The moment you set up a new Mac and launch apps, it will start generating and storing cache on your device. This is quite normal, and pretty much all computers do that. However, over time, the cache size may become too large and consume a lot of space on your disk. So, one way to free up space on your Mac would be to clear this cache. To do so on macOS Sonoma and earlier OS versions, follow the steps below.
How to clear cache on Mac
To clear the cache on macOS, follow the steps below:
- Close all open apps after saving your data or progress.
- Launch the Finder app.
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Click on Go in the menu bar.
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Tap on Go to Folder.
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Type ~/Library/ in the text field.
- Hit the Return key.
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Locate the folder titled Caches.
- Enter it.
- Hit Command + A to select all of its contents.
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Press Command + Delete to trash the included files and folders.
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Hit Shift + Command + Delete to empty the Trash.
- This will free up even more space on your Mac and sometimes fix certain bugs.
What's cache, anyway?
Caches are files created by apps and macOS that store loaded content. Clearing cache shouldn't cause any important data loss. However, next time you launch your apps, it could take slightly longer for them to load, since they will need to reload the deleted content/cache. So what's the point of clearing cache if apps are going to create them again anyway?
Why clear the cache?
Some caches are left behind by content that isn't needed or no longer exists. By clearing the cache, the useless files will be removed, and next time you reload a certain app, it'll only create the updated cache files it needs to operate. So the new cache won't be identical to the trashed one. Instead, it will have a smaller size, thus freeing up storage on your Mac.