If you have ever opened About This Mac, seen "System Data" ballooning past 20 GB, and wondered where it all went — the Podcasts app is a surprisingly common culprit. Podcasts taking up space on Mac is a well-documented annoyance: the app quietly auto-downloads every new episode from every show you follow, and it never really cleans up after itself. This guide walks through exactly where those files live, how to delete them safely, and how to stop the problem from returning.
Why the Podcasts App Uses So Much Disk Space
Apple's Podcasts app stores two kinds of data worth knowing about:
- Downloaded episodes. Audio files (typically 30–100 MB each, sometimes larger for video podcasts) that the app saves so you can listen offline. By default, Podcasts auto-downloads new episodes for every show you subscribe to.
- Cache and metadata. Artwork, episode descriptions, playback state, and a SQLite database that tracks your library. This can grow into several gigabytes for large libraries.
Both live inside your user Library folder, which macOS hides by default. The main container is:
~/Library/Group Containers/243LU875E5.groups.com.apple.podcasts/Downloaded audio files sit inside a subfolder named Library/Cache within that container. The folder path looks roughly like:
~/Library/Group Containers/243LU875E5.groups.com.apple.podcasts/Library/Cache/How to Delete Podcast Downloads on Mac
The safest and most complete approach is to use the Podcasts app itself, which removes the files cleanly and updates the app's database at the same time. Only fall back to manual deletion if the app is misbehaving.
Option 1: Delete Episodes Inside the Podcasts App (Recommended)
- Open Podcasts from your Applications folder or Launchpad.
- In the left sidebar, click Library, then choose Downloaded to see only episodes saved to your Mac.
- Right-click any episode and choose Remove Download. The audio file is deleted; your subscription and play history stay intact.
- To remove downloads from an entire show at once, right-click the show name in your library and choose Remove Downloads.
- To remove a show entirely (subscription + all downloads), right-click and choose Unfollow Podcast, then confirm.
After removing downloads, the episode entries remain visible in your library so you can stream them later — nothing is permanently gone from a content perspective, only the local copy.
Option 2: Delete the Podcasts Cache Manually
If you want to reclaim space from metadata and artwork that the app does not expose in its UI, you can delete the cache folder directly. This is safe to do, but quit Podcasts first — deleting files while the app is open can corrupt its database.
- Quit the Podcasts app completely (Cmd+Q).
- In Finder, press Cmd+Shift+G to open the Go to Folder dialog.
- Paste this path and press Return:
~/Library/Group Containers/243LU875E5.groups.com.apple.podcasts/Library/Cache - Select all files inside the Cache folder and move them to Trash.
- Empty the Trash, then reopen Podcasts. The app will rebuild metadata and re-download artwork as you browse — expect a brief delay.
Do not delete the parent container folder (243LU875E5.groups.com.apple.podcasts) or the Documents subfolder inside it — those hold your library database and subscriptions. Deleting them would wipe your entire podcast history and you would need to re-subscribe to every show manually.
If you prefer Terminal, the equivalent one-liner (after quitting Podcasts) is:
rm -rf ~/Library/Group\ Containers/243LU875E5.groups.com.apple.podcasts/Library/Cache/*How to Stop Podcasts Auto-Downloading on Mac
Deleting existing downloads is only half the battle. Unless you change the default settings, Podcasts will refill your drive within days. Here is how to stop auto-downloads permanently and per-show.
Turn Off Auto-Download Globally
- Open Podcasts and choose Podcasts > Settings (or press Cmd+,).
- Click the General tab.
- Under Download Episodes, change the setting from New Episodes (or All Unplayed) to Off.
- Optionally, enable Limit Episode Storage and set a cap (for example, keep only the 3 most recent episodes per show).
Control Auto-Download Per Show
- Right-click any show in your library and choose Settings.
- Under Download Episodes, select Off for that specific podcast.
- Repeat for any high-volume shows (daily news podcasts are the usual offenders).
Quick Comparison: Delete Options
| Method | What it removes | Keeps subscription? | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remove Download (in-app) | Audio file only | Yes | None |
| Unfollow Podcast (in-app) | Audio + subscription | No | Low — re-subscribe anytime |
| Delete Cache folder (manual) | Artwork, metadata cache | Yes | Low if Podcasts is quit first |
| Delete entire container folder | Everything, including library DB | No | High — not recommended |
Keeping an Eye on Recurring Bloat
Even after you clean up and disable auto-downloads, it is easy to forget about the Podcasts folder for months while it quietly refills — especially if you re-enable downloading for a single show and then forget about it. Crumb's whole-Mac disk audit flags large folders inside your Group Containers directory, so the Podcasts download cache shows up in its scan alongside other usual suspects like Xcode simulators or Rosetta translation caches. Running a Crumb audit once a month takes a few seconds and means you will catch the folder before it grows past a few gigabytes rather than discovering it at 40 GB. You can download Crumb and try the audit for free.
Other Podcast-Adjacent Storage Tips
- Streaming instead of downloading. If you have a reliable internet connection, switch all shows to stream-only (set auto-download to Off globally). You lose offline access but gain back gigabytes.
- Check iCloud sync. If iCloud Podcasts sync is on, episode progress and subscriptions sync across devices — but downloaded files still live locally on each machine. Turning off sync does not delete local files.
- Third-party apps. Apps like Overcast or Pocket Casts store their data in different containers (
~/Library/Containers/) with app-specific bundle IDs. The same principle applies: find the Cache subfolder, quit the app, delete the cache. - macOS Optimized Storage. Apple's built-in "Optimize Storage" feature (System Settings > General > Storage) can remove watched/listened content automatically, but its Podcasts support is inconsistent. Manual deletion is more reliable.
Summary
The fastest path to reclaiming space is: open Podcasts, go to Downloaded, and use Remove Downloads on the shows that have been building up. Then head into Settings and turn auto-download off globally, or set per-show caps for the podcasts you actually listen to regularly. If you want to clear residual artwork and metadata cache on top of that, quit the app and delete the contents of the Cache folder inside its Group Container — just leave the parent folder and the Documents subfolder untouched. Do that once, set a calendar reminder or use a disk auditor to check back monthly, and the Podcasts app will stop being a surprise entry at the top of your storage breakdown.