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One AI chat app kept 3 MB. Another took 1.5 GB

Desktop apps for ChatGPT, Claude and others range from a few megabytes of data to over a gigabyte. Measured examples, where each stores data, and what to clear.

4 min read

Chat assistants are mostly a text box in front of a remote service, so you would expect them to be light. Some are. Others are Electron apps that bundle a browser, keep web storage, and add their own local features, and the difference is two orders of magnitude.

Where Kimi's data went

FolderSizeSafe to clear?
daimon-share333 MBIt is the app's local workspace; check inside the app first
Cache41 MBYes
Code Cache35 MBYes
WebStorage6.6 MBMay sign you out

Native versus wrapped

An app written natively for the Mac keeps settings and a small database. An app wrapping a web page keeps a browser profile and ships a browser engine, 261 MB of which was Kimi's Electron framework. How to tell which kind an app is, and why the gap is so large, is in Electron apps taking up space.

Check yours

du -sh /Applications/{ChatGPT,Claude,Kimi,Perplexity}.app 2>/dev/null
du -sh ~/Library/Application\ Support/{com.openai.chat,Claude,kimi-desktop} 2>/dev/null

# Apps removed but still leaving update folders
ls -d ~/Library/Caches/*.ShipIt 2>/dev/null

On this Mac an empty com.anthropic.claudefordesktop.ShipIt folder showed the Claude app had been installed once. Empty ShipIt folders are harmless; full ones are covered in ShipIt folders.

The heavier AI costs

Chat apps are rarely the problem. Coding agents keep runtimes and every session, in Mac storage for AI developers, and local models are the largest of all, in local LLM models.

Common questions

How much space does the ChatGPT app use on a Mac?

Very little data. On the Mac measured its data folder was 3.3 MB. The app bundle itself is separate.

Why are some AI chat apps so large?

Because they are Electron apps that ship a browser engine and keep a browser profile. One measured at 1.04 GB installed plus 419 MB of data.

Where do AI chat apps store data on a Mac?

In ~/Library/Application Support, in a folder named after the app or its bundle identifier, such as com.openai.chat.

Does deleting a chat app delete my conversations?

Usually not, because conversations are kept on the service's servers. Local folders hold settings, caches and web storage.

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