What's safe to delete

23 Folders Safe to Delete on Mac to Free Up Space (2026)

A vetted 2026 checklist of folders safe to delete on Mac — exact paths, whether each regenerates, and how much space you can realistically reclaim.

Crumb teamUpdated 7 min read
On this page
  1. Understanding the Mac folder hierarchy
  2. The 23 folders safe to delete on Mac
  3. Folders you should NOT delete
  4. A quick cleanup checklist
  5. How Crumb automates this
  6. Summary
  7. FAQ

If your Mac is flagging "Storage Almost Full" or Finder's About This Mac shows a stubborn grey "System Data" wedge, the fastest fix is knowing exactly which folders are safe to delete on Mac — and which ones will break things if you touch them. This checklist gives you the exact paths, a plain-English explanation of what each folder does, and an honest note on whether macOS will recreate it.

Before you start: deleting cached or temporary data is permanent. macOS does not keep a Recycle Bin copy of files you remove via Terminal. Back up anything you are unsure about, or use a tool like Crumb that rates each folder's removal risk before you act.

Understanding the Mac folder hierarchy

Most purgeable junk lives in one of three places:

  • ~/Library/ — your personal (per-user) library; visible by holding Option and clicking the Go menu in Finder.
  • /Library/ — system-wide library; requires administrator authentication to modify.
  • /private/var/ — low-level Unix system temp and log storage; handle with care.

The 23 folders safe to delete on Mac

User Caches

Folder What it holds Regenerates? Typical size
~/Library/Caches App-specific cache files for every app you have opened — thumbnails, API responses, compiled shaders. Yes, gradually 1 – 20 GB
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari Safari's page cache, WebKit resources, and favicons. Yes 200 MB – 2 GB
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.dt.Xcode Xcode's private module and index cache. Safe to nuke completely. Yes 500 MB – 5 GB
~/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome/Default/Cache Chrome's network cache — duplicates data already on the web. Yes 100 MB – 1 GB

To delete all user caches at once:

rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/*

Quit all running apps first. They will recreate their own cache folders when next launched.

System and Application Logs

Folder What it holds Regenerates? Typical size
~/Library/Logs Per-user application logs — crash reports, sync errors, diagnostic dumps. Yes 10 – 500 MB
/Library/Logs System-wide logs written by Apple daemons and third-party installers. Yes 50 – 200 MB
/private/var/log Low-level Unix system logs. macOS log rotation handles these automatically; manual deletion is fine. Yes 10 – 100 MB 
rm -rf ~/Library/Logs/*
sudo rm -rf /Library/Logs/*

Xcode and Developer Folders

If you do any iOS or macOS development, these three folders are the single biggest source of reclaimable space on developer machines.

Folder What it holds Regenerates? Typical size
~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData Build products and indexes for every Xcode project you have ever opened. Yes, on next build 5 – 50 GB
~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices Full disk images for each iOS/watchOS/tvOS simulator you have installed. Only if you re-add simulators 5 – 40 GB
~/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS DeviceSupport Device symbol files for every physical device OS version you have tested against. Only when you reconnect that device 2 – 20 GB
~/Library/Developer/Xcode/Archives Historical app archives from past distribution builds. Safe to delete after your app is already shipped. No 1 – 10 GB 
rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/*
xcrun simctl delete unavailable

The xcrun simctl delete unavailable command removes only simulators for OS versions you no longer have installed — a safer choice than deleting the entire Devices folder.

iOS and iPhone Backups

Folder What it holds Regenerates? Typical size
~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup Local iPhone/iPad backups created by Finder (or old iTunes). Each backup can be several gigabytes. Only when you back up again 2 – 50 GB

Before deleting, open Finder → your iPhone → Manage Backups and verify iCloud Backup is on, or that you have another copy. Then delete old device backups directly from that UI, or:

open ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup

Mail Downloads and Attachments

Folder What it holds Regenerates? Typical size
~/Library/Mail/V10/MailData/Attachments Local copies of every email attachment Apple Mail has ever downloaded. Yes, when you open the email again 500 MB – 10 GB
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Caches Mail's sandboxed cache — index data, message previews. Yes 100 MB – 1 GB

Quit Mail before removing its cache. The app will reindex (slowly) on next launch.

Temporary and System Junk

Folder What it holds Regenerates? Typical size
/private/var/folders macOS's per-user temporary files (T/ subfolder) and caches (C/ subfolder). The system purges these automatically when storage pressure rises, but you can delete the contents of the T/ subdirectories manually. Yes 1 – 5 GB
~/Library/Application Support/Slack/Cache (and similar Electron app caches) Electron-based apps (Slack, Discord, VS Code) maintain their own Chromium cache inside Application Support. Yes 200 MB – 3 GB each

App Leftovers and the Trash

Folder What it holds Regenerates? Typical size
~/.Trash Everything you have dragged to the Trash but not yet permanently deleted. Empty it. No Varies widely
~/Library/Application Support/[AppName] Preferences, databases, and state left behind by apps you have already uninstalled. Dragging an app to Trash does not remove these. No 10 MB – 2 GB per app
~/Library/Preferences/[com.appname.plist] Preference files for uninstalled apps. Small individually, but orphaned plists accumulate. No Typically small
~/Library/Saved Application State Window-restoration snapshots for apps. Can grow large for apps that snapshot frequently. Yes 50 – 500 MB

Finding orphaned app-support folders manually is tedious. Download Crumb to scan the whole Mac and surface leftover bundles with a single click, showing you exactly which folders belong to apps that are no longer installed.

