Clear System Data Storage on Your Mac - macOS Sonoma

Understand what system data is to remove all that clutter from your MacBook. In this video, I explain how to remove System Data from Your Mac. No software needed.
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[@nathaliealkazzi]

I couldn't understand why I had no storage left even tho I kept removing more than 60gb worth of files from my laptop but now I was able to remove 290GB !!!! This video just saved my life thank you so much

[@fnkcgxgkgcfu]

i only had 2.5Gb of cache but system data still taking 11Gb's more

[@FezOutdoors]

@@fnkcgxgkgcfu same i am trying to clear some of that systems data

[@LegolasD]

But this dude talked for 8 min on something that should be a 20 second short

[@SEO-xk1ft]

🤣🤣🤣

[@MaiaByers]

Me too!, I have used 244GB out of 245GB and nothing i delete reduces the storage so this video wil hopefully help me! Update:..Itt didnt work. I have almost no caches which take up alot of storage.

[@JuliaUtset]

Saved my life, cleared a lot of storage in 5min and all running properly atm, thanks a lot!!!

[@josuajosua7586]

I'M SO DAMN HAPPY TO FIND THIS VIDEO! CACHES IN MY MAC WAS OVER 300 GB, I wondered for almost a year why I have so much shit in my mac and couldn't find any answer or solution until I watch this. THANK YOU 💙

[@NotTryHardXShorts]

This video was a lifesaver! Just cleared over 200gb of storage, I guess it was all screen recordings!

[@Filosofos1]

What were you recording hmm 🤨🤨🤨

[@NotTryHardXShorts]

@@Filosofos1unnecessary zoom recording from college

[@Rumbl1x]

same

[@ct7483]

I had over 900GB of system data storage... lol... and yes, the culprit was Adobe since I use their softwares for my job. I'm so glad I found this, thank you so much! 🙏

[@calahad]

Finally, someone! I've spent months on and off looking for a solution to this but nothing worked. This did the trick. My Adobe folder in the cache was 90 GB, which got freed up.

[@Fubeman]

Great video. Thanks! BTW, at 2:42, that symbol is called a Tilde. It is used in math symbols, programming as well as in Latin and Spanish languages, often used with the "eñe" letter (ñ).

[@AMIRBENDABI]

Thanks for this info, Fubeman! I didn't know it's used in programming and math.

[@007Yasir]

@@AMIRBENDABIyou can use it as well to navigate from one open document to another in any open app, Cmnd+~

[@bkvagnini]

@@AMIRBENDABIIt represents your profile home folder

[@mitchietorres_stan]

i think in spanish that symbol means more or less not tilde

[@Fubeman]

@@mitchietorres_stan no it doesn’t. My family are both from Argentina as well as Spain and you are incorrect. See my original comment for what the tilde symbol is used for. There is no Spanish “more or less” symbol.

[@briansmith5903]

most useful mac storage video i've ever seen! Really appreciate the effort!

[@AMIRBENDABI]

Thanks for the nice comment, and I'm glad it was helpful : )

[@smallduck1001001]

On most Apple US keyboards, going back to before the Mac, the backtick (unshifted) and tilde (shifted) key has been to the immediate left of the "1" key. There have been some exceptions where the Esc key took that spot beside the "1" instead, and the backtick/tilde key was either somewhere to the left of the space bar (weird!) or between the quote key and a narrower return key (the weirdest keyboards had the backtick/tilde key and the backslash/vertical bar key on either side of the space bar).

[@mitchellsmith4601]

The ~ (it’s called a tilde) denotes the user’s home folder, so ~/Library is the user’s home library, while /Library is the Mac’s Library folder, and is used by all users. There’s also /System/Library but it’s read-only for users, and as everything in System is now cryptographically signed by Apple, I suspect any modifications to anything in System will result in your Mac warning you on the next reboot that you need to reinstall macOS. You might be able to test this by logging-in as root in Terminal and renaming or deleting a folder inside System.

[@marcosahertian]

When I typed ~/Library, it won't open anything. Could someone help?

[@HarryKwastaken]

Sir, you are an enlightened human being. I had over 600 gigs ONLY in Adobe. THANK YOU!!

[@AMIRBENDABI]

Glad I could help brother!

