how to find temporary files on mac

You've no uncertainty heard the term cache and temp files, at least as it relates to your Mac. In that location are numerous times when removing a cache or temp file may be part of a troubleshooting tip to return an app or the organization to a more robust condition. Information technology's too common to hear about removing these files to complimentary up infinite on a Mac's startup bulldoze.

But before we head down the road to clearing out cache and temp files, permit's take a moment to find out what functions they serve, and whether information technology's really a skilful idea to remove them willy-nilly.

(Third-party utilities, such every bit TinkerTool Arrangement, can help you lot remove troublesome cache files.)

What Are Enshroud Files and Temp Files?
Enshroud and temp files serve a similar function; they provide a place to temporarily shop data in files on your Mac.

Enshroud files are accessed and updated often, and they can remain after the app or system function that created them has closed or exited. They can too remain through shutdown or restart cycles.

Temp files are created by an app or system procedure to temporarily store data that is after used by the procedure that created the file. Unlike cache files, temp files are unremarkably removed by the process that created them, usually when the procedure exits, or during a shutdown or restart cycle.

Examples of enshroud files include browser caches that relieve the information from a webpage. When you return to the aforementioned page, the browser tin load the page information from the enshroud file, provided the page data hasn't inverse. This saves you the fourth dimension it would take to access the web server and download the entire page once again.

Another type of cache you use everyday on your Mac is the DNS cache. Like the browser cache, the DNS cache can let your Mac grab the IP address of a website it has visited recently without having to perform a DNS lookup, which can take a great deal of time.

Other caches are used past the organisation to store oftentimes used icons, images, and just about whatever type of information that is used over and over, where storing the data is faster than recreating the information every time.

(My system temp files are located in a folder named T, at the end of a cumbersome pathname.)

Temp files, on the other hand, are transitory; they tend to be removed once the app or process that created them is terminated. An case of a temp file is an application that has many levels of undo. In the loosest of terms, the disengage temp file holds the state of the app at each bespeak a control was issued, letting you go back in fourth dimension (undo) to previous states. When you quit the app, the undo temp file is deleted since information technology'south no longer needed.

Temp files tin likewise concord static items, such as an image, or information that volition be used frequently past an app merely doesn't need to exist saved beyond the current app cycle.

Where Are Cache Files and Temp Files Located?
The Mac has two principal types of cache files, Organisation and User, which are located in three primary locations. The system caches are located at /Library/Cache too as /System/Cache. The user caches are located at ~/Library/Cache. The tilde (~) in the concluding cache location is a shortcut for your home binder. So, if your abode folder was named tnelson, as mine is, the total path would be /Users/tnelson/Library/Cache. As y'all can see, it's easier to just use the shortcut than to type full pathnames.

I recommend leaving the system caches alone unless you lot're having a specific problem whose troubleshooting guide suggests removing one or more of the system cache files. Otherwise, I tend to get out system cache direction to the arrangement.

Temp files, especially those used by 3rd-party apps, can be located only about anywhere, making some app temp files difficult to rail downwardly. However, apps that follow skilful coding practices will brand employ of a few standard locations. Unfortunately, many of these standard locations are hidden from the Finder, blocking you from direct access. You tin use the following Final tip to open up a Finder window on two of the virtually used temp locations:

• Launch Terminal, located at /Applications/Utilities.
• Enter the following at the Final prompt: open $TMPDIR
• Striking Enter or Return on your keyboard.
• A Finder window will open on the electric current system temporary directory.

Note : The Finder window will have a different name for this directory. The $TMPDIR is a variable that holds the electric current temp directory pathname.

(Last's "open" command can be used to view the directories being used by the organization for temporary storage.)

The second common temp location can also be constitute using Terminal. Enter the following at the Terminal prompt:

• Open /tmp
• Hit Enter or Render on your keyboard.
• A Finder window will open on the tmp directory.

Should You Remove Enshroud and Temp Files?
Generally speaking, the Mac'due south operating system is pretty good at managing both cache and temp files. The Mac Bone includes maintenance routines that are run at specific times to clear out unneeded cache and temp files. In addition, well-nigh temp files are cleared out automatically by the app or process that created them. The Mac OS will also remove many of the temp files whenever you close down or restart your Mac.

Even though the Mac Bone tends to take care of cache and temp files, at that place are times when manual intervention may be appropriate. Equally mentioned earlier, deleting cache files is a common troubleshooting tip. In these cases, a specific cache file may take become corrupt, and equally a result, contains bad or meaningless information that is causing a related app to lose its mind. Cache files can likewise become excessively large, leading to long load times for the app that makes use of the file, or unusually long times for executing a specific function.

(Using the Managed Storage feature of Os Ten Sierra, I found over lxx GB of cache files used by an app I oasis't used in quite a while.)

The other common reason to remove cache and temp files is to increment the corporeality of complimentary infinite on a storage book. In researching this commodity, I discovered that a number of cache files used past the Steam gaming platform had grown to over seventy GB on my Mac. This was a surprise, since I haven't used Steam in over a year, and actually had no use for those enshroud files. The Steam cache files got the heave-ho.

But before y'all dump your enshroud and temp files, retrieve that generally speaking, enshroud and temp files are designed to improve the operation of an app or service. So, unless you're having issues, including needing more gratuitous infinite, or an app that's behaving badly, it's probably better to leave the cache and temp files alone and let your Mac manage them.

Removing Cache and Temp Files

Warning : Before you remove any cache or temp file, brand sure you take a electric current backup of your Mac.

One method for removing these files is to simply navigate to their location and send the various cache and temp files to the trash. Yous can use the Finder and the tips mentioned above to locate the files. Practise not, still, delete the various enshroud folders; just the actual cache files within the folders.

An even easier way to access and articulate out the files is to use a 3rd-political party app designed to assistance in managing cache and temp files.

(Cocktail provides an easy-to-employ interface for deleting enshroud files.)

A number of these apps come to mind; most are bachelor as demos to attempt out:

• Cocktail: This is a general-purpose utility for repairing and optimizing your Mac. Information technology also gives yous access to many of the Mac's subconscious settings, including the ability to run the various cache maintenance scripts.
• Onyx: Provides access to subconscious Mac features, arrangement maintenance, and the ability to customize the system and some apps.
• TinkerTool System 5: Provides access to many hidden preferences and settings of the operating system. Includes the power to restore caches if you discover that removing a cache didn't gear up an consequence.

Call up that cache and temp files are there to help performance. For the nearly part, I don't recommend wholesale removal of these files as whatsoever type of "maintenance" practice. Instead, selectively removing a cache or temp file every bit function of a troubleshooting process can be a useful task.

Tom has been an enthusiastic Mac user since the Mac Plus. He's also been known to dabble in the dark side, otherwise known as Windows, and has a well-deserved reputation for beingness able to explain virtually anything to anybody. Tom'southward background includes more than 30 years as an engineer, programmer, network manager, software tester, software reviewer, database designer, and calculator network and systems designer. His online experience includes working as a sysop, forum leader, writer, and software library manager.

Source: https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/40762-tech-101-how-to-clear-cache-and-temp-files-from-mac-os/

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