Temp files on a Mac: the real folder held 41 MB, the caches held 9 GB
Where temporary files live on a Mac, which ones you can delete, and why the space people mean by temp files is usually app caches.
Where are temp files on a Mac?
In three places, and only one of them is large. macOS keeps a private temporary folder and a cache folder for each user under /private/var/folders, a shared /private/tmp for the whole system, and apps keep their own caches in ~/Library/Caches, which most guides count as temp files too.
| Where | What it holds | On our Mac |
|---|---|---|
/private/var/folders/…/T | Temporary files for your user (the $TMPDIR folder) | 41 MB |
/private/var/folders/…/C | System caches for your user | 3.0 GB |
/private/tmp | Shared temporary files | 14 MB |
~/Library/Caches | App caches: browsers, chat apps, editors | 9.1 GB |
~/Library/Logs, /private/var/log | Logs | 96 MB |
These commands read the same sizes on your Mac without changing anything:
du -sh "$TMPDIR" "$(dirname "$TMPDIR")/C" /private/tmp 2>/dev/null
du -sh ~/Library/Caches/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h | tail -10Can I delete temp files on a Mac?
Yes for the caches in your own Library, no for the system folders. Folders inside ~/Library/Caches are rebuilt by each app when it needs them, so deleting them costs a slower first launch and nothing else. Leave /private/var/folders and /private/tmp to macOS: files there can belong to apps that are running, and a restart clears them safely.
How do I delete temporary files on a Mac?
- Restart. macOS empties
/private/tmpand clears old items from your temporary folder when it starts. It is the only safe way to clear the system temp folders. - Clear app caches. Quit the apps first. In Finder choose Go, Go to Folder, type
~/Library/Caches, and move the folders of apps you recognise to the Trash. Delete the folders inside, never the Caches folder itself. - Clear browser caches from the browser. Chrome: Settings, Privacy and security, Delete browsing data, Cached images and files. Safari: turn on Settings, Advanced, Show features for web developers, then choose Develop, Empty Caches.
- Empty the Trash. Nothing above frees space until you do.
On our Mac step 2 was the one that mattered: Chrome's cache alone was 4.8 GB of the 9.1 GB. What is safe in Library Caches goes through the common folders one by one.
How do I clear temp files on a MacBook Air?
The same four steps, in the same order. On a 256 GB MacBook Air the caches matter more, because 9 GB is close to 4 percent of the whole drive. If the space is still missing afterwards, it is usually in System Data rather than in temp files: what System Data holds.
Does sudo periodic still clean temp files?
It does little on a current Mac. Older guides suggest sudo periodic daily weekly monthly, which mainly rotates system logs. All the logs on our Mac came to 96 MB, so running it would free a fraction of what one browser cache holds.
Clearing temp files on Windows works differently, with Disk Cleanup and Storage Sense: temp files on Windows.
Common questions
Where are temporary files stored on a Mac?
Under /private/var/folders (a temporary folder and a cache folder per user), in /private/tmp, and, for app caches, in ~/Library/Caches. On our MacBook Air in October 2026 they held 41 MB, 3.0 GB, 14 MB and 9.1 GB.
Is it safe to delete temp files on a Mac?
It is safe to delete the folders inside ~/Library/Caches after quitting the apps, since apps rebuild them. Leave /private/var/folders and /private/tmp alone and restart instead, which clears them without breaking apps that are running.
Does restarting a Mac delete temp files?
Yes. A restart empties /private/tmp and clears old items from your temporary folder. It does not clear app caches in ~/Library/Caches, which is where most of the space usually is.