How to Clear Cache in Arc Browser on Mac (2026)

If you have noticed Arc slowing down, pages loading stale content, or your Mac's storage ticking upward for no obvious reason, it is time to clear Arc browser cache on Mac. Arc stores a surprisingly large amount of cached data — page resources, media files, service-worker caches, and browsing history — inside a handful of folders buried deep in ~/Library. This guide walks you through every method, from the in-app settings panel to direct Finder and Terminal access, so you can recover that space quickly and safely on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs running macOS Sequoia or Tahoe.

What Arc Caches and Where It Lives

Arc is built on Chromium, which means its cache layout follows the same conventions as Chrome and Brave. The files sit inside your user Library, which is hidden by default. Before you delete anything, it helps to know exactly what each folder holds.

The top-level ~/Library/Caches/company.thebrowser.Browser/ folder is usually the single biggest contributor and is the safest to delete in full — Arc rebuilds it automatically the next time you browse.

Method 1: Clear Cache from Arc's Built-In Settings

This is the safest starting point because Arc manages the deletion itself and you cannot accidentally touch unrelated files.

1. Open Arc and press Cmd , to open Preferences, or click the Arc logo in the top-left corner and choose Settings.
2. Navigate to Advanced in the sidebar.
3. Click Clear Browsing Data. A sheet appears with checkboxes for Browsing History, Cookies, Cached Images and Files, and more.
4. Set the time range to All time if you want to reclaim the most space.
5. Check Cached images and files at minimum. You can also check Cookies and other site data if you are willing to log back into websites.
6. Click Clear data and wait for the spinner to finish — this can take 10–30 seconds for large caches.

After this step Arc's HTTP disk cache is purged. The profile folder (Application Support/Arc/) will still contain history, cookies (if you left that unchecked), and extension data.

Method 2: Delete Cache Files Directly in Finder

The built-in tool does not expose every cache subfolder. Going through Finder gives you finer control and lets you check sizes before deleting.

1. Quit Arc completely: Cmd Q. Deleting files while Arc is running can cause it to immediately rewrite them.
2. In Finder, press Cmd Shift G to open the Go to Folder dialog.
3. Type ~/Library/Caches/company.thebrowser.Browser and press Return.
4. Select all contents of this folder (Cmd A), then move them to Trash (Cmd Delete).
5. Repeat for the per-profile caches inside Application Support. In the Go to Folder dialog enter:
   ~/Library/Application Support/Arc/User Data/Default/Cache
6. Select all and move to Trash.
7. Optionally clear the Code Cache and GPU Cache at the same level.
8. Empty Trash to actually free the disk space.

Do not delete the User Data/Default/ folder itself — that contains your bookmarks, passwords, and extension settings. Only delete the named subfolders listed above.

Method 3: Clear Cache via Terminal (Fastest)

If you are comfortable with the command line, a few commands wipe Arc's caches in seconds and are easy to put into a shell alias or script.

1. Quit Arc: Cmd Q.
2. Open Terminal (Applications → Utilities → Terminal).
3. Run the following commands one at a time — each rm -rf permanently deletes the target without sending it to Trash, so double-check the paths before pressing Return:

rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/company.thebrowser.Browser/
rm -rf "~/Library/Application Support/Arc/User Data/Default/Cache/"
rm -rf "~/Library/Application Support/Arc/User Data/Default/Code Cache/"
rm -rf "~/Library/Application Support/Arc/User Data/Default/GPUCache/"

Note: paths with spaces need to be quoted. After running these commands, launch Arc — it will recreate all the directories on its own.

How Much Space Can You Expect to Reclaim?

Results vary widely depending on how long Arc has been installed and how many tabs and Spaces you keep open. Users who have not cleared cache in six or more months often find 1–3 GB waiting to be recovered. The HTTP disk cache in ~/Library/Caches/company.thebrowser.Browser/ alone can reach 2 GB on machines where Arc is the primary browser.

If you want a broader view of what is consuming space across all browsers and system caches, a tool like Crumb can audit all of these locations at once and show you what is safe to remove before anything is deleted — useful when you have Chrome, Safari, and Arc all running side by side.

For a deeper dive into where Mac storage goes in general, the guide on what is taking up space on your Mac is a solid companion read.

Clearing Cookies and Site Data vs. Cache: What Is the Difference?

These are related but distinct categories:

• Cache — Temporary copies of web resources (images, fonts, scripts) saved to speed up repeat visits. Deleting it is completely safe; the browser just re-downloads files on the next visit.
• Cookies — Small files that track session state, preferences, and login tokens. Deleting cookies logs you out of websites.
• Local Storage / IndexedDB — Larger structured data that web apps store on your device (think offline drafts, app state). Deleting it may reset in-app progress for certain web apps.
• History — A record of visited URLs. Deleting it is safe and has no effect on how pages load.

For most users, clearing only cached images and files is the right move — it recovers the most space with zero side effects.

How Often Should You Clear Arc's Cache?

There is no universal rule, but a practical schedule looks like this:

• Every 1–3 months if Arc is your main browser and you keep many tabs open across multiple Spaces.
• After a major macOS or Arc update — stale caches from older browser versions can occasionally cause rendering glitches.
• Whenever pages look broken or stale — the classic fix-all for front-end weirdness.
• When you are running low on disk space — browser cache is one of the first things to clear because it rebuilds itself harmlessly.

You can also learn more about what cache files on a Mac actually are to understand when clearing them makes sense and when it does not.

Troubleshooting: Arc Cache Keeps Growing Back

Arc's cache is designed to grow — it is doing its job by pre-loading resources. But if you are watching the cache balloon past 2 GB within a few days, a few things can help keep it in check:

Limit the Cache Size

Arc inherits Chromium's cache management. You can experiment with launching Arc from the command line with a flag to cap the cache size:

/Applications/Arc.app/Contents/MacOS/Arc --disk-cache-size=524288000

That flag sets a 500 MB ceiling. This is an unofficial flag and may not persist across Arc updates, but it is a useful experiment if cache growth is a persistent problem.

Disable Preloading for Pinned Tabs

Arc's Pinned Tabs and Easels can keep pages alive in the background, causing constant cache writes. Under Settings → Advanced, you can tune which Spaces load eagerly versus on demand. Reducing the number of always-on pinned tabs noticeably slows cache growth.

Check Extension Activity

Some extensions — particularly ad blockers that maintain large filter lists, or tab managers that snapshot pages — write significant data to disk. Navigate to arc://extensions and disable extensions one at a time to identify culprits.