Old Vagrant boxes and forgotten VMs: two places to look, both usually large
Every Vagrant box version is kept until you prune it, and each VM made from one has its own disk. How to list both, remove old ones, and check the provider.
Vagrant downloads base boxes, keeps every version you have used, and each project's vagrant up creates a separate VM with its own disk in the provider, such as VirtualBox, Parallels or VMware. Both add up.
du -sh ~/.vagrant.d/boxes
vagrant box list
vagrant global-status --pruneRemove old box versions
vagrant box prune
# or a specific one
vagrant box remove ubuntu/jammy64 --box-version 20230101.0.0Remove VMs you no longer need
# In a project folder
vagrant destroy
# Or by ID from global-status
vagrant destroy 1a2b3c4VMs deleted outside Vagrant can leave disks in the provider's folder. Check it too:
du -sh ~/VirtualBox\ VMs ~/Parallels 2>/dev/nullMore on VMs: virtual machines taking up space.
Common questions
Where does Vagrant store boxes on a Mac?
In ~/.vagrant.d/boxes. Each version of each box is kept until removed.
How do I remove old Vagrant boxes?
Run vagrant box prune to remove outdated versions, or vagrant box remove for a specific box.
Does vagrant destroy delete the VM disk?
Yes, for VMs Vagrant manages. VMs deleted by other means may leave disks in the provider's folder.