Composer caches every package version, and vendor folders repeat them
The global cache plus a vendor folder per project means the same library many times over. What to clear and what to leave.
582 guides
Mac storage, explained.
What fills your disk, where it hides, and what is safe to remove. Every guide gives you a way to check it on your own Mac.
Scala keeps three caches and a target folder per project
Coursier, ivy and sbt each cache separately, and every project has its own build output. Where they are and what is safe.
R installs a package library per version, and keeps every version
Package libraries, renv caches and knitted output accumulate per project and per R release. What to prune and what to keep.
The notebook is small, the outputs and the datasets are not
Checkpoints, embedded outputs and downloaded datasets fill a data science Mac. What is derived, what is irreplaceable, and how to tell.
MacPorts keeps build sources and inactive versions until you clean them
The ports tree, distfiles and inactive ports all accumulate. The two commands that reclaim most of it safely.
Building desktop apps downloads a runtime per version, and keeps them
Electron, Node headers and packaged builds accumulate outside your project. Where each cache is and what prunes it.
Machine learning libraries download weights into a cache you never see
Pretrained weights, datasets and compiled kernels land in hidden cache folders. Where each framework puts them and what is safe.
A build machine accumulates every branch anyone has ever pushed
Workspaces, caches and container images pile up on a self hosted runner. What to prune automatically rather than by hand.
Instruments trace files are huge, and nothing ever deletes them
A profiling session can produce a multi gigabyte trace. Where they are saved and which ones are worth keeping.
CapCut keeps every draft, and drafts hold copies of your footage
Mobile style editors copy media into the project rather than referencing it. Where drafts live and what deleting one removes.
Photo editors keep a cache per image, and it outlives the edit
Affinity, Pixelmator and similar tools cache previews, history and scratch data. What each keeps and which folders are safe.
Secure Empty Trash is gone, and on an SSD you do not need it
Why Apple removed the option, what encryption does instead, and the one case where overwriting still matters.