A terminal app's data was 227 MB, and 226 MB of it was a folder called old
Most terminal apps are small, but some keep history, AI features and migration leftovers. Measured: Warp at 227 MB, nearly all a leftover old folder.
A terminal is text, and most terminal apps are correspondingly light. The newer ones add cloud sync, AI assistance and block-based history, and each of those keeps data somewhere.
What the old folder is
When an app changes how it stores data, it often moves the previous copy aside rather than deleting it, so a failed migration can be undone. The copy is supposed to be removed once the new version has run for a while. Sometimes that step never comes.
du -sh ~/Library/Application\ Support/dev.warp.Warp-Stable/* | sort -h
ls -la ~/Library/Application\ Support/dev.warp.Warp-Stable/oldIf the app has been working normally since the date on that folder, the copy is not needed. Quit the app before removing it.
Other terminals
| App | Where its data lives |
|---|---|
| Terminal (built in) | ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Terminal.plist, tiny |
| iTerm2 | ~/Library/Application Support/iTerm2, grows with saved sessions and logging |
| Warp | ~/Library/Application Support/dev.warp.Warp-Stable |
| Ghostty, Alacritty, kitty | A config file in ~/.config, almost nothing else |
The bigger costs of a terminal-heavy setup are rarely the terminal itself. Shell history files, prompt caches such as ~/.cache/gitstatus (2 MB here), and the tools you run are where space goes. Command line disk usage tools covers measuring them, and terminal commands to free space the cleanup.
Common questions
Why is Warp using so much disk space?
On the Mac measured, almost all of it was a folder named old inside its Application Support folder, a copy left from a data migration. Its own database was under 1 MB.
Is it safe to delete Warp's old folder?
Yes, if Warp has been working normally since that folder's date. Quit Warp first.
How much space does a terminal app use?
Usually very little. The built-in Terminal and config-file terminals use a few kilobytes of settings.
Where does iTerm2 store its data?
In ~/Library/Application Support/iTerm2. It grows if session logging or saved arrangements are used heavily.