"Autosave Information" folders - Okay to delete contents?

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Level 1

66 points

"Autosave Information" folders - Okay to delete contents?

Hello -

MacBook Pro 2019 - OS Monterey

I've searched this forum to no avail so perhaps someone can direct me to a discussion about this question.

There are a couple of folders in my Library that contain "Autosave Information" for Preview and Pages. Here are their file paths:

Library/Containers/Preview/Data/Library/Autosave Information

Library/Containers/Pages/Data/Library/Autosave Information

I need more disk space and they take up 39GB and 10GB respectively. I'm pretty sure they are there to allow me to access previous versions of Preview and Pages files I've worked on in the past. I do not to do that so can I safely delete the contents of these two folders?

Thanks -

Doug

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 12.6

Posted on Oct 5, 2023 1:31 PM

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Answer 1

Aargl

Level 1

14 points

Apr 27, 2024 10:38 AM in response to doogles

39GB for Preview and 10GB for Pages is certainly a lot! It's obvious that 39GB are not occupied just by settings... 🤣

If Viking's statement is right, I would copy settings in order to reproduce them if needed but I wouldn't continue using a computer with 49GB wasted by old files which are probably useless — as the name goes, "Autosave Information" must contain autosaved data: if they have not a recent modification date, It's very likely the document that has been autosaved has also been properly saved in the meantime. 😉

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Answer 2

Oct 5, 2023 1:58 PM in response to doogles

Leave anything in your local Library folder alone.

Those two folders on my macOS Sonoma are measured in MB, not GB and for instance, if you blow away the Pages folder, so goes any custom templates you may have saved, and Pages settings. When you run Preview or Pages again, these Containers will be recreated by the applications, but without any of your current settings. Not worth it.

I would ask that you look in your Downloads folder, Movies folder, Photos Library, Music folder, check your Email accounts for those older messages that may have large attachments, or third-party applications you no longer use. This paragraph may be measured in GB and that will get you closer to your storage freedom quicker.

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Answer 3

doogles Author

Level 1

66 points

Oct 6, 2023 8:28 AM in response to VikingOSX

Thanks again, Viking OSX -

I am using Monterey, not Sonoma, so perhaps the difference between my system and yours. Attached is a screen capture showing the full file path of one of the "Autosave Information" folders I'm referring to. This folder contains are 39GB of PDF files that I do not need to refer to in the future. It seems to me that deleting the contents (all of which are PDF files) of the "Autosave Information" folder would not be harmful but perhaps I'm missing something.

Does this clarify my issue?

Thanks -

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Answer 4

doogles Author

Level 1

66 points

Oct 5, 2023 2:18 PM in response to VikingOSX

Hi VikingOSX -

I don't intend to get rid of the Pages or Preview folders. The only folder that I'm wanting to empty is the "Autosave Information" folder for Preview and the same for Pages which are indeed nearly 50GB. It appears to me that these two "Autosave Information" folders contain only Preview and Pages files and no information relating to current settings.

I have already deleted the Downloads, Movies, Photos Library, Email accounts, etc. but still need more space.

Thanks -

Doug

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Answer 5

Oct 5, 2023 3:14 PM in response to doogles

I am uncertain why you are seeing n-tuple GB of Autosave folder content in the Pages and Preview container locations. I would look (use Quick Look) at the folder contents of those two autosave folders before clearing (not removing the folders) their contents.

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"Autosave Information" folders - Okay to delete contents?

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