This data is known as Cache. It is just a temporary file created by apps, browsers and many other programs to help your Mac run faster. Hardware Caches include CPU Cache, GPU Cache and DSPs (Digital Signal Processors), whereas Software Cache includes Disk/System Cache, User Cache and Web Cache. Caches are used for future use.
Optimized Storage in macOS Sierra and later* can save space by storing your content in iCloud and making it available on demand. When storage space is needed, files, photos, movies, email attachments, and other files that you seldom use are stored in iCloud automatically. Each file stays right where you last saved it, and downloads when you open it. Files that you’ve used recently remain on your Mac, along with optimized versions of your photos.
* If you haven't yet upgraded to macOS Sierra or later, learn about other ways to free up storage space.
Find out how much storage is available on your Mac
Choose Apple menu > About This Mac, then click Storage. Each segment of the bar is an estimate of the storage space used by a category of files. Move your pointer over each segment for more detail.
Click the Manage button to open the Storage Management window, pictured below. This button is available only in macOS Sierra or later.
Mac os sierra supports adobe software. Adobe has tested the latest versions of Adobe Creative Cloud applications for reliability, performance, and user experience when installed on Intel-based systems running macOS High Sierra (version 10.13). The latest versions of all Creative Cloud products are compatible.
Manage storage on your Mac
The Storage Management window offers recommendations for optimizing your storage. If some recommendations are already turned on, you will see fewer recommendations.
Store in iCloud
Click the Store in iCloud button, then choose from these options:
- Desktop and Documents. Store all files from these two locations in iCloud Drive. When storage space is needed, only the files you recently opened are kept on your Mac, so that you can easily work offline. Files stored only in iCloud show a download icon , which you can double-click to download the original file. Learn more about this feature.
- Photos. Store all original, full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud Photos. When storage space is needed, only space-saving (optimized) versions of photos are kept on your Mac. To download the original photo or video, just open it.
- Messages. Store all messages and attachments in iCloud. When storage space is needed, only the messages and attachments you recently opened are kept on your Mac. Learn more about Messages in iCloud.
Storing files in iCloud uses the storage space in your iCloud storage plan. If you reach or exceed your iCloud storage limit, you can either buy more iCloud storage or make more iCloud storage available. iCloud storage starts at 50GB for $0.99 (USD) a month, and you can purchase additional storage directly from your Apple device. Learn more about prices in your region.
Optimize Storage
Click the Optimize button, then choose from these options.
- Automatically remove watched movies and TV shows. When storage space is needed, movies or TV shows that you purchased from the iTunes Store and already watched are removed from your Mac. Click the download icon next to a movie or TV show to download it again.
- Download only recent attachments. Mail automatically downloads only the attachments that you recently received. You can manually download any attachments at any time by opening the email or attachment, or saving the attachment to your Mac.
- Don't automatically download attachments. Mail downloads an attachment only when you open the email or attachment, or save the attachment to your Mac.
Optimizing storage for movies, TV shows, and email attachments doesn't require iCloud storage space.
Empty Trash Automatically
Empty Trash Automatically permanently deletes files that have been in the Trash for more than 30 days.
Reduce Clutter
Reduce Clutter helps you to identify large files and files you might no longer need. Click the Review Files button, then choose any of the file categories in the sidebar, such as Applications, Documents, Music Creation, or Trash.
You can delete the files in some categories directly from this window. Other categories show the total storage space used by the files in each app. You can then open the app and decide whether to delete files from within it.
Learn how to redownload apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books.
Where to find the settings for each feature
The button for each recommendation in the Storage Management window affects one or more settings in other apps. You can also control those settings directly within each app.
- If you're using macOS Catalina, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Apple ID, then select iCloud in the sidebar: Store in iCloud turns on the Optimize Mac Storage setting on the right. Then click Options next to iCloud Drive: Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders setting. To turn off iCloud Drive entirely, deselect iCloud Drive.
In macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click iCloud, then click Options next to iCloud Drive. Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders and Optimize Mac Storage settings. - In Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then click iCloud. Store in iCloud selects iCloud Photos and Optimize Mac Storage.
- In Messages, choose Messages > Preferences, then click iMessage. Store in iCloud selects Enable Messages in iCloud.
- If you're using macOS Catalina, open the Apple TV app, choose TV > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Files. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.”
In macOS Mojave or earlier, open iTunes, choose iTunes > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Advanced. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.” - In Mail, choose Mail > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Accounts. In the Account Information section on the right, Optimize Storage sets the Download Attachments menu to either Recent or None.
Empty Trash Automatically: From the Finder, choose Finder > Preferences, then click Advanced. Empty Trash Automatically selects “Remove items from the Trash after 30 days.”
