One app kept 99 MB of crash reports it was waiting to send
Chrome and Electron apps store crash dumps in a Crashpad folder until they upload them. Usually tiny, occasionally not. Measured: 99 MB for one app.
Every Chromium-based app, Chrome and Electron apps alike, includes Crashpad, a crash reporter. When the app crashes it writes a minidump into a Crashpad folder and uploads it later, if you allowed that.
| App | Crashpad size |
|---|---|
| Devin | 98.7 MB |
| Antigravity | 4.0 MB |
| Chrome | 2.4 MB |
| Kiro | 0.3 MB |
| Four others | 0 |
What a large one means
Minidumps are a few megabytes each. Ninety-nine megabytes is dozens of crashes, either reports that could not be uploaded or an app that crashes often. That is information: if an app has been unstable, the folder is where the evidence is.
find ~/Library/Application\ Support -maxdepth 3 -type d -iname crashpad 2>/dev/null \
| while read d; do du -sh "$d"; done | sort -hClearing it
Quit the app and delete the contents of its Crashpad folder. The reports are for the developer; the app does not need them to run. If the app keeps crashing, report it first, since the dumps are what a developer asks for.
Crash folders are one of several places Electron apps keep data that is not part of the app, covered in the Electron cache and app logs. System crash reports are in system logs.
Common questions
What is the Crashpad folder on a Mac?
It is where Chrome and Electron apps store crash reports until they are uploaded. Each app has its own, inside its Application Support folder.
Is it safe to delete a Crashpad folder?
Yes, with the app quit. It holds only crash reports, which the app does not need to run.
Why is a Crashpad folder large?
Because it holds many crash reports, either from an app that crashes often or reports that were never uploaded. One app on the Mac measured held 99 MB.
Does Chrome's Crashpad folder get big?
Rarely. On the Mac measured it was 2.4 MB.