scottfrommableton

Q: How do I clear the Cache in Yosemite?

First the specs: Running iMac 27inch Mid 2010, Yosemite V10.10, 2,93 GHz Core i7, 16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 RAM

 

I have 16GB of Ram and it seems that after reboot, or a prolonged period of time, that the Cache continues to build until it's really slowing down the Computer.

 

How do I clear this and get the most from the 16GB of RAM and speed up the computer?

 

Thanks so much!


SC

iMac (27-inch Mid 2010), OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Nov 10, 2014 11:20 AM

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Q: How do I clear the Cache in Yosemite?

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  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Nov 10, 2014 11:21 AM in response to scottfrommableton
    Level 10 (271,184 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 10, 2014 11:21 AM in response to scottfrommableton

    What cache? There are dozens of them.

  • by scottfrommableton,

    scottfrommableton scottfrommableton Nov 10, 2014 11:25 AM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 10, 2014 11:25 AM in response to Kappy

    Gottcha - I'm looking at an app I use on the iMac that tracks the RAM being used. It shows App memory, File Cache (The one I'm asking about), Wired, Compressed and Used.

     

    The FILE CACHE is what builds and slows down the available RAM.

     

    Does that make sense? I'm not a master of this, but I know that the File Cache is building and taking a lot of RAM.

     

    The name of the Ap is Memory Clean

  • by MortenJamesCarlsen,

    MortenJamesCarlsen MortenJamesCarlsen Nov 10, 2014 11:30 AM in response to scottfrommableton
    Level 1 (110 points)
    Nov 10, 2014 11:30 AM in response to scottfrommableton

    I would personally never use any of those cleaner apps. A side from one. Tinker tool System. But I do not use that for cleaning caches.

    But for other things and it is not yet compatible with OS X 10.10

     

    There are 3 caches which I clean manually at least once a month...

    By Clean I mean delete the entire contents of its folders. I have been doing that for years and never had problems after doing it. Only a better system.

     

    1) User/Library/Caches

    2) MacHD/Library/Caches

    3) MacHD/System/Library/Caches

     

    On top of that I regularly run a safe-boot, log in and reboot.

  • by Allan Eckert,

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Nov 10, 2014 11:39 AM in response to MortenJamesCarlsen
    Level 9 (53,640 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 10, 2014 11:39 AM in response to MortenJamesCarlsen

    Cache is there for a reason. It is to store data that the operating system knows you will need again. So it stores it for you in a location that it can reach faster then where the data was originally stored. So in effect cache is a way of speeding your computer up.

     

    When you clear or clean cache what you are in effect doing is slowing your computer down until it is able to restore all of the data that you just deleted once more.

     

    Beyond that, your monthly is just a waste of time and a way to make your computer run slower.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Nov 10, 2014 11:40 AM in response to scottfrommableton
    Level 10 (271,184 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 10, 2014 11:40 AM in response to scottfrommableton

    The File Cache is created by OS X as a quick store for loaded applications and processes and their support files. The more you run the more goes into that cache. It does not slow down RAM. Your RAM never runs slower. The computer will, however, if you start running out of available RAM for the number of concurrently running applications.

     

    About OS X Memory Management and Usage

     

    Using Activity Monitor to read System Memory & determine how much RAM is used

    OS X Mavericks- About Activity Monitor

     


    Understanding top output in the Terminal

     

    The amount of available RAM for applications is the sum of Free RAM and Inactive RAM. This will change as applications are opened and closed or change from active to inactive status. The Swap figure represents an estimate of the total amount of swap space required for VM if used, but does not necessarily indicate the actual size of the existing swap file. If you are really in need of more RAM that would be indicated by how frequently the system uses VM. If you open the Terminal and run the top command at the prompt you will find information reported on Pageins () and Pageouts (). Pageouts () is the important figure. If the value in the parentheses is 0 (zero) then OS X is not making instantaneous use of VM which means you have adequate physical RAM for the system with the applications you have loaded. If the figure in parentheses is running positive and your hard drive is constantly being used (thrashing) then you need more physical RAM.

