Clean App Cache Mac

System Cache and App Cache: System cache is composed of files stored by system applications that run in the background of a Mac. App cache consists of media files downloaded by the applications in order to speed it up, as well as system thumbnails, temporary downloads, and so on.

Clean My Mac: Best App to Clear Cache & Uninstall Apps on Mac CleanMyMac app is used for cleaning the hard drive from junk files and also for defragmenting your Mac. The app is also useful to clean or defragment the Mac drive, but this option will be selected by default. Contour TV Full TV experience: live & On Demand, voice remote, streaming apps and more! Explore TV Features Premium Channels HBO Max ™, SHOWTIME ®, STARZ ®, EPIX ® & Cinemax ® Channel Packages NFL RedZone, MLB Extra Innings, Latino, Movies and more! TV Equipment and DVR Contour Stream Player Full streaming experience: On Demand, voice remote, streaming apps, music and more! This wikiHow teaches you how to clear the cache of temporary system files that your Mac stores as you use it, as well as how to clear the Safari browser's cache of temporary Internet files. Keep in mind that clearing the system cache can cause your Mac to freeze or crash unexpectedly; this is a normal response to clearing the cache. Clearing the Office application's cache on a Mac. Add-ins are cached often in Office for Mac, for performance reasons. Normally, the cache is cleared by reloading the add-in. If more than one add-in exists in the same document, the process of automatically clearing the cache on. If you have been using Mac from a long time that you may know that OS X saves a ton of cache files on the hard disk. System Cache: It's produced in a device whenever an app, browser, the system performs any task and the any built-in system services that run your Mac's OS. However, cache performs a critical function by creating a shortcut to the task that you have already performed in the system.

/Mac Cleaner /How to Clear Application Cache on Mac?

I use a MacBook Pro and I’ve been buying new versions of it ever since it was released. This is because it is great for editing photos and videos which is my line of work. I bought the most powerful MacBook Pro available but I’m noticing that it’s kind of slowing down. They said I should clear application cache to speed my Mac up. How do I do this?

Here's how to clear the application cache on your Mac.

Article GuidePart 1. What Is Cache?Part 2. How to Clean up Application Cache Quickly?Part 3. How to Manually Clear The Application Cache? Part 4. Conclusion

People Also Read:How to Clear iPod Photo Cache on Mac OS X?2 Solutions to Delete Temporary Files.

Have you noticed that your Mac device is becoming too slow? Are you in the middle of a task and your Mac completely freezes out? Some people experience a very slow Mac device and this can be very frustrating. Although Mac devices are very powerful computers, they can sometimes slow down because of a variety of reasons. One reason for a slow Mac device is the use of too much memory.
Another is full storage space. When there are a few spaces on your hard disk, this means there is less space allocated for performing tasks efficiently. And one of the biggest culprits of a fully occupied hard disk is the adding up of cache. So what is this cache and how does it affect your Mac device? How do you delete the cache to release some of the space?

Part 1. What Is Cache?

To give you a better user experience, cache files are put into storage by your system and its applications. Browser stores cache files too. The said cache files can be of various types such as images, documents, videos, etc. And they are stored in order for processes to speed up.
One example would be the browser Safari. It downloads and saves images on a particular web page you visit and stores it as the cache. In this way, the next time you visit that specific page, you don’t have to re-download the images all over again. It makes the process faster.
After some period of time, cache files increase in size significantly. Although cache files are actually temporary and they can be deleted, most people forget to actually remove them. That’s why cache files take up a significant part of your hard disk drive and it leads to the slowing of your Mac device.

Cache files include application cache, system cache, library cache, browser cache, and a whole lot more. Different types of operating systems store their cache in various different folders of the computer. However, the macOS puts cache files inside the cache location.
The primary use of cache is to enhance the experience of the user. However, the build-up of these cache files can result in a full disk drive. They are relatively small in size. However, if it takes too long for you to delete these cache files they can grow considerably larger. When this happens, your system is left to use a little amount of space in order to operate. Thus, the smooth performance of your Mac device is affected.

To ensure that you regularly have a great user experience on your Mac device, it is important for you to remove cache often. The Mac device is relatively difficult to clean compared to others. This is because destination folders can be found under multiple folders and files. Thus, if you do not have the knowledge to use your Mac, you might be wondering how to clean the cache properly.

Part 2. How to Clean up Application Cache Quickly?

