Apple Intelligence now features Image Playground, Genmoji, Writing Tools enhancements, seamless support for ChatGPT, and visual intelligence.
Apple Intelligence has also begun language expansion with localized English support for Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. Learn more >
Apple Intelligence has also begun language expansion with localized English support for Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. Learn more >
You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
There seem many large com.apple files in the library; the accumulated size is quite large.
Which of these file folders can be deleted, or which file in the folder can be deleted?
OS is 12.2.1
Any ideas are welcome. Thank you.
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.2
None! Delete ONLY files and folders you or another used created or copied to the Mac.: documents, pictures, spreadsheets and etc.
Never delete any system type files or folders. You may get away with it in the short term, but it's never a good idea to do this.
None! Delete ONLY files and folders you or another used created or copied to the Mac.: documents, pictures, spreadsheets and etc.
Never delete any system type files or folders. You may get away with it in the short term, but it's never a good idea to do this.
Memoire wrote:
There seem many large com.apple files in the library; the accumulated size is quite large.
?
Those MB files you present hardly add up to nothing(?)... I would look somewhere else if you need to free up storage,
KB, MB, GB -
A kilobyte (KB) is 1,024 bytes.
A megabyte (MB) is 1,024 kilobytes.
A gigabyte (GB) is 1,024 megabytes.
A terabyte (TB) is 1,024 gigabytes.
If Managing Space is the Sole Issue at hand suggestions below.
Otherwise, Safe Mode. This will perform a Disk Repair, clear cache files and only load Apple Software, extensions and fonts. The boot up will be slow and can take some time - Normal.
They will be recreated as the system or applications require.
What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and how can I clean it out?
In Monterey the “Other “ category is named “ System Storage “.
Free up storage space on your Mac
How to delete Time Machine snapshots on your Mac
See used and available storage space on your Mac
Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
The final word from Apple on Managing the " Other " Category
Other: Contains files that don’t fall into the categories listed here. This category primarily includes files and data used by the system, such as log files, caches, VM files, and other runtime system resources. Also included are temporary files, fonts, app support files, and plug-ins. You can't manage the contents of this category. The contents are managed by macOS, and the category varies in size depending on the current state of your Mac.
Thank you for the response ku4hx, much appreciated. I expected the response as that seems logical.
In the past I have cleared the entire cashe but had to reset many "things".
This time I wanted to do this more surgically and delete those elements that build up gradually taking up space.
To explain futrther, I just deleted a bunch on Chrome System folder cashes that were taking almost 7 GB and seems successful.
Thank you Mal-S for your kind support.
I followed your instructions and found iMovies files of 71 MB, so as I have never used iMovies that I recall I deleted this. The remaining items I will transfer to an external drive.
I appreciate the reply P. Phillips, thank you for such a detailed reply and the time that must have taken.
I will work on this and let you know the outcome. There's a lot to digest.
I was wondering if iMovies, Music, Podcasts, Messages, Garage Band, Chess, News, and the like can be deleted - as I don't use these?
You are welcome and thank you too.
iMoves and Garage Band can be removed and afterwards if you change your mind can be re-downloned at a later time via Apple Apps Store >> User Account lower left of that screen.
Music, Podcasts, Messages, Chess, News, are all baked right into the Operating System of Monterey.
As such can not be removed or deletes at all.
They can be removed from the Dock but will still be present in Applications Folder
If you want to manage your storage space safely do the following
If you are running out of storage, trying to save 7 GB here and 71 MB there is a waste of your time. These caches files can, and will be, re-created immediately.
Which com.apple files/folders can be deleted