     

    Adding RAM only makes it possible to run more programs concurrently.  It doesn't speed up the computer nor make games run faster.  What it can do is prevent the system from having to use disk-based VM when it runs out of RAM because you are trying to run too many applications concurrently or using applications that are extremely RAM dependent.  It will improve the performance of applications that run mostly in RAM or when loading programs.

     

    Clearing caches should only be done as a troubleshooting technique. Usually, used if you have kernel panic problems as some panics may be caused by corrupted caches. It is not a "fix" for a slowly running computer. More often than not this problem is from running too many applications for the amount of installed RAM or the result of using incompatible software.

  • by MortenJamesCarlsen,

    MortenJamesCarlsen MortenJamesCarlsen Nov 10, 2014 12:39 PM in response to Allan Eckert
    Level 1 (110 points)
    Nov 10, 2014 12:39 PM in response to Allan Eckert

    Allan Eckert wrote:

     

    Cache is there for a reason. It is to store data that the operating system knows you will need again. So it stores it for you in a location that it can reach faster then where the data was originally stored. So in effect cache is a way of speeding your computer up.

     

    When you clear or clean cache what you are in effect doing is slowing your computer down until it is able to restore all of the data that you just deleted once more.

     

    Beyond that, your monthly is just a waste of time and a way to make your computer run slower.

    So, I am just deliberately telling myself that my computer performs faster than prior to doing it...

     

    Caches can be and are your friends, until they become outdated and or corrupted.

     

    And if it would bring nothing to delete them, aside from making the computer slower, then how come every time I was on the phone with Apple Care or in the Apple Store... Exactly THAT was one of the first thing they did or asked me to do....???

  • by Allan Eckert,

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Nov 10, 2014 1:40 PM in response to MortenJamesCarlsen
    Level 9 (53,640 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 10, 2014 1:40 PM in response to MortenJamesCarlsen

    Yes. It is true that cache can become corrupt. So far I have had it happen to my computers now once every four or five years at the most. So monthly purging of cache is tremendous overkill to say the least.

     

    I can't say anything about what Apple support tells you to do. That is their opinion and I have nothing to do with it. All I can vouch for is my experience after my years of experience supporting servers. It is a waste of any time expended purging cache.

  • by MortenJamesCarlsen,

    MortenJamesCarlsen MortenJamesCarlsen Nov 10, 2014 3:34 PM in response to Allan Eckert
    Level 1 (110 points)
    Nov 10, 2014 3:34 PM in response to Allan Eckert

    Allan Eckert wrote:

     

    Yes. It is true that cache can become corrupt. So far I have had it happen to my computers now once every four or five years at the most. So monthly purging of cache is tremendous overkill to say the least.

     

    I can't say anything about what Apple support tells you to do. That is their opinion and I have nothing to do with it. All I can vouch for is my experience after my years of experience supporting servers. It is a waste of any time expended purging cache.

    we all have different things that we do with computers. some things don't corrupt caches as much as others. given all you points here, you seem to be spending most your computer time with a browser. I spend very little time with a browser. More time developing and doing video and audio. If you did that, you would never have posted what you did. You must understand that not all people use their computer the way you use yours. So they may have diff. needs than you, even ones you don't know about.

  • by Allan Eckert,

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Nov 10, 2014 3:42 PM in response to MortenJamesCarlsen
    Level 9 (53,640 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 10, 2014 3:42 PM in response to MortenJamesCarlsen

    I hate to burst your bubble but the vast majority of my time is actually spent on my photography and writing.

     

    Plus on top of that my experience was gained supporting servers before my retirement. I specialized in analyzing the performance of the servers so that I could suggest possible upgrade paths for the customers whose out sourced computer we supported.

     

    During all those years about the only thing that I ever found that caused cache corruption with the frequency you are talking about was disk drives that were about to fail.

     

    You don't have to spend inordinate amounts of time at the browsers to gather points if you answer questions.