[@m44studios]

IKRR! this adobe had populated multi versions of AE of 300 gigs, creative cloud def has to clear its prev versns. was angry at mac os for a sec. videos like these is why ppl pay for net.

[@communitytherapy]

bro same wtf

[@Superboy8545]

You are a saint. I managed to delete over 600GB of cache files. Can't believe I was working on my computer with all that junk just sitting there. So grateful for this video

[@jalupratama6405]

so many video that i watched about this problem. today i got my 270gb system data and i tried to search the solution until i found your video, Thanks a lot u just saved my storage💜

[@martineastwood1]

Brother - thank you so much! For years I could not solve this issue. I followed your instructions and then proceeded to delete catch and group containers folder. Saved me 40gb of system space which is 1/3 of my system. I was running on only 1gb of available space. Thank you so much, legend!

[@VanityandSinh]

Life saver!! It wasn't caches for me that were taking up so much space, but because you directed me to the library, I was able to find that there were almost 300G of accidental screen recordings!!!! I've been trying to figure out for the longest time what was in that black box called "System Storage." Thank you sooooo much!

[@Thowildon]

Oh my gosh! Thank you so much! I've had full storage for months, going to various places to try and fix this! Went to this video and found out I had over 300GB of screen recordings. Thank you!!

[@eclbirkeland]

This is amazing! I found that I have 250 GB of old After Effects versions still hanging around (while the cache for my current version of Ae, which I don’t use as much anymore, is 1.5 MB). Thank you! ❤

[@rmxs3000]

Wow, thanks, Amir! Been looking through many various solutions. Yours is the only one that actually freed up almost 400GB of storage on my SSD.

[@e.f7877]

System data has also occupied a big chunk of my storage however, the size of caches file is only 720MB , do you maybe have another suggestion?

[@ethanzav7595]

me to i had 728MB

[@greengorilla]

@e.f7877 Notice how there is no response to your query. I have only 3Gbs of cache storage but over 130Gbs of system data storage. Clearly, there is something more going on that what this creator knows about when it comes to system data usage.

[@MagaliTerreri]

Same for me.. would be great to have another suggestion how to clean the system data

[@influ_xis]

Me too hope we can find answers!!

[@drewvonporte]

Also in the same boat... going to keep looking for an answer....

[@janafotheringham619]

So my caches are only 2.2 GB but my system data is over 500 GB what do you suggest next…

[@athenaava461]

hey what did you do then?

[@totallymorpheus]

Me too, less than 2GB in Cashes, but 273GB system data. Any ideas?

[@achekholbeckal889]

delete the apps reinstall what you need, when reinstall all the previous data been cleared, housekeeping are a good practice on every sytem

[@Humaniol___2024]

I have only caches is 937 mb and system data is 503 gb but my ssd storage is only 500 gb how it possible, 😭 plz give me solution and my mac is out of storage.

[@alastairclarke]

Same. 2GB in cache. 304GB in system data. This video is garbage.

[@carmenk.3629]

So happy I found this video. My photoshop kept saying "scratch disk is full". I've tried deleting large files but nothing really worked until I did this. 🙌

[@andrf7364]

Oh man this is gold! I had previously noted the system data thing but didn't know what to do. I confirm the problem was Adobe, specifically After Effects (which I don't even use that much so wtf). Now my macbook is 250GB lighter and feeling so much better. THANK YOU

[@radium05]

Hey boss. Thanks! Also, you had it right the first time. It’s “Directory”, not “Trajectory.”

[@ISLanguaging]

I was just planning to buy a new MacBook and you saved my 1000 dollar. Thanks buddy!

[@9711964882]

You just helped me get back 150GB.. and not even going through those worthless paid apps.. thanks a lot!

[@carolinasalcedo4256]

This just helped me remove 310GB worth of System Data where our Tech Support company could not figure it out. Thank you! And yes, Adobe was the culprit for me as well.

[@clawcraziness]

MY GOD I was about to get a new computer, thank you!

[@PeterKae]

FINALLY, BROTHER!! Thank you so much for this! I've been searching for such a long time for that. The solution is explained so easily and simply. It's so satisfying to delete over 1TB of Adobe cache files...You're the best.