Other ways that macOS helps automatically save space
With macOS Sierra or later, your Mac automatically takes these additional steps to save storage space:
- Detects duplicate downloads in Safari, keeping only the most recent version of the download
- Reminds you to delete used app installers
- Removes old fonts, languages, and dictionaries that aren't being used
- Clears caches, logs, and other unnecessary data when storage space is needed
How to free up storage space manually
Even without using the Optimized Storage features of Sierra or later, you can take other steps to make more storage space available:
- Music, movies, and other media can use a lot of storage space. Learn how to delete music, movies, and TV shows from your device.
- Delete other files that you no longer need by moving them to the Trash, then emptying the Trash. The Downloads folder is good place to look for files that you might no longer need.
- Move files to an external storage device.
- Compress files.
- Delete unneeded email: In the Mail app, choose Mailbox > Erase Junk Mail. If you no longer need the email in your Trash mailbox, choose Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items.
Learn more
- The Storage pane of About This Mac is the best way to determine the amount of storage space available on your Mac. Disk Utility and other apps might show storage categories such as Not Mounted, VM, Recovery, Other Volumes, Free, or Purgeable. Don't rely on these categories to understand how to free up storage space or how much storage space is available for your data.
- When you duplicate a file on an APFS-formatted volume, that file doesn't use additional storage space on the volume. Deleting a duplicate file frees up only the space required by any data you might have added to the duplicate. If you no longer need any copies of the file, you can recover all of the storage space by deleting both the duplicate and the original file.
- If you're using a pro app and Optimize Mac Storage, learn how to make sure that your projects are always on your Mac and able to access their files.
'I have a MacBook, and recently my MacBook become slower and slower. One of my friends suggests me to clear cache data. To be honest, I am not tech savvy, and I don’t know how to clear cache on Mac at all. Please help!'
Like Windows computer, Mac also has cache and temporary files.
Cache and temporary files on your Mac helps you open some browsing pages quickly.
Surely, it records your trace and takes up some storage.
If you want to free up space, or want your browsing history to be secret, clearing Mac cache and temporary files is necessary.
How to clear cache on Mac?
This page shows the full guide to help you delete cache and temporary files on MacBook Air/Pro, iMac, iMac Pro, MacBook, including app cache, browsing cache (Firefox, Chrome, etc.) and system cache.
Part 1: Easiest way to clear all cache throughly on Mac
If you are seeking for an automatic and quick way to clear Mac caches, then you need the third-party tool, Mac Cleaner, to help you.
It has the capacity to remove junk files, unneeded files, large photos and other useless documents on Mac in one click, which is more efficient than other methods.
4,000,000+ Downloads
Scan entire hard drives to display all junk files and other data for previewing.
Detect junk files, unneeded files, large and old files, duplicate files and uninstall apps.
Monitor battery status, memory usage, CPU usage and disk utilization.
Work for iMac, iMac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air/Pro, Mac mini, etc.
Step 1. Download Mac Cleaner
Download the latest version of Mac Cleaner and follow the onscreen assistant to install it on your Mac.
When you want to clear cache on Mac, launch the application, it will scan entire hard drive and show you the status of your Mac automatically.
Step 2. Select data for clearing
Go to the 'Junk Files' tab from left hand column, then locate to the right side, and click on the 'Scan' button at bottom right corner to scan all cache data and logs quickly. When you are presented the result, click the 'Review' button to see the details.
Step 3. Clear cache on Mac
Select the data category that you want to remove, the junk files and cache data will show up. Unfold the 'Sort by' dropdown menu and arrange the cache files by name, time and more. Then you can check the boxes in front of worthless files and cache data in each category.
For example, to clear browser cache on Mac for Safari, find the folder title contains Safari and select it.
Finally, click the 'Clean' button at bottom right side, then hit 'Clean' again on the popup dialog to confirm it and trigger the process. When it is done, you can further free up storage by cleaning unneeded and large files.
Part 2. How to clear browsing cache (Firefox/Chrome/Safari) on Mac
When you surf the Internet, your browser will create cache files for you. Here we only take the three frequently used browsers, as the example to show how to delete cache on Mac.
How to clear browser cache on Mac Safari
Step 1: Open the Safari app on Mac. If you cannot find the Develop menu, go to the 'Safari' menu at upper left corner, head to 'Preferences' > 'Advanced', locate to the bottom and tick the checkbox next to 'Show Develop menu in menu bar'.
Step 2: Then back to Safari window, the Develop menu should show up on top ribbon. Pull down the “Develop” menu and choose 'Empty Caches'. Wait for a few seconds until clearing browser cache on Mac is complete.