If you simply want to delete your files and stop worrying about deleting the wrong data, it is recommended for you to use a tool such as iMyMac’s Mac Cleaner. Here’s why:

01 - It gives you the capability to delete unimportant data on your Mac device. In this way, it speed up the performance of your Mac because files that clog it are removed.

02 - It provides you with the capability to preview the system status of your Mac devices. You can check a variety of statuses such as CPU, Disk, Memory, and other systems.

03 - It helps you to powerfully scan your entire device leaving no unnecessary file behind.

04 - The entire process of scanning your device and deleting unnecessary data can be done in a few simple clicks.

05 - It provides a display of different data. Plus, you can sort these files by date, time, size, etc. You can even preview the data before actually getting to delete them.

06 - You are in control of everything. You can choose which files to keep and which files to actually delete.

07 - It provides you with the entire tool for the first 500MB of data without having to pay for it. Thus, it comes with a free trial.

08 - You can use the tool first and try it out without having to pay for it.

09 - It gives you outstanding support through email. A one on one mode of support is also available.
Here’s how to use it. Just follow the steps below:

Step 1. Download and Launch iMyMac PowerMyMac on Your Mac

Download the tool from the official website of the software. Open the tool within your device.
Press Master Scan. This can be found on the left side of the interface.

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Step 2. Scanning Junk File

Click the Scan button. Wait until the results are out. It will show the unnecessary files in a variety of categories.

Step 3. Review and Select Application Cache to Clean Up

Select a specific category. Preview the files in the category you selected. Select all or select some files you wish to delete. Press the Clean button. Wait until the entire cleanup process is finished.

Part 3. How to Manually Clear The Application Cache?

Some would opt to clean their cache themselves. There are different types of cache files. Each type of cache file is put into storage of multiple locations. There are different ways to clean them too. Here’s how to do each step-by-step:

Clean App Cache Mac Chrome

Manual Deletion Of User Cache

This type of cache, the user cache, takes up the largest part in your disk drive. It is located in the User Cache Folder and is located at ~/Library/Caches. Here's how to delete them manually step-by-step:

Step 01 - Go to File folder.

Step 02 - Visit the Go menu.

Step 03 - Choose Go To Folder.

Step 04 - Type the following: ~/Library/Caches

Step 05 - Press Enter.

Step 06 - Visit every folder that is displayed and delete each and every file contained within it. It is recommended that you remove the contents of the folder and not delete the folder itself.

It is important to note that user caches contain important data. Some users stated that errors occurred in opening system applications and files after removing the user cache. Thus, it is important for you to create a backup in order to be able to restore it in case something happens.
Below are the steps you can follow to create a backup:

Step 01 - Go to File folder.

Step 02 - Visit the Go menu.

Step 03 - Choose Go To Folder.

Step 04 - Type the following: ~/Library/Caches

Step 05 - Press Enter.

Step 06 - Select every file by pressing Ctrl + A.

Step 07 - Copy all of these files and folders.

Step 08 - Go back to the Library.

Step 09 - Create a new folder and label it User Cache.

Step 10 - Copy all the data you have selected before into this folder.

Manual Deletion of App Cache And System Cache

System cache is composed of files put into storage by system applications that are running in the background of your Mac operating system. App cache is composed of downloaded media files of applications that are there to make it operate faster. It is also composed of temporary download files, system thumbnails, etc.

Although these files are very useful for the app, they can take up a large amount of space and it is necessary to clean them up. In order to clean up App cache, you simply have to type out the ~/Library/Caches using the steps stated above. After which, you should find the folder with the app’s name within it. Delete all the files contained in this folder.

It is important to remember that it is not safe to clean app cache manually. Essential data are contained within the app cache folders. Thus, it is best to back up the data first before actually deleting it. You may simply delete the backup at one point in time when you think the deleted app cache is not causing harm to the app.

Flushing Out Mac’s DNS Cache

One type of your system cache, DNS Cache, are actually old cache entries that serve to translate domain names towards IP addresses.

When you clean your DNS cache regularly, you make sure that you have uninterrupted connection towards a variety of websites. There are different methods for cleaning your DNS cache for different versions of the Mac OS.

For Versions Previous To That Of OS X 10.10.0

Step 01 - Go to Spotlight.

Step 02 - Type Terminal in order to launch the Terminal.