[@michaelirava]

OMG 😮 Thank you so much. This just saved me from having to keep deleting and moving files around just to save space. Thanks for this valuable piece of content. You've just earned another subscriber ❤🎉

[@loomonda18]

Thank you man!!! I was going through the cache and library folders, but it wasn't until I went through and started deleting some stuff in the Adobe Cache folder like you said, that made a difference. I am always super nervous to delete things like this though, especially Adobe bc I use it so much and I don't want the application to stop working or being weird one day. But I trust you! Thanks again for sharing!!

[@DilemmaDreamer]

Thanks to your video I deleted 400GB of System Data! Thank you so much!

[@AMIRBENDABI]

Glad I could help : )

[@fullsendco]

Been searching how to do this for an hour and this video saved me in 5 minutes. Thank you so much!

[@Maahi381]

Hey, my Mac's storage shows 48GB of System Data, but I only found 330MB in the Caches folder. How do I remove it? I am on Sonoma 14.3.

[@kimboclara1]

I'd like to know this also, I have a whopping 180GB of system data and when Ilook in Caches there's virtually nothing there to delete. 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

[@cekuhnen]

@@kimboclara1 some apps store data in application support etc and I saw that this was counted as system data !!!!

[@ThatOtherMikeyGuy]

@@kimboclara1 Yeah, same. My entire HD is now full of 'system data' making the mac virtually unusable but I can't find it anywhere on the disk itself

[@kimboclara1]

@@ThatOtherMikeyGuy it’s so frustrating.

[@ThatOtherMikeyGuy]

@@kimboclara1 If it helps, I found the main villain on my Mac - a folder called "iCloud Archive" which was over 200GB on my HD. The hard part was making it visible. I have no idea how I managed it, it was invisible when I first started looking and at some stage it just suddenly showed up!

[@orlandovives6441]

COMPLETE LIFE SAVER!!!! Thank you!!! I had almost 200GB of system Data and now I'm down to 46GB

[@Wiseyflow]

THANK YOU! THIS IS THE ONLY VID THAT WORKED SAVED 100GB

[@PATH2INSPIRATION]

I just did it while watching your video. I had 70+ gb of system data. After doing what you said, I'm down to 13gb. Thank you so much.

[@joshuaBMW]

Bro I legit just had 6GB of storage and now I have 37GB. Best mac storage vid Ive watched in a while

[@AMIRBENDABI]

Glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching and leaving a nice comment : )

[@MahiMeister]

Dude. Thanks so much, I had this huge folder on library that for some reason kept deleted items, and when I got rid of those I saved over 100GB. Thanks bro

[@Erik_Thorsvik]

Great video, especially for Adobe users. If this video didn't help, the folder you are most likely looking for is cloudkit. If you have iCloud turned on for more than one device it will constantly cache and add all files to all devices. DO NOT DELETE items in iCloud without backing them up on a separate drive. Go slow with all of this even though it is very frustrating. Also, to see the size of the folders make sure to view in list mode and that you have your calculate size turned on. Final thing I'll add, for Final Cut Pro X users, rendered files will take up a ton of space, make sure you are starting a new library each time you make a video so you can delete the rendered files at the end if needed.

[@joshofthenorth]

You deserve a nobel prize for this. THANK YOU

[@abbyrodebaugh6634]

Thank you for making this video. I come back to your video every month on my work computer to clear the data!!

[@AMIRBENDABI]

You're welcome Abby!

[@kinomediacompany]

Thank you for this video! It took me a couple of months to find this. I deleted 1,2TB cache files. I bought my MAC in 2017 and did not delete this files from 2017. BIG Thank you!

[@virusthree]

1.2 tb is crazy

[@Digital.Abhijeet]

More simplest way to reach to "Library" is, Open Finder Then at the top right bar click on "GO" then hold "OPTION" key. thats it, LIBRARY will appear there, then just go to cache and delete. ❤

[@michaeljawahir275]

This video is what I’ve been looking for for years on how to clean up my “mail” in storage! Thank you so much

[@Cole-Bielecki]

After deleting my After Effect caches I saved 599GB of storage Thank you so much for this video!

[@olgalerio6268]

You are a Legend! You saved me from getting a new Macbook and a couple bucks. ❤

[@markpaolosepe3391]

Your video saved me!! I had over 500GB of Adobe Cache files. Thank you so much.

[@AMIRBENDABI]

Glad it helped!

[@spi_97]

bruhhhhh. love you man! you saved me a couple of bucks. i was just about to buy cleanmymac but then thought of trying the manual way and found your video. thanks man!

