Mac Can I Delete Library Caches

Optimized Storage in macOS Sierra and later* can save space by storing your content in iCloud and making it available on demand. When storage space is needed, files, photos, movies, email attachments, and other files that you seldom use are stored in iCloud automatically. Each file stays right where you last saved it, and downloads when you open it. Files that you’ve used recently remain on your Mac, along with optimized versions of your photos.

• Mac Delete Library Caches
• Mac Delete Cache Files
• Should I Delete Cache Files

* If you haven't yet upgraded to macOS Sierra or later, learn about other ways to free up storage space.

Mac Delete Library Caches

May 30, 2019  Despite the fact that Apple keeps the Mac Library folder hidden from users, it’s good to learn how to show the Library folder on Mac. You may need to access the Library folder when you need to clear cache, remove the app’s leftovers, edit preference files manually, etc. How to clear cache files on Mac Cache is basically a technical data that is stored when an app, browser or system performs a task. Cache files serve a vital function as they contain a “shortcut” to a task in order to perform it faster the next time.

Find out how much storage is available on your Mac

Choose Apple menu  > About This Mac, then click Storage. This is an overview of available storage space on your Mac, as well as the space used by different categories of files:

Click the Manage button to open the Storage Management window, pictured below. (The Manage button is available only in macOS Sierra or later.)

Manage storage on your Mac

The Storage Management window offers recommendations for optimizing your storage. If some recommendations are already turned on, you will see fewer recommendations.

Store in iCloud

Click the Store in iCloud button, then choose from these options:

• Desktop and Documents. Store all files from these two locations in iCloud Drive. When storage space is needed, only the files you recently opened are kept on your Mac, so that you can easily work offline. Files stored only in iCloud show a download icon , which you can double-click to download the original file. Learn more about this feature.
  
• Photos. Store all original, full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud Photos. When storage space is needed, only space-saving (optimized) versions of photos are kept on your Mac. To download the original photo or video, just open it.
  
• Messages. Store all messages and attachments in iCloud. When storage space is needed, only the messages and attachments you recently opened are kept on your Mac. Learn more about Messages in iCloud.

Storing files in iCloud uses the storage space in your iCloud storage plan. If you reach or exceed your iCloud storage limit, you can either buy more iCloud storage or make more iCloud storage available. iCloud storage starts at 50GB for $0.99 (USD) a month, and you can purchase additional storage directly from your Apple device. Learn more about prices in your region.

Optimize Storage

Mac Delete Cache Files

Click the Optimize button, then choose from these options.

• Automatically remove watched movies and TV shows. When storage space is needed, movies or TV shows that you purchased from the iTunes Store and already watched are removed from your Mac. Click the download icon next to a movie or TV show to download it again.
  
• Download only recent attachments. Mail automatically downloads only the attachments that you recently received. You can manually download any attachments at any time by opening the email or attachment, or saving the attachment to your Mac.
  
• Don't automatically download attachments. Mail downloads an attachment only when you open the email or attachment, or save the attachment to your Mac.

Optimizing storage for movies, TV shows, and email attachments doesn't require iCloud storage space.

Empty Trash Automatically

Empty Trash Automatically permanently deletes files that have been in the Trash for more than 30 days.

Dec 29, 2017  And if a library is upgraded to a new version of Photos or repaired, the Masters folder may get rearranged and all oder photos moved to the same yearly folder. And if you are using iCloud Photo Library, the older photos may not be stored in the Masters folder at all, but only in iCloud. Apr 01, 2020  Follow these steps to designate a System Photo Library: Quit Photos. Hold down the Option key and open Photos. One of the photo libraries is already designated as YourLibraryName (System Photo Library). Choose the library you want to designate as the System Photo Library. After Photos opens the. Feb 23, 2017  How to Access Where Photos Files Are Stored in Mac OS. Open the Finder in Mac OS and go to your home directory. Go to the “Pictures” folder. Locate the file named “Photos Library.photoslibrary”. Right-click (or Control+Click) on “Photos Library.photoslibrary” and choose “Show Package Contents”. Libraries masters photos mac pro. Nov 10, 2019  The Photos Library 'Masters' folder holds all your original image files. Screen capture by Brad Moon. Start copying the contents to a new location, one folder at a time. Make certain you are.

Reduce Clutter

Reduce Clutter helps you to identify large files and files you might no longer need. Click the Review Files button, then choose any of the file categories in the sidebar, such as Applications, Documents, Music Creation, or Trash.

You can delete the files in some categories directly from this window. Other categories show the total storage space used by the files in each app. You can then open the app and decide whether to delete files from within it.

Learn how to redownload apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books.

Where to find the settings for each feature

The button for each recommendation in the Storage Management window affects one or more settings in other apps. You can also control those settings directly within each app.