Step 03 - Type the following: “sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder; say cache flushed”

Step 04 - Input your administrator password in order to finish the job.

For Versions OS X 10.10.0 And Higher

Step 01 - Go to Spotlight.

Step 02 - Type Terminal in order to launch the Terminal.

Step 03 - Type the following: 'sudo discoveryutil mdnsflushcache; sudo discoveryutil udnsflushcaches; say flushed'

Step 04 - Input your administrator password in order to finish the job.

Manually Cleaning Up Your Browser Cache

One of the most popular pastimes is surfing the net. Plus, it has become a major source of income for a lot of people. However, as you move from site to site and page to page, the activity you do all add up to the size of the browser cache.
Browser cache consists of data from websites such as scripts, images, etc. This is to ensure that your browsing experience becomes faster. The next time you visit a site you have previously visited, some data is loaded from the browser cache instead of the Internet.
When you clean your browser cache you are doing yourself two things. First, you’re freeing up more space on your hard disk drive (or solid state drive). Second, you’re protecting your privacy cause your browser history is wiped out. Plus, it even helps you avoid errors such as 402 and 502, among others. These errors are often the result of a corrupted browser cache.
Each type of browser stores their cache differently. Thus, cleaning the cache takes different steps for different browsers. Chrome’s cache can be found in Settings. Safari stores it in Privacy. While Firefox stores it in History. These are the steps to help you delete the different cache on your browsers

How To Remove Cache On Chrome

Step 01 - Press the Options icon. This can be found in the Chrome browser’s top-right corner.

Step 02 - Select Settings.

Step 03 - On the left side menu, select More Tools.

Step 04 - Press Clear Browsing Data

Step 05 - Select the following options only: Cached images, caches files, browsing history.

Step 06 - Choose The Beginning Of Time

Step 07 - Press the button named Clear Browsing Data

How To Remove Cache On FireFox

Step 01 - Go to History menu.

Step 02 - Choose Clear Recent History.

Step 03 - Find the drop-down menu that contains the time range.

Step 04 - Select your desired time range. Or in order to remove all cache, choose Everything.

Step 05 - Press the down arrow next to the label Details.

Step 06 - Select Cache only.

Step 07 - Press Clear Now.

Step 08 - Exit the browser.

Step 09 - Reopen the browser.

How To Remove Cache On Safari

Step 01 - Go to the top menu.

Step 02 - Select Safari.

Step 03 - Press Preferences.

Step 04 - Select Advanced Tab.

Step 05 - Activate the showing of Develop menu within the menu bar.

Step 06 - Visit Develop located within the menu bar.

Step 07 - Select Empty Caches.

Step 08 - Close Safari.

Step 09 - Reopen Safari again.

It is also recommended for you to clean DNS cache in order to speed up the process of clearing up your cache. It is also suggested that you delete or empty the Trash after the cleanup process.

In order to delete Trash, hit Ctrl + Click upon the Trash icon. After which, choose Empty Trash. After these steps, you must also reboot your Mac device for a total overhaul. This results in the Mac device formulating new cache files.

Manually deleting junk files is a very time consuming tasks. Plus it is not that safe. Important files that are crucial to the system and its applications can be deleted. Plus, it takes up a lot of your effort as well. That’s why we recommend a tool for you to do this.

Part 4. Conclusion

Cache files are important in speeding up the performance of your Mac device. But they can’t be corrupted and they can take too much of your space.
That’s why it is recommended for you to clean them up. You can do this manually or you can do this with a tool called iMyMac’s Mac Cleaner. The choice is up to you.

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Part 1: What are Caches on a Mac?

A cache is a temporary data file generated by apps browsers and other programs to ensure that your Mac runs at optimum speed. These files contain data that help improve response time and reduce latency. The data in the Cached files can be compared to a ’’shortcut’’ to a given task which makes the operation faster the next time it is carried out.

For example, when you visit a website, your browser downloads images and text to your computer. If you reopen the same page four minutes later, the same files are still existing on your computer. When the browser realizes that the data you're requesting is already accessible on your hard drive, it would open those files instead of downloading them again from the website's server.

What this means is that the files are opened instantaneously thereby saving you valuable time. You also use less data as your Mac does not have to download each web page and its contents frequently since it can restore it from the cache.

