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Level 1

16 points

large com.apple.bird directory

To be more specific: in "/Users/~user/Library/Caches" there's a "com.apple.bird" directory that's ~1.5gb. My Google-fu turns up virtually nothing on what this directory is, does, contains, etc. I'd like to delete it to recover disk space (not an readily available option to get an external drive or upgrade the internals).

Caches can be safe to delete because the app/process that uses it will rebuild it as necessary--sometimes. Is this a case where I can safely delete the "com.apple.bird" directory and move along?

I'm running Yosemite on a MacBook Pro (early 2011), 128gb storage.

Thanks in advance,

Jody

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10), early 2011

Posted on Oct 17, 2014 10:18 AM

27 replies

m4tti

Level 1

5 points

May 28, 2015 3:19 AM in response to aerodyno

I can confirm the answer of aerodyno.

I my case the folder is about ~33GB, and all the big files a COMPLETE daily backups of the Whatsapp App. Turning these backups off or changing them to weekly should improve the behavior of that folder, but to completely fix it I think we depend on Whatsapp to fix that and begin to make delta update of the backups...

Jun 29, 2015 2:04 PM in response to jodytate

I can confirm none of this. I've heard of the app, sure. but why is this folder constantly reappearing with the app in question..not existent?

"bird"...

liroyvh

Level 1

9 points

Nov 22, 2015 3:04 PM in response to EdwardlyMoss

Do any of you guys by any chance make use of WhatsApp Web?

Dec 4, 2015 11:31 AM in response to liroyvh

CleanMyMac 3 marks the com.apple.bird directory safe to delete.

It does so automatically when I perform a clean.

svkrzn

Level 1

75 points

Dec 14, 2015 1:17 AM in response to jodytate

Looks like after deleting the cache from that folder I have that issue with iTunes Re: Music.app doesn't display all the artwork

Dec 28, 2015 1:57 PM in response to jodytate

Wow. At my side the size is 35+ Gb. Just move the contents to a folder on my External Drive. And will restart to see what happens - whether the Mac still functions...

Another thing I noticed is that since the laste El Capitan update (10.11.2) and the last iOS update (9.2) both my iPad and my iPhone lost space to the infamous "Other"-category (when you plug the iDevice in on iTunes). Just wondering if these two issues are connected: could it be that the ridiculous size of the com.apple.bird directory is causing to also increase the "Other"-category on the iPad/iPhone? So there's an hypothesis. What do you guys think?

Cheers!

Hanani

Level 1

20 points

Mar 8, 2016 12:00 PM in response to AntoniCanovas

thanks ! going to delete mine too Macbook pro 15 new....

Mar 9, 2016 9:41 PM in response to jodytate

Don't delete that folder. Instead, run

brctl diagnose

I run it and my folder went from 70Gb to 0B.

You should run this post also: http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/220007/what-is-com-apple-bird-why-does- it-grow-so-big

Apr 2, 2016 1:36 PM in response to jodytate

dear good afternoon,

I just deleted the folder Apple Bird, and my MacBook is still impeccable, no problem if you delete this folder.

Regards,

Marcio_Brazil

May 14, 2016 1:55 AM in response to John Chile

Hmm, I just ran "brctl diagnose" and all it did was prepare a .gz file for me to upload somewhere. It actually reduced your apple bird folder? You sure you didn't also do something else about the same time? 😉

frichark

Level 1

8 points

Jun 2, 2016 11:45 AM in response to ChrisBedford

Hi ChrisBedford,

you are right.

Another solution that worked for me is described here

Library/Chaches/com.apple.bird is bigger then 45GB

Oct 11, 2016 8:56 PM in response to frichark

The solution mentioned by frichark also worked for me. My com.apple.bird folder went from more than 100GB down to 50KB.

Library/Chaches/com.apple.bird is bigger then 45GB

large com.apple.bird directory