Setting a different Chrome Profile path off my internal hard drive to external drive

I do a lot of video streaming/watching on my Mac, and I don't want it wearing my internal SSD down with the massive writes because if it goes, my MM is worthless. I had thought I was able to point my Profile to my external SSD, but to my horror, the cache is still all going to the internal drive at /Users/ME/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome/Default/Cache. In just 8 days alone, it's written over 860 GIGABYTES. This can't continue.


So, how can I point not only my profile to the external drive, but ESPECIALLY where the cache folder is going?

Mac mini

Posted on Nov 11, 2023 1:32 PM

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Posted on Nov 11, 2023 1:33 PM

To redirect your Chrome browser's cache to an external SSD on your Mac, you need to create a symbolic link (symlink) that points from the default cache location to a new cache folder on your external drive. First, close Chrome and then move the existing cache folder from `/Users/ME/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome/Default/Cache` to your external SSD. After moving the folder, open the Terminal application on your Mac. In Terminal, use the `ln -s` command to create a symlink. For instance, if your external drive is named 'ExternalSSD', you would use the command `ln -s /Volumes/ExternalSSD/Cache /Users/ME/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome/Default/Cache`. This command creates a link at the original cache location that redirects to the cache folder on your external SSD. When you open Chrome again, it will start using the cache folder on your external drive, thus reducing the wear on your internal SSD. Remember to replace 'ExternalSSD' and 'Cache' with the actual names of your external drive and the new cache folder.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 11, 2023 1:33 PM in response to GodzFire

To redirect your Chrome browser's cache to an external SSD on your Mac, you need to create a symbolic link (symlink) that points from the default cache location to a new cache folder on your external drive. First, close Chrome and then move the existing cache folder from `/Users/ME/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome/Default/Cache` to your external SSD. After moving the folder, open the Terminal application on your Mac. In Terminal, use the `ln -s` command to create a symlink. For instance, if your external drive is named 'ExternalSSD', you would use the command `ln -s /Volumes/ExternalSSD/Cache /Users/ME/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome/Default/Cache`. This command creates a link at the original cache location that redirects to the cache folder on your external SSD. When you open Chrome again, it will start using the cache folder on your external drive, thus reducing the wear on your internal SSD. Remember to replace 'ExternalSSD' and 'Cache' with the actual names of your external drive and the new cache folder.

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Setting a different Chrome Profile path off my internal hard drive to external drive

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