How to clear cache on a Mac

By the Gigapolis team · Updated 4 November 2026

Caches are files apps keep so they can load things faster. Clearing them is safe, because apps rebuild what they need, and it can free several gigabytes. The two places that matter are your user cache folder and your web browsers.

Clearing caches frees space for a while, but apps will gradually fill them up again. It's worth doing when a cache has grown very large, or when an app misbehaves.

Clear your user caches

Quit the apps whose cache you want to clear.
In Finder, press ⇧⌘G, type ~/Library/Caches and press Return.
Switch to list view (⌘2) and choose View → Show View Options → Calculate all sizes to see which folders are biggest.
Open a big folder and move its contents to the Trash. Leave the folder itself in place.
Restart your Mac, then empty the Trash.

There's also a system-wide cache folder at /Library/Caches. It's usually small and best left alone.

Clear the Safari cache

In Safari, choose Safari → Settings → Advanced and turn on Show features for web developers. Then choose Develop → Empty Caches (⌥⌘E). This keeps your history and logins. To remove history and cookies too, use History → Clear History.

Clear the Chrome, Edge or Brave cache

Press ⇧⌘⌫ (Shift-Command-Delete) to open Delete browsing data. Choose a time range of All time, tick only Cached images and files, and click Delete data.

Clear the Firefox cache

Open Firefox → Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to Cookies and Site Data, click Clear Data…, tick Temporary cached files and pages only, and click Clear.

Caches that get really big

Video editors: render and media caches from Final Cut, Premiere and DaVinci Resolve.
Developer tools: Xcode DerivedData, package manager caches, Docker.
Music and streaming apps that keep offline copies, like Spotify.

The one-click way

Gigapolis's free Street Sweep lists every cache folder over 50 MB that's safe to clear, alongside the Trash and old downloads, and moves what you pick to the Trash. Browser privacy clears the cache for Safari, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc and Firefox for free (history and cookies need Pro), and Pro's Deep Clean handles video and developer caches.

Gigapolis showing a Mac's storage as a 3D city

Clear caches in one click

Street Sweep finds the caches, logs and leftovers your Mac and apps leave behind. Everything goes to the Trash first. Free for Mac and Windows.

Download Gigapolis free