  • by MortenJamesCarlsen,

    MortenJamesCarlsen MortenJamesCarlsen Nov 10, 2014 3:50 PM in response to Allan Eckert
    Level 1 (110 points)
    Nov 10, 2014 3:50 PM in response to Allan Eckert

    Allan Eckert wrote:

     

    I hate to burst your bubble but the vast majority of my time is actually spent on my photography and writing.

     

    Plus on top of that my experience was gained supporting servers before my retirement. I specialized in analyzing the performance of the servers so that I could suggest possible upgrade paths for the customers whose out sourced computer we supported.

     

    During all those years about the only thing that I ever found that caused cache corruption with the frequency you are talking about was disk drives that were about to fail.

     

    You don't have to spend inordinate amounts of time at the browsers to gather points if you answer questions.

    OK - but it is not my imagination causing these caches to make my system slower. It is not like I think it is great time spent, doing that. It actually works.

     

    I was not condescending in regards to your points. I respect that. A lot. Helping folks on your free time is admirable, to me !!! But it does take a considerable amount of time to get that amount of points. It would take 3 days of non-stop-writing-correct answers alone to get that amount and that if each post was deemed 'right answer' and would take no further than 60 seconds to write ;-)

  • by Allan Eckert,

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Nov 10, 2014 3:53 PM in response to MortenJamesCarlsen
    Level 9 (53,640 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 10, 2014 3:53 PM in response to MortenJamesCarlsen

    I have been a member of these forum since 2002

  • by MortenJamesCarlsen,

    MortenJamesCarlsen MortenJamesCarlsen Nov 10, 2014 3:55 PM in response to Allan Eckert
    Level 1 (110 points)
    Nov 10, 2014 3:55 PM in response to Allan Eckert

    OK ;-) Still, kudos for your accomplishments. Again, NOT meant as condescending. Sorry for jumping to the conclusion I took ;-)

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Nov 10, 2014 5:14 PM in response to scottfrommableton
    Level 10 (207,990 points)
    Applications
    Nov 10, 2014 5:14 PM in response to scottfrommableton

    The cache is not slowing down the computer. It's best to describe the problem in as much relevant detail as possible, rather than what you think is causing it or how you think it should be solved.

  • by terryzx,

    terryzx terryzx Feb 1, 2015 7:58 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 1, 2015 7:58 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Use this script to clear Safari Cache:

     

    --Empty Safari Cache (v1)

    --NB: Save as application

    ---------------------------------------------

     

    (*==========PROPERTIES==========*)

     

    property path2home : (path to home folder)

    property TargetFileName : "Cache.db"

    property TargetFileLocation : (path2home & "Library:Caches:com.apple.Safari:") as text

    property TargetFile : TargetFileLocation & TargetFileName

    property mytitle : "Empty Safari Cache"

     

     

    (*==========SCRIPT==========*)

     

    --check if Safari is running

    set SafariRunning to false

    tell application "Finder" to get name of processes

    set application_list to result

    if application_list contains "Safari" is true then

      set SafariRunning to true

    end if

     

    --dialog

    display dialog "Empty Safari Cache?" default button 2 --with icon 1

    --quit Safari first!

    if SafariRunning is true then

      display dialog "Quit Safari to continue!" buttons {"Cancel", "OK"} default button 2 with icon 0

    end if

    tell application "Safari" to quit

    delay 1

     

    --trash file

    tell application "Finder"

      if exists file TargetFile then

      delete TargetFile

      tell me

      display dialog "Cache emptied." buttons {"Launch Safari", "Done"} default button 2 --with icon 1 with title mytitle

      set button_returned to button returned of the result

      end tell

      else

      tell me

      display dialog "Cache already empty!" buttons {"Launch Safari", "Done"} default button 2 --with icon 1 with title mytitle

      set button_returned to button returned of the result

      end tell

      end if

    end tell

     

    --relaunch Safari

    if button_returned is "Launch Safari" then

      tell application "Safari" to activate

    end if

     

    (*==========END==========*)

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