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OrbStack's disk grows with your images and machines, even if it shrinks better than most

OrbStack stores containers, images and Linux machines in one data image. How to see what fills it, prune it, and check the space really came back.

4 min read

OrbStack runs containers and Linux machines in a lightweight virtual machine, and keeps their data in a disk image on your Mac. It gives space back to macOS more readily than some alternatives, but images, volumes and machines still have to be removed for that to happen.

Measure it

du -sh ~/.orbstack 2>/dev/null
find ~/Library/Group\ Containers -maxdepth 1 -iname '*orbstack*' -exec du -sh {} + 2>/dev/null

# What is using space inside
docker system df
orb list

Free space

# Unused images, stopped containers, build cache
docker system prune -a

# Unused volumes too, check first that nothing needs them
docker volume ls
docker system prune -a --volumes

# Remove a Linux machine you no longer use
orb delete machine-name

Then measure again. The data image should shrink on its own after a short while.

Docker Desktop's version of this: Docker taking up disk space and pruning Docker. Other runtimes: Colima, Podman.

Common questions

Where does OrbStack store data on a Mac?

In a data image under ~/.orbstack or in OrbStack's group container in your Library, depending on version.

How do I free space in OrbStack?

Run docker system prune -a to remove unused images and build cache, and orb delete for Linux machines you no longer need.

Does OrbStack give disk space back after pruning?

It is designed to shrink its data image as space is freed inside it, so the space should return to macOS after pruning.

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