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Clearing Cache Folder - Is it safe?

My Mac is running so slow - all apps taking forever to do anything - sounds like something is running in the background - I have read that you can clear cache folder - is this safe to do - or any advice. Thanks.


iMac 27″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Oct 16, 2020 4:47 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 17, 2020 10:53 PM

Here is an article that may help.

5 replies

Oct 17, 2020 10:47 PM in response to footballtoffeeman

In general it is usually Ok to delete the cache, but it really depends on which cache you are talking about. Generally you should only clear the cache of an app by using the app's own utilities (most web browsers have this option) or you want to completely quit the app (Command + Q) before deleting the app's cache. To clear out the macOS cache reboot into Safe Mode which among other things will delete some temp & cache files for you.


Before deleting things it is better to do some other troubleshooting steps first.


Run the Apple Diagnostics to see if any hardware issues are reported.


Run Disk Utility First Aid to look for file system issues. With newer versions of macOS you should click on "View" within Disk Utility and select "Show All Devices" so that the physical drive appears on the left pane of Disk Utility. Then select the "Container" and run First Aid. Even if First Aid reports everything as "Ok" you need to click on "Details" and manually examine the details looking for any unfixed errors. If there are unfixed errors listed, then that will require backing up the Mac and erasing the whole physical drive before restoring from a backup.


Try booting into Safe Mode to see if the Mac performs any better. Safe Mode disables some Apple drivers and all third party drivers & startup/login items.


To look for software issues run EtreCheck and post the report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper.

Oct 18, 2020 8:13 AM in response to footballtoffeeman

Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at startup), does the problem occur in Safe Mode?


Safe mode attempts to repair Disks & clears lots of caches & loads safe Drivers, & prevents loading of 3rd party extensions, so if Safe Mode works try again in regular boot.


If that doesn't do it, we might find the problem with an etrecheck report.

EtreCheck is a FREE simple little diagnostic tool to display the important details of your system configuration and allow you to copy that information to the Clipboard. It is meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to help people help you with your Mac. It will not display any personal info.

https://www.etrecheck.com/


Pastebin is a good place to paste the whole report if you capture the URL while there…

https://pastebin.com/

Whew, they've changed pastebin & made it harder, but after pasting in, click Create new paste button, then Embed button, then copy the URL...

<script src="https://pastebin.com/embed_js/KuvnghqA"></script>


The important part is...


https://pastebin.com/embed_js/KuvnghqA


Workable but harder for me to work with...the Note tool on the bottom of this editor's toolbar, as shown in the image, to copy and paste the output from EtreCheck. In a Reply before you click post, look for this to add longer texts...

Clearing Cache Folder - Is it safe?

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