Mac cache files: what's actually safe to delete

Not every cache directory on macOS is created equal. Some are completely safe to clear. Others should be left alone. And a few will simply rebuild themselves the moment you delete them, so clearing them is busywork.

Safe to clear

These directories are safe to empty while their apps are closed:

• ~/Library/Caches — user-level app caches
• ~/Library/Logs — user-level diagnostic logs
• /private/var/log — system logs
• Per-browser cache subdirectories (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Arc, Brave)
• ~/Library/Saved Application State — window/document state from closed apps
• Xcode derived data: ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData
• Xcode device support: ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS DeviceSupport (after you stop debugging old iOS versions)

Risky — handle with care

• /Library/Caches (note: no tilde — this is system-wide). Some system services cache state here. Clearing is generally fine but can briefly slow first launches.
• ~/Library/Containers/*/Data/Library/Caches — app sandbox caches. Safe per-app but quitting the app first matters.
• App-specific local storage in ~/Library/Application Support is not cache, it's user data. Treat with caution.

Pointless to clear

• DNS cache: macOS will rebuild this within seconds.
• Font cache: rebuilds automatically when an app requests a font.
• Memory caches: live in RAM, not on disk. Restarting your Mac empties them.

The bigger picture

Clearing caches reclaims storage but does not make your Mac faster long-term. Caches exist because rebuilding them is slower than reading them. The reason to clear them is storage pressure, not performance.

If you want one tool that picks the right directories, sorts by size, and shows you what's actually there before deletion, that's what we built Unclutter for.