Homebrew and Package Manager Caches

Folder What it holds Regenerates? Typical size
~/Library/Caches/Homebrew Downloaded bottle archives for every formula you have ever installed via Homebrew. Only on next install/upgrade 500 MB – 10 GB
~/.npm/_cacache npm's local package cache. Safe to clear; npm refetches packages as needed. Yes 200 MB – 5 GB
~/.gradle/caches Gradle dependency cache for Android or JVM projects. Yes, on next build 500 MB – 8 GB 
brew cleanup --prune=all
npm cache clean --force

Folders you should NOT delete

For balance, here are commonly confused folders that are not safe to remove:

  • ~/Library/Application Support/ (root) — contains live app databases. Delete individual app subfolders only after the app is uninstalled.
  • ~/Library/Keychains — your passwords. Do not touch.
  • ~/Library/Mail/V10 (the whole folder) — this is your actual mail store. Deleting it removes local copies of every email.
  • /System and /usr — protected system directories; deleting anything here can prevent macOS from booting.
  • ~/Library/Containers — sandboxed app data for App Store apps. Removing a container deletes that app's documents and settings.

A quick cleanup checklist

  1. Empty the Trash (Finder → Empty Trash).
  2. Clear user caches: rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/*
  3. Clear user logs: rm -rf ~/Library/Logs/*
  4. Run brew cleanup --prune=all if you use Homebrew.
  5. Run xcrun simctl delete unavailable if you use Xcode.
  6. Delete Xcode DerivedData if you can afford the rebuild time.
  7. Open Finder and review local iPhone backups; delete stale ones.
  8. Check ~/Library/Application Support/ for orphaned folders from uninstalled apps.

How Crumb automates this

If you would rather not memorize two-dozen paths, Crumb scans your Mac and presents each purgeable folder with a risk label (Safe / Caution / Keep), the exact path, the current size, and a one-click remove. Its "Is this safe to delete?" AI can explain any unfamiliar folder before you act. One-time purchase, no account required, Apple-notarized.

Summary

The folders that reliably yield the most space — DerivedData, CoreSimulator devices, old iPhone backups, user caches, and Homebrew bottles — are also among the safest to remove because macOS or the relevant app recreates them on demand. Start with those, check your available space in Apple menu → About This Mac → Storage, and work down the list until you have enough room to breathe.

Skip the detective work.

Not sure about a folder? Crumb’s Safe? check explains what it is and whether it regenerates.

Download for Apple siliconVersion 3.0.0, 4.5 MBDownload for IntelVersion 3.0.0, 4.8 MB

Free to try on macOS 12 or later. Nothing is deleted without your OK. People in more than 34 countries use Crumb.

Frequently asked questions

Is it safe to delete the entire ~/Library/Caches folder on Mac?
Yes. Every app recreates its own cache folder when it next launches, so deleting the contents of ~/Library/Caches is safe. Quit all apps first, then run: rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/*
Will deleting Xcode DerivedData break my projects?
No. DerivedData holds build products and indexes, not source code. Deleting it means Xcode will reindex and rebuild your project from scratch the next time you open it, which adds a few minutes but causes no data loss.
How do I find leftover files from uninstalled Mac apps?
Look inside ~/Library/Application Support/, ~/Library/Caches/, and ~/Library/Preferences/ for folders or files named after apps you have removed. Tools like Crumb can scan your whole Mac and flag orphaned app data automatically.
What is System Data in Mac storage and can I delete it?
System Data is Apple's catch-all category in the storage breakdown. It includes local Time Machine snapshots, caches, logs, and app support files. You can't delete the System Data category directly — instead, remove the underlying purgeable items (caches, logs, simulator files) and macOS reclaims the space.
Does deleting ~/Library/Logs cause any problems?
No. Logs are written for diagnostic purposes and macOS recreates them automatically. Deleting old logs only means you lose historical crash or error data, which is rarely needed for day-to-day use.

Keep reading

What's safe to delete6 min readCan I Delete the Caches Folder on Mac? (Yes — Safely)What's safe to delete7 min readIs It Safe to Delete the ~/Library Folder on Mac? (2026)What's safe to delete7 min readWhat Is /private/var/folders on Mac and Is It Safe to Delete?What's safe to delete6 min readWhat NOT to Delete on Mac: 12 Files and Folders You Should Never Touch

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