[@AMIRBENDABI]

No problem! Thanks for your nice comment : )

[@jobarden7964]

Thank you! my 300GB of system data has been driving me crazy. Really appreciate this, it's just cleaned up 270GB from After Effects cached files. Amazing!!!

[@lidonevita]

thank you os much for the explanation! Yes, it's complicated to find an internal way to remove the system data, most of posts recommend to install a Third-party software. Thanks again!😄

[@norabder1008]

Dude, I have been trying to figure this out for a long time!!! Thank you so much for this video. Most others try to get you to buy some software. Great video!!!

[@Hazz605]

this person is a godsend, thank you so much for this video!

[@MrStuartAllan]

Brilliant video, really useful and one to refer back to. Thanks for creating this video!

[@themyriaddharma3947]

i deleted caches(there wasn't much MB), still have 100g+ in system data, anywhere else I can delete to make room?

[@worlduncover]

Thank you! I had almost 600GB of Data storage and after deleting adobe cache I now have space:)

[@IndiaFoodPost]

Thank you so much for educating us! Have a great day!

[@MyDogSteppedOnaBeee]

Ty so much can you do the same thing on Iphone and Ipad with the system data files taking up space? if so how?

[@BJgrand]

Wow this is amazing. Thank you for this extremely helpful tutorial. I was literally scrambling to find apps and documents to delete because I was filled to capacity.

[@brucekennedy5274]

If you are anything like me (video graphics guy) it’s not even Adobe, it’s AfterEffects specifically- the cache as most will know, is to smooth things as you work, and AE makes massive cache files. During a project I leave them, once I’m done I flush them. I just keep an alias of the AE cache folder on the desktop and check it regularly. Even simple animations will fill up with over 100gb of cache pretty fast, kinda nuts. I do the same for FCP - keep the cache external from the library and bin when the job is finished. I imagine other apps cache like this (3D, music production etc) but I can’t speak to those.

[@Eric-qi9us]

fortunately mine was really small so I didn't really need to clean up but good to know about this and definitely will try this out when it gets bigger in the future. Excellent video!

[@jay54733]

Thank you for these videos mate, but again what about if you don't get all the tabs you have like developer, how do you get the developer tab to show?

[@KeithCozy]

Be careful, caches also holds important system files that are not to be deleted, and will not regenerate. You will have to restore OS. Safely delete individual folders based on the app you suspect is taking up space

[@AMIRBENDABI]

Hi CozyTech, totally agree. That's why I said that people should determine for themselves what folder is taking up the most space. In my case, it was Adobe, and I haven't experienced any drawback after deleting those caches. Thanks for watching the video my friend.

[@sparkedghoul]

i accidentally deleted them all and emptied my bin a day lter with forgetting they were there

[@KeithCozy]

@@sparkedghoul sheesh, Hello Windows Vista

[@Bozot]

I would recommend to clear Adobe cache from the particular software (After Effects, Premier, etc.) Also set the Adobe cache sizes individually

[@PhoenixReflex]

Thanks for the video. The sign is called "tilde".

[@bethebisch6901]

My system data was over 900GB and taking up all of my storage THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

[@MrJoystickid]

Toatlly sorted the problem, absolute LEGEND!

[@MrMelodyCold]

Massive thanks!, also for everyone else you can go to your user folder, right click and select view library folder is that exact folder as I do not have the symbol in my keyboard distribution

[@sandsunbeach5228]

thank you brother great vid: summary: bring up search bar and type ~/library .... find culprit taking up the space and delete...easy.

[@Bardalesmusic]

Thank you!!!!!!!!!! Life saver over 800 gb’s of cache files and I was going crazy trying to figure out how to get rid of it.

[@bojankocev]

Thank you so much! Perfectly explained, I cleared 400GB of Adobe stuff that didnt even know why and for what was there..

[@AMIRBENDABI]

You're welcome brother : )

[@bronsonloftin2802]

this is one of the greatest videos on youtube

[@garyvoigt321]

If you are using Arc, that cache folder is a beast too.

[@Nadimprodutions]

if the cache folder doesn't have as much data as you expect, try checking out the ~/Library/Container folder. Sometimes old deleted apps still keep their files in here. Only delete files if you know what your deleting tho :) This one thing save me over 200 gb

[@FANaticsOnline]

Just found this video. It's a game changer! Thank you so much for this. :)

[@nimatonthebeat]

you saved my life man! I just found out my 1tb internal drive, adobe was taking up 900gigs!!!!!

