How to Find Every Cache File on Your Mac

Caches exist because reading from disk is slower than reading from memory, and reading from a server is slower than reading from disk. Apps store recent or frequently-accessed data in cache files so they don’t have to recompute, redownload, or reread it. The trade-off is disk space.

Caches on a Mac can grow alarmingly. Spotify caches every song you listen to. Slack caches every message and file thumbnail. Chrome caches every page. Adobe caches every preview thumbnail. After a couple years of normal use, your cache footprint can exceed 30GB.

Here’s how to find every cache directory on your Mac and decide what to clean.

The three main cache locations

macOS has cache hierarchies at three levels:

/Library/Caches — System-wide caches. macOS itself, system daemons, and apps installed via .pkg often write here.

~/Library/Caches — Your user’s caches. Sandboxed apps may also write here, though most modern sandboxed apps use Containers instead.

~/Library/Containers/[bundle-id]/Data/Library/Caches — Per-app caches inside container directories. App Store apps and most Apple apps live here.

Plus various ad-hoc cache locations apps choose for themselves.

Finding all cache directories

To list every cache directory on your Mac:

find / -type d -name "Caches" 2>/dev/null

This walks the whole filesystem looking for folders literally named “Caches.” Slow but thorough. Most matches are inside ~/Library or /Library.

For just user-level caches:

find ~ -type d -name "Caches" 2>/dev/null

For finding cache locations using broader naming (some apps use “cache” or “Cache” instead of “Caches”):

find ~ -type d -iname "*cache*" 2>/dev/null

The -iname is case-insensitive and uses wildcard matching. This catches things like ~/Library/Application Support/Spotify/PersistentCache.

Sizing each cache directory

Once you’ve found them, sort by size:

du -sh ~/Library/Caches/* 2>/dev/null | sort -hr | head -30

That gives you the top 30 largest user caches.

For the system-wide /Library/Caches:

sudo du -sh /Library/Caches/* 2>/dev/null | sort -hr | head -20

For container-based app caches:

du -sh ~/Library/Containers/*/Data/Library/Caches 2>/dev/null | sort -hr | head -30

These three commands show you essentially every significant cache on your Mac.

The biggest cache offenders

After looking at hundreds of Macs, the same names appear at the top.

~/Library/Caches/Spotify — Spotify caches every song you play. 5-15GB common.

~/Library/Application Support/Slack/Cache — Slack message cache. 2-8GB.

~/Library/Caches/com.apple.bird — iCloud Drive cache. Can be large depending on synced content.

~/Library/Caches/com.apple.helpd — Help system cache. Usually small but odd.

~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Photos — Photo thumbnails and previews.

~/Library/Caches/com.google.Chrome — Chrome’s primary cache. Add per-profile caches for users with multiple profiles.

~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/[Profile]/Cache — Chrome per-profile. Often 5-20GB on heavy users.

~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari — Safari’s cache. Includes web archives.

~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.teams2/Data/Library/Caches — Teams. Microsoft Teams’ caches are notorious — 5-30GB.

~/Library/Caches/Adobe — Adobe’s collective caches. Often 5-15GB.

~/Library/Caches/com.apple.QuickLookDaemon — Quick Look thumbnails for files you’ve previewed.

~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Caches — Xcode simulator cache.

~/Library/Caches/com.apple.dt.Xcode — Xcode caches. Can be 10+ GB.

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Clearing caches safely

The general rule: caches regenerate. Apps fill them as needed during use. Clearing a cache might cause one slow load (the next time you open something that was cached) but won’t lose data.

Exceptions exist. Some apps store login state, draft data, or important offline content in their “cache” folder despite the name. Slack’s cache contains downloaded attachments — clearing means redownloading on next access. Spotify’s cache holds offline-available music — clearing requires redownload.

For a generic clear of user-level caches:

rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/*

This removes everything in ~/Library/Caches. Apps recreate their cache folders on next launch.

For system caches:

sudo rm -rf /Library/Caches/*

Be careful with this — installer caches live here briefly during system updates. Don’t run during a system update.

For per-app cache clearing, use the app’s own settings when possible. Most apps have a “Clear Cache” option in preferences. App-managed clearing avoids any side effects of bulk deletion.

Browser caches specifically

Browsers all use their own cache folders, often outside ~/Library/Caches.

Safari keeps cache in ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari plus ~/Library/Safari/. Clear via Safari → Develop menu → Empty Caches (enable Develop menu in Settings → Advanced).

Chrome uses ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/[Profile]/Cache. Clear via chrome://settings/clearBrowserData.

Firefox stores at ~/Library/Caches/Firefox/Profiles/[hash]/cache2/. Clear via Firefox → Settings → Privacy → Clear Data.

Arc uses ~/Library/Application Support/Arc/User Data/[Profile]/Cache. Clear via Arc menu → Settings → Privacy.

Brave at ~/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/[Profile]/Cache. Clear via brave://settings/clearBrowserData.

For all browsers, the in-app clear is more thorough than manual deletion because the app coordinates with its database files.

App-specific caches worth knowing

Photoshop caches at ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/Media Cache Files. Premiere uses similar paths. After a project ships, these caches are dead weight.

Final Cut Pro caches inside library files (right-click library, Show Package Contents). Use Final Cut’s File menu → Delete Generated Library Files for safe clearing.

Logic Pro caches sample preview data in ~/Music/Audio Music Apps/. Some folders are reusable; others are project-specific.

Lightroom Classic caches previews in your catalog folder. Catalog → Manage Previews lets you clear safely.

Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive sync clients all cache. Their caches can be cleared but the apps will redownload anything actively synced.

QuickLook thumbnails

When you press Space on a file, macOS generates a Quick Look preview and caches the thumbnail. Over time these add up.

To clear:

qlmanage -r cache

Forces a cache reset. The thumbnails regenerate on next preview.

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DNS cache

Not a disk-space issue but worth mentioning. macOS caches DNS lookups in memory. To flush:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache
sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Useful when websites don’t load correctly after a DNS change. Doesn’t affect storage.

Font caches

Font caches occasionally cause display issues with custom fonts. To clear:

sudo atsutil databases -remove

You’ll need to log out and back in. macOS rebuilds font caches automatically.

How much does cache cleaning actually free?

Numbers from real Macs:

• Light user (Safari only, basic apps): 1-3GB clearable
• Average user (Chrome, Slack, Zoom, Spotify): 8-20GB clearable
• Heavy user (multiple browsers, many chat apps, Adobe): 25-60GB clearable
• Developer with Xcode: Add 30-100GB on top

The “freed” space won’t last — caches refill with use. Cache cleaning works best as part of broader cleanup or right before you need free space for something specific.

When NOT to clear caches

Some scenarios where clearing causes more pain than space gain.

• Right before a big download — Caches will refill anyway. Better to clean unused storage first.
• In the middle of a project — App caches may speed up your active work.
• When troubleshooting an unrelated issue — Doesn’t usually fix things and can introduce new variables.
• On apps with offline-cached content — Spotify offline music, Netflix downloads, podcast app downloads all live in “cache.”

Building it into a routine

Cache cleanup is the single best argument for periodic Mac maintenance. The space is regenerable, the operation is safe, and the benefit recurs.

Monthly is reasonable for heavy users. Quarterly works for most people. The Macs that get into trouble are usually the ones nobody’s cleared in years — where Slack alone has 30GB of cache and Chrome has another 25GB.

A cleaning tool can do this in one pass with safety checks built in. The manual approach works but takes attention to detail. Either way, caches are renewable disk space — they grow back, but they always do, so clearing them costs nothing in the long run.