First the specs: Running iMac 27inch Mid 2010, Yosemite V10.10, 2,93 GHz Core i7, 16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 RAM
I have 16GB of Ram and it seems that after reboot, or a prolonged period of time, that the Cache continues to build until it's really slowing down the Computer.
How do I clear this and get the most from the 16GB of RAM and speed up the computer?
Thanks so much!
SC
iMac (27-inch Mid 2010), OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)
In system library and user library caches contents are deleted , restarting the computer and emptying the trash creates new cache contents in respective folder .
In a very rarest case from system library : caches contents are removed , but in user library these are to be deleted as they are temp files .
What cache? There are dozens of them.
Gottcha - I'm looking at an app I use on the iMac that tracks the RAM being used. It shows App memory, File Cache (The one I'm asking about), Wired, Compressed and Used.
The FILE CACHE is what builds and slows down the available RAM.
Does that make sense? I'm not a master of this, but I know that the File Cache is building and taking a lot of RAM.
The name of the Ap is Memory Clean
I would personally never use any of those cleaner apps. A side from one. Tinker tool System. But I do not use that for cleaning caches.
But for other things and it is not yet compatible with OS X 10.10
There are 3 caches which I clean manually at least once a month...
By Clean I mean delete the entire contents of its folders. I have been doing that for years and never had problems after doing it. Only a better system.
1) User/Library/Caches
2) MacHD/Library/Caches
3) MacHD/System/Library/Caches
On top of that I regularly run a safe-boot, log in and reboot.
Cache is there for a reason. It is to store data that the operating system knows you will need again. So it stores it for you in a location that it can reach faster then where the data was originally stored. So in effect cache is a way of speeding your computer up.
When you clear or clean cache what you are in effect doing is slowing your computer down until it is able to restore all of the data that you just deleted once more.
Beyond that, your monthly is just a waste of time and a way to make your computer run slower.
The File Cache is created by OS X as a quick store for loaded applications and processes and their support files. The more you run the more goes into that cache. It does not slow down RAM. Your RAM never runs slower. The computer will, however, if you start running out of available RAM for the number of concurrently running applications.
About OS X Memory Management and Usage
Using Activity Monitor to read System Memory & determine how much RAM is used
OS X Mavericks- About Activity Monitor
Understanding top output in the Terminal
The amount of available RAM for applications is the sum of Free RAM and Inactive RAM. This will change as applications are opened and closed or change from active to inactive status. The Swap figure represents an estimate of the total amount of swap space required for VM if used, but does not necessarily indicate the actual size of the existing swap file. If you are really in need of more RAM that would be indicated by how frequently the system uses VM. If you open the Terminal and run the top command at the prompt you will find information reported on Pageins () and Pageouts (). Pageouts () is the important figure. If the value in the parentheses is 0 (zero) then OS X is not