[@buntekuh01]

Great video, my system says system data is over a 100 gb, the complete caches folder is 11 gb and the Adobe cache folder is 0b. Helpful for Adobe users but not the solution all for mac users the title claims it to be.

[@alexandruion1180]

1.25 TB evaporated instantly when I deleted the Adobe folder. Thank you very much!

[@WriteJus]

I gave your video a like cause I appreciate it and I don't want to be disrespectful. I've seen multiple videos telling me to clear the cache and that's NOT the case for my computer. My system data is over 160 gigs and my cache is on'y a gig full. I'm still trying to figure it out. I do hope this video helped others, just didn't help me... but thank you anyway.

[@AMIRBENDABI]

I'm sorry to hear that. Thanks for the nice comment, brother. Here's something that might be helpful: Why not try CleanMyMac? It's software that helps you identify where your cache and junk files are. They offer a free trial which, to be honest, won't give you much. But you can upgrade to the full option and ask for your money back within 30 days.

[@WriteJus]

@@AMIRBENDABI I'll give it a try, thanks for the reply bro!

[@NEW_ARK_FILMS]

THE most IMPORTANT VIDEO on the internet!!! Thank you!! God Bless brother!

[@micahbauer3152]

Thanks for the video. I'm hoping that clearing my cache will keep After Effects from crashing, since I've tried everything else.

[@_LesleyRey_]

Great video! Unfortunately, I still cannot find what is taking up so much of my storage :( The first few files had almost nothing in them

[@mastermindnomad]

Hello thank you very much for the video. I had done your description and i see I have 200 GB system data. But Cache of 500 MB. Where is the rest of system data may be? Do you have any idea? NOTE: For Turkish Q keyboards tilde ~is not present on keyboard layout however you can write it with option + Ü keyboard. combination.

[@liredry3213]

OMG YOU SAVED ME!!!! 400GB OF DATA NOW CLEAR THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

[@OfficialLRY]

I have 140gb of systemdata... i checked the caches folder but it only takes up about 2gb, is there anything else i could check? thanks!

[@sajaljain712]

This is what worked for me. Macintosh HD => Users => My username => Cmd + J => Show Library Folder.

[@iippu]

thank god this was excellent video. I had 170gb cache on after effects and haven't used that in months.

[@sweetactionmax]

Great stuff, I don't have Developer in my Storage system. It keeps disappearing, how do I remedy that? Thanks so much

[@StefanMarjoram]

Fantastic! So simple too. Thanks so much for getting me 200GB back. For me, it was old After Effects stuff - I don’t even have it installed any more.

[@purpleseven5470]

Thank you for this video! What if that didn't do the trick? My system data is still full? Thanks

[@buckflowens]

This was a huge help, thank you!!

[@darthaltie]

This was a lifesaver! Great video thanks

[@kdotblue5518]

Best video out on this issue. Thanks for making this video.

[@azadbharati964]

Thank you so much, This tutorial is life saver :-) Lots of love. You earned my subscribe

[@popodopulus3826]

this was the most helpful video i've seen in the topic, however, my system data is still really big. The cache folder was 5 gb and inside i found a 12gb folder so it was kinda sneaky but yet i have like 100gb of storage in system's data. Any idea why this happens?

[@ishanverma3696]

Thanks for the solution loved the video❤

[@estern53]

Here is a shortcut to get to the 'user Library' go to the Finder menu select the 'GO' menu then hold down the 'Option' key and you will see the 'User Library' while holding down the 'Option' key

[@SAFDAHTV]

baraakallahu fikum.. it works alhamdulillah masya Allah

[@LinaElsayed-o4d]

lets see if this works (edit: thank you so much it worked i really appreciate it! i removed about 50GB from my mac!!!!!)

[@EduardoSilva-xg5gu]

Thanks for your amazing video. From Portugal with Love !

[@Ade2bee]

Thank you… my question is the same as somebody else is on here, what if you don’t have Adobe but still a building up system data, can you delete them all?

[@LearningTogetherWithRobert]

Thanks! However, it only cleaned about 6GB and I still have 504GB showing under system data. Why do you think is that?