Multiple Application Entries in Containers Folder

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Level 1

10 points

Multiple Application Entries in Containers Folder

Dear All,

I was browsing through the files inside my ~/Library folder and noticed that, in the Containers folder, there are instances of multiple entries for the same application. For the sake of wanting to learn why this occurs (and out of curiosity), is this normal behavior? I'm using a 2018 MacBook Air running Big Sur version 11.4. Though the files in each folder are the same, the sizes are different. This relates to my second question of whether multiple folders for the same application in the Container folder are taking up unnecessary space? I attached a screenshot that shows some of the offenders (but not all).

I would really value any input, thoughts, or guidance you might have on this. Thanks!

-Nick

MacBook Air

Posted on Jul 11, 2021 10:33 AM

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Answer 1

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,138 points

Jul 11, 2021 2:55 PM in response to am90am1ysp

They aren't the same. Finder obfuscates the actual name. The one for the Mail app is com.apple.mail.

You can view the actual name in Get Info, Name & Extension.

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Answer 2

am90am1ysp Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 18, 2021 9:06 AM in response to James Brickley

Barnie-I5E's response answered my question but the extra details you (James) shared provided additional context to help me understand what was going behind the scenes. Thank you both for taking the time to reply!

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Answer 3

Jul 11, 2021 3:27 PM in response to am90am1ysp

As Barnie-I5E indicates the Finder is not showing reality. You can see the real directories in Terminal as well.

The ~/Library/Containers and ~/Library/Group Containers are related to App Sandboxing.

Apple Developer Docs:

https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Security/Conceptual/AppSandboxDesignGuide/AppSandboxInDepth/AppSandboxInDepth.html

Within an App's code the developer makes API calls to access these locations and the Apple Developer API's take care of all the heavy lifting. The container is in a hidden location, and so users do not interact with it directly. Specifically, the container is not for user documents. It is for files that your app uses, along with databases, caches, and other app-specific data.

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Multiple Application Entries in Containers Folder

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