To be clear, I am not asking about spelling dictionaries. This concerns the language dictionaries used by Dictionary.app. There are many dictionaries for languages I will never use. I want to remove them and recover disk space. There are only a few dictionaries in
User > Library > Dictionaries
Where are the rest? Is it OK to trash the unneeded ones?
Mac mini, macOS 11.2
Dictionaries used by the Dictionary application other than those in /Users/username/Library/Dictionaries are not removable by the user because they are installed on the code-signed, read-only operating system partition.
Dictionaries used by the Dictionary application other than those in /Users/username/Library/Dictionaries are not removable by the user because they are installed on the code-signed, read-only operating system partition.
Hi there mountainshack,
Thank you for using the Apple Support Communities! We understand you're looking to find a way to delete unused languages from dictionary on your Mac in hopes to free up some disk space. We can share some information with you that may help.
While you can choose which languages are available to use within the Dictionary preferences, we're not seeing a supported way from Apple regarding how to delete them completely: Look up words on Mac. Control-click a word or phrase > Click Look Up > In the Look Up window under Dictionary scroll to the bottom and click Configure Dictionaries (this opens Dictionary preferences). From there you can uncheck languages you do not wish to utilize.
You might find this article helpful for freeing up space on your Mac: How to free up storage space on your Mac
Best regards.
Thank you, VikingOSX. I guess that also answers the question of why I couldn't find them.
Can we delete unneeded language dictionaries?