These cached files however pose a significant problem; they can remain dormant in a system and keep stacking up while consuming ever valuable space in your Mac and ultimately slow it down. Furthermore, the cached files can become corrupt due to software updates and this may cause errors when you are trying to connect to a network. At the same time, cached files can also cause browsers to display outdated content on websites.

These issues and many more means that what was at the onset beneficial now becomes problematic. Invariably, it is absolutely necessary to clear the cache in your Mac periodically to avoid problems related to the buildup of the cache in your Mac.

There are basically four types of caches in a Mac, System Cache, User Cache, DNS Cache, and Browser Cache. A little explanation for each of the types of cache and how to clear them have been detailed below for you:

Part 2: How to Clear System Cache on Mac?

System cache files are created by the built-in Mac OS X system services that run your Mac and in contrast to application cache, they have nothing to do with the user. They are integral to the normal functioning of your Mac and the clearing of system cache is not recommended manually except if you are very careful or trying to fix a problem. System cache files do not generally take up much space, which is another reason why a cleanout isn’t as necessary as with user cache.

a. Cleaning up System Caches manually

i. Go to ~/Library/Caches and hit Enter to remove the insides of the folders with the app name.

ii. System cache folders are named ‘’com. apple ‘’ and should be backed up for safety.

iii. Go into the ‘’com. apple’’ folders and delete the files inside of them. Please delete ONLY the files, not the folders!

iv. Right-click on the Trash icon and 'Empty Trash'.

You should note that not all app cache files can be safely deleted as some app developers keep important information on cache folders. It is prudent to first back up a folder before erasing all files inside. If everything works fine after clearing the System Cache, you can then delete the backup.

b. Cleaning up System Caches using Third-Party Application, ‘’OnyX’’

You can use the free tool, OnyX, to clean System Caches instead of manually doing it but as with all third-party applications, you are advised to only use them as a last resort.

Part 3: How to Remove App/User Cache on Mac?

App or User Cache are cache files created by all the Apps that you use on your Mac. It includes Apps pre-installed on your Macs as well as 3rd-party Apps later installed. App or User Cache makes Apps run faster even when you are offline by using local assets instead of updating frequently. This reduction of server load ultimately allows for a faster response from the Apps.

The applications however create lots of caches that invariably take up lots of valuable space and you may be surprised to recover gigabytes of space when cleaning App caches.

Now that you have a basic idea of what App/User Caches are all about, you shall be given a detailed explanation on how to clear APP/User Caches. You can either clean App/User Caches manually or you can use Specialist Applications.

a. Removing User Caches manually: To find and clear your User cache manually, do the following:

i. Open a new Finder window.

ii. In Menu choose Go -> Go to Folder (or use shortcut Shift + Cmd + G)

iii. In the window that appears, navigate to the directory ~/Library/Caches

iv. Select all the files and folders you don’t need and delete them by dragging them to the trash. If you however need to keep some files, you should first move them to the other folder and remove all cache files.

b. Cleaning up User Caches using Third Party Applications

In most cases, it is preferable to clean caches on your Mac manually but some users sometimes use third-party applications such as ‘’CleanMyMac’’ or ‘’Funter’’ to clean caches on a Mac. You are however advised to avoid using third-party apps to clean caches as most of these apps are not endorsed by Apple INC.

Part 4: How to clear DNS Cache on Mac?

A DNS cache is a temporary record kept by a computer's operating system that contains records of all the recent visits and attempted visits to websites and other internet domains.

To put it simply, a DNS cache is just a memory of recent DNS lookups that your computer can quickly refer to when it's trying to figure out how to load a website. The internet relies on the Domain Name System (DNS) to maintain a directory of all public websites and their matching IP addresses. You can think of it as a phone book.

Just as a phone book gives us easy access to the numbers of your friends without having to memorize everyone's phone number (remember that phones can only communicate with a number). Similarly, a DNS is used so that we can avoid having to memorize every website's IP address, which is the only way networks can equipment can communicate.

This DNS cache database contains a list of all recently accessed domain names and their addresses. As such, to speed up the processes of accessing websites, your Mac would first check its local DNS Cache which is akin to a ‘’local copy of the phone book’’ for addressees before sending out the request to the internet.

Despite the pivotal role played by DNS Caches in speeding up access to websites, they can sometimes become polluted when unauthorized domain names or IP addresses are inserted into it either by viruses or network attacks.