• If you're using macOS Catalina, choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, click Apple ID, then select iCloud in the sidebar: Store in iCloud turns on the Optimize Mac Storage setting on the right. Then click Options next to iCloud Drive: Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders setting. To turn off iCloud Drive entirely, deselect iCloud Drive.
  In macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click iCloud, then click Options next to iCloud Drive. Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders and Optimize Mac Storage settings.
• In Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then click iCloud. Store in iCloud selects iCloud Photos and Optimize Mac Storage.
• In Messages, choose Messages > Preferences, then click iMessage. Store in iCloud selects Enable Messages in iCloud.

• If you're using macOS Catalina, open the Apple TV app, choose TV > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Files. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.”
  In macOS Mojave or earlier, open iTunes, choose iTunes > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Advanced. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.”
• In Mail, choose Mail > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Accounts. In the Account Information section on the right, Optimize Storage sets the Download Attachments menu to either Recent or None.

Empty Trash Automatically: From the Finder, choose Finder > Preferences, then click Advanced. Empty Trash Automatically selects “Remove items from the Trash after 30 days.”

Other ways that macOS helps automatically save space

With macOS Sierra or later, your Mac automatically takes these additional steps to save storage space:

• Detects duplicate downloads in Safari, keeping only the most recent version of the download
• Reminds you to delete used app installers
• Removes old fonts, languages, and dictionaries that aren't being used
• Clears caches, logs, and other unnecessary data when storage space is needed

How to free up storage space manually

Even without using the Optimized Storage features of Sierra or later, you can take other steps to make more storage space available:

• Music, movies, and other media can use a lot of storage space. Learn how to delete music, movies, and TV shows from your device.
• Delete other files that you no longer need by moving them to the Trash, then emptying the Trash. The Downloads folder is good place to look for files that you might no longer need.
• Move files to an external storage device.
• Compress files.
• Delete unneeded email: In the Mail app, choose Mailbox > Erase Junk Mail. If you no longer need the email in your Trash mailbox, choose Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items.

Learn more

• When you duplicate a file on an APFS-formatted volume, that file doesn't use additional storage space on the volume. Deleting a duplicate file frees up only the space required by any data you might have added to the duplicate. If you no longer need any copies of the file, you can recover all of the storage space by deleting both the duplicate and the original file.
• If you're using a pro app and Optimize Mac Storage, learn how to make sure that your projects are always on your Mac and able to access their files.

Most websites use cookies and create temporary caches on your Mac when you browse the Internet. While this helps improve your online experience by quickly loading images and data every time you visit the site again, it creates files on your hard drive that can eat up space unnecessarily. Over time, not only does it slow down the performance of your web browser but also of your whole Mac. Thus, experts suggest that clearing system caches and browser cookies can help improve browser and Mac performance significantly.

All of this sounds quite straightforward, but in reality, it requires caution. When trying to manually delete cache and other log files that aren’t required by the Mac, many users inadvertently delete system files that are needed by other applications. As a result, some system apps can start behaving unexpectedly. In such a scenario you either need to uninstall and reinstall those apps or reformat your Mac. Alternatively, if you can recover deleted log files and caches, the problem can be solved.

Let us have a look at some of the simplest ways to recover deleted macOS caches, log files, and Library folders.

Recover deleted system files manually

From the Trash folder

Om macOS, when you select files and press the ‘Delete’ button, they’re moved to the Trash folder. If that’s how you’ve deleted caches and log files, recovering them through the below steps—

1. Open the ‘Trash’ folder by double-clicking on the trash can icon on the desktop
2. Locate the files you wish to recover
3. Right-click on the files
4. Select ‘Put Back’
5. If the original location of the files no longer exists, drag the files to the desktop and then move them to any other desired folder

From Time Machine Backup

Most macOS users rely on Time Machine to take regular backups of all data on their hard drives. If you’ve permanently deleted cache files through ‘Command + Shift + Option + Delete’ operation, your latest Time Machine backup is where you can get them back from. Follow the below steps—

1. Connect your Time Machine backup drive to your Mac
2. Select the backup that you wish to restore
3. Click on ‘Restore’

Recover macOS caches folder, log files, Library folders automatically

If your data has been permanently deleted and you don’t have a backup from which you can recover it, the most reliable option to restore them is to opt for the secure and reliableMac Data Recovery software. Backed by powerful scanning algorithms, this competent software scans your entire Mac hard drive to search for recoverable data and performs safe and accurate recovery. With it, you can easily recover deleted Library folders, macOS cache folders, log files, and other documents, photos, music files, or videos that have been deleted from APFS, HFS, HFS+, FAT, ex-FAT and NTFS format based file systems.

When the recovery process completes, you should be able to view all deleted caches, log and library files accurately recovered on your macOS.

Conclusion

Should I Delete Cache Files

Almost all deleted data can be recovered safely if you exercise caution and act quickly. Keep the above methods in mind as they will aid you considerably; and if all else fails, then leverage the secure and reliable Stellar Data Recovery for Mac software.