choose Go → Go to Folder (⇧⌘G).
- Type
~/Library/Cachesand press Return. - Open each folder and delete what is inside it. Leave the folder itself — some apps expect it to exist.
- Empty the Trash. Nothing is freed until you do.
Sort by size first. A handful of folders usually account for almost everything, and there is no reason to work through hundreds of small ones.
Top cache offenders (and what is safe)
On the reference Mac these were the large, regenerable caches. Your list will differ, but the “safe?” column is the decision that matters.
| Source | Typical location | Measured | Safe to clear? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | Inside Chrome’s profile / Caches | 13.5 GB | Yes — cache only, not the whole profile |
| App caches (all) | ~/Library/Caches | 28.5 GB | Yes — contents of folders |
| Slack / Electron apps | ~/Library/Caches + app support | Often multi‑GB | Yes for cache; keep Application Support if unsure |
| Spotify | ~/Library/Caches/com.spotify.client | Varies | Yes — offline downloads may need re-fetch |
| Xcode DerivedData | ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData | Often 10+ GB | Yes for developers — rebuilds on next build |
| Docker disk image | Docker’s VM image | Often 10–60 GB | Use Docker’s prune — deleting the file alone often fails |
See your cache totals free. Scan with Broomkit — no account, no card. A licence is only needed to move files to the Trash.
Download FreeUser cache vs system cache
Think in two buckets. User application cache under
~/Library/Caches is almost always safe: it is scoped to your account and
designed to refill. System-wide cache under /Library/Caches
is usually safe to thin selectively, but you may need an admin password and you should
only remove folders you recognise. Protected system cache under
/System/Library/Caches is never a cleanup target.
Cache folders you should not delete on a Mac
/System/Library/Caches — holds kernel and system
caches. Deleting these can leave a Mac that will not boot. This is not the same
folder as the one in your home directory.
~/Library/Containers — despite the name, this is not
cache. It holds the live working data of every sandboxed app, including your Notes
database. Deleting a container destroys real user data.
Also leave swap files, sleep images and app language packs alone. Cleaners sometimes remove these to inflate the amount they claim to free; the actual result is slow wake-from-sleep or apps that crash on launch, for a couple of gigabytes.
How to clear Safari cache
Safari keeps its cache inside a sandboxed container, so it is cleared from the app rather than from Finder.
- Open Safari → Settings → Advanced.
- Tick Show features for web developers.
- From the Develop menu choose Empty Caches.
To clear history and cookies as well, use Safari → Clear History. Note that this signs you out of most websites, which emptying the cache alone does not.
How to clear browser cache on a Mac for Chrome and Firefox
Browser cache is separate from cookies, browsing history, saved passwords and bookmarks. Clear only cached files unless you specifically want to sign out of websites or erase browsing history.
Chrome: ⌘⇧⌫ (Command–Shift–Delete) opens Clear Browsing Data. Choose "Cached images and files" and set the range to All time. Leave passwords and autofill unticked unless you specifically want to lose them.
Firefox: Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data → Clear Data, then tick only "Cached Web Content".
Browser caches are frequently the largest single thing on a Mac. On the machine we measured, Chrome's cache alone was 13.5 GB — and that is the cache only, not the profile with your bookmarks and logins, which should never be deleted.
13.5 GB was one browser cache on one Mac. Scan yours free with Broomkit and review every path before reclaiming.
Download Free for MacWhat happens after you clear cache
The first launch of each app is slower while it rebuilds thumbnails, web assets or local indexes. That is expected, not a sign something broke. If an app misbehaves after a clear, quit it fully and open it again; if it still fails, restore the folder from Trash before you empty it. Never clear caches as a daily ritual — caches exist to make your Mac faster.
DNS cache (separate from disk cache)
Disk cache under ~/Library/Caches is not the same as the DNS resolver
cache in memory. Flushing DNS does not free gigabytes; it only helps when hostnames
resolve incorrectly after a network change. On current macOS:
- Open Terminal.
- Run
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder. - Enter your admin password when prompted.
Skip this step if your goal is free disk space — it will not move the needle on Storage settings. Use it when Safari or Chrome cannot reach a site that works on another device.
Using a Mac cleaner for caches
Manual clearing works when you know which folders are large. A cleaner is useful when you want every app’s cache sized and listed before anything moves — especially on a MacBook Air where 20+ GB of regenerable cache is a meaningful fraction of a 256 GB SSD. Prefer tools that show full paths, leave unsafe system folders alone, and move files to the Trash. Broomkit’s 3-day trial does that; keeping it needs a one-time licence. Before trusting any tool with your disk, run it through the Mac cache cleaner safety checklist. For product comparisons see best free Mac cleaners and CleanMyMac alternatives.
How to clear cache on a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro
The steps are identical on a MacBook Air, a MacBook Pro, a Mac mini and an
iMac. Cache lives in ~/Library/Caches on every Mac, and there
is no separate laptop procedure — anyone telling you otherwise is padding an article.
What differs is how much it matters. A MacBook Air commonly ships with a 256 GB SSD, and the storage is soldered, so it cannot be upgraded later. On a 256 GB machine, the 22.5 GB of application cache we measured is roughly a tenth of the entire disk. On a 1 TB desktop it is a rounding error you could ignore for years.
This is why "MacBook storage full" is so much more common a complaint than the desktop equivalent. The cache is not growing faster; the disk is simply smaller.
What is cache on a Mac?
A cache is a local copy of something the computer can get again but would rather not. Browsers cache images so pages load faster on a second visit; apps cache downloaded assets, thumbnails and rendered previews. Because every cached file is by definition reproducible, caches are the safest large thing to delete on any Mac.
They are also why System Data grows without limit: apps write caches continuously and almost none of them clean up after themselves.
Is it safe to delete cache files on a Mac?
Yes, for ~/Library/Caches. Every file there is designed to be regenerated. It is not safe for /System/Library/Caches or ~/Library/Containers.
Will clearing cache delete my passwords or bookmarks?
No. Cache and browsing data are separate. Clearing the cache leaves passwords, bookmarks and logins untouched — but clearing cookies or history does sign you out of sites.
How often should I clear my Mac's cache?
There is no schedule. Clear it when you need the space or when an app is behaving strangely. Caches make your Mac faster; removing them routinely just makes things slower for no benefit.
Why does the cache come back?
Because that is what caches do. The space is freed now; apps will gradually refill it as you use them.
Sources: Apple — Clear your browsing history in Safari · Google — Clear cache and cookies in Chrome. Published 30 August 2026 · Updated 12 September 2026. Measurements taken on macOS 26.