Accordingly, the first step is to be taken in resolving these errors would be to clear your DNS Caches.

a. Clearing DNS Caches using Terminal

i. Open Terminal (⇧ Shift+⌘+U, and double-click on Terminal)

ii. Type this into Terminal: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder; say cache flushed

iii. Press Enter to run and fill your admin password to execute the command.

Part 5. How to Delete Browser Cache on Mac?

Admit it, you can’t survive without the internet. Well, a bit of an exaggeration you might say; but how can you explore the internet without your browsers. They are your gateway to the world but when they start to use up hard disk space and slowing down you Mac, that gateway becomes ever smaller and a bit of a hassle.

Your browser cache is essentially saved bits of the websites you’ve visited recently. That way, if you go back, your computer can re-use locally cached elements that haven’t changed; this speeds up the time a website takes to load.

It is however sometimes necessary to clear your cache and cookies anytime you want to gain a little bit of extra speed for your Mac.

Solution 1: Clearing Safari’s Cache

You would probably be using Mac’s default and highly efficient browser more often due to its seamless integration with Mac OS X.

a. Clearing Safari’s Cache using Browser preferences.

i. Click Safari in the top menu and then click Preferences.

ii. In the window that appears, click the Advanced tab and then click on the Show Develop menu.

iii. In the menu bar, go to Develop and choose Empty Caches.

iv. Click on Safari and then click Reset Safari

b. Clearing Safari Browser Cache using Terminal

You can also clear your Safari cache manually using specific ‘’commands’’. The process is however more intricate than using browser preferences and it requires users to ensure that the ‘’commands’’ are keyed exactly as instructed.

Please follow the precise instructions detailed below to clear your Safari cache manually.

i. Press Command + Shift + G to open up the Terminal

ii. With these simple commands, you can delete Safari's cache file. But first, check its size using the disk usage (du) command:

du -h /Users/$HOME/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db

Note: replace '$HOME' with the name of your home folder

iii. To delete Safari's cache file type:

rm /Users/$HOME/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db

Please note that when you use the remove (rm)command files cannot be recovered.

iv. A more practical approach is to use the move (mv) command:

mv /Users/$HOME/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db ~/.Trash/

This will move the file to your user's ($HOME) trash. From there it is still recoverable until you empty the trash.

Safari will create a new Cache. DB file automatically when you open a new webpage.

v. Open a new webpage or restart Safari and recheck disk usage:

du -h /Users/$HOME/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db

Solution 2: Clearing Chrome’s Cache

Google’s Chrome is undoubtedly one of the most popular web browsers due to its speed and sheer range of options.

Clearing Chrome’s Cache using Browser preferences.

Clear App Cache Mac Os

i. Open Chrome and then go to the “Chrome” menu

ii. Select “Clear Browsing Data” from the menu drop-down list

iii. At the “Clear browsing data” screen in Chrome, choose what web data and caches you wish to clear; select if you want to clear only ‘’cached images and files’’ then select only that option and nothing else.

iv. You should choose the time period to delete from: (Select “the beginning of time” if you wish to delete all data from all periods of Chrome usage)

v. Finally, reload the website.

Solution 3: Clearing Firefox’s Cache:

Mozilla seems to have done a very good job as its ‘’Firefox’’ browser is apparently an even more popular browser than Chrome for some people. Well, different strokes for different folks as the saying goes.

Clearing Firefox’s Cache using Browser preferences.

i. In the main menu of the Firefox browser select 'History' and then select “Clear Recent History...' from the submenu-item

ii. A popup shall open in the drop-down menu and you can choose the time range you want to delete the cache.

iii. To delete all cache data, select 'Everything' from the drop-down menu.

iv. You can then click on the arrow next to 'Details' to show the different options for which data should be deleted. If you want to delete only the cache, then check only the checkbox next to 'Cache'.

v. Click the button 'Clear now” and your cache shall be deleted.

vi. Reload the site after that.

Closing Words

You don’t spend a fortune on a supercar and expect it to sluggishly lumber on when you push down the gas pedal, Oh! No! you expect it zoom off like a thunderbolt. Well, you see, nobody buys a Mac just for the looks…….it is much more than that, it is also about speed and efficiency.

With caches piling up and taking up ever more valuable space, even a hulking Mac begins to falter. It is prudent to clean caches in your Mac periodically to avoid unnecessary files taking up valuable space.

Although, this should be done only when necessary because as the saying goes…. ‘’If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it’’.

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