Step 3: To further clear browsing data in Safari, you can go to the History menu, select 'Clear History'. Choose 'all history' from the dropdown menu and then hit 'Clear History' button to get rid of browsing data on Safari.
if you are running an iPhone, just learn here to clear iPhone browsing history here.
No matter wipe Mac or remove browsing data, there is no notification or confirming message telling you that Safari browser cache data has been cleared. It simply works behind the scenes.
How to clear browser cache on Mac Chrome
Step 1: If you prefer to use Google Chrome on Mac, you have to clear browser cache on Mac in your Chrome browser. Start the Chrome for Mac app, type chrome://settings/clearBrowserData into the address bar and hit the 'Enter' key to go to the clear browsing data window. Or you can click the menu button at top right side with a three-dot icon and head to 'More tools' > 'Clear browsing data” to open it.
Step 2: Make sure to check the boxes in front of 'Cached images and files', 'Browsing history', 'Download history' and other data you want to clear, and then click the 'Clear browsing data' button to clear browser cache on Mac.
It may take a while to complete the process depending on how much cache and browsing data in your browser. And you can set up to clear cache on Mac automatically: pull down the menu icon, go to 'Settings' > 'Show Advanced Settings' > 'Privacy' > 'Content Settings' > 'Cookies' and select 'Keep local data only until you quit your browser'.
How to clear search history on Mac Firefox
Step 1: Open the Firefox for Mac app, pull down the menu button at top right corner of the window marked with a three-line icon. Choose 'Options' to open the options page for Firefox. Then go to the 'Privacy & Security' tab from left side column. Or input about:preferences#privacy into the address bar to open it directly.
Step 2: Scroll down on the right page until you see the 'Cached Web Content' section, then click the 'Clear Now' button to clear browser cache on Mac.
Step 3: To clear search history on Mac in the Firefox browser, locate to the History section on the Privacy page, click the link labeled Clear Recent History to open the floating dialog. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+Del.
Step 4: Finally, hit the Clear Now button to initiate clearing search history on Mac in Firefox. To set up automatic clear history on exit, navigate to the History section in 'Privacy & Security' tab and tick the checkbox next to 'Clear history' when Firefox closes.
Part 3. How to clear app cache on Mac
Mac also shows you the solutions to clear cache on Mac
Step 1: Exit all apps on your MacBook and open the Finder app. Then hold down the 'Shift' key in Sierra or 'Option/Alt' key in earlier versions and unfold the 'Go' menu.
Step 2: Scroll down and find the 'Library' option, click on it to open your Library folder. Then search for the folder called “Caches” and open it, which saves most caches and temporary files generated by Mac apps.
Step 3: Press 'Cmd + A' to select all caches, you can also hold 'Cmd' and select specific app caches. Right click on the selected cache files and choose 'Move to Trash' to throw them to your trash can.
Step 4: Finally, empty the Trash on Mac as usual to clear cache on Mac.
Clear Cache Files Mac
The caches folder contains many files and folders with nonsensical names, such as com.app.itunes. To find the cache file for certain app, you have to look for the folder that matches the app’s name. For example, the file named com.apple. iTunes would include the iTunes caches. Plus, the app cache file does not have UI, so you cannot open it without third party tools.
Part 4. How to clear system and DNS caches on Mac
The Mac system also creates cache and temporary files, but you’d better not interfere with system level cache files and folders. That may lead to in various sorts of unexpected results or even damage your device. To clear system cache on Mac safely, follow the steps below.
Step 1: Go to the Apple menu on your desktop, and choose 'Restart'. This will trigger specific system maintenance tasks that clear caches on Mac for system level automatically. The caches cleared include virtual memory, system temporary files, completed software updates, caches of App Store and more.
Wireless network hacking software for mac. A Wi-Fi hacking software is a software program that will primarily enable you to crack Wi-Fi password of a nearby network. These software programs are designed to work for WPA, WPA2 and WEP. Some of them are open-source applications and work as good network analyzer as well as packet sniffer.
Accidentally clear system files? Get system recovery here.
Step 2: After your MacBook startup, you can clear DNS caches on Mac manually. Input terminal into Spotlight to open Terminal, and then type the command below into Terminal:
'sudo dscacheutil -flushcache;sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder;say cache flushed'
Step 3: Enter your admin password to perform the command and remove DNS caches from your Mac computer.
You may need: How to clear cache on iPad?
Conclusion
Chrome On Mac Clear Cache
In this tutorial, we have told you how to clear cache on MacBook Air/Pro and other Mac computers. You can manually clear cache from system, app data and browsing history. Moreover, we also show the easiest way to clear all cache and temporary files on Mac with Mac Cleaner throughly. No matter which way you use, you should take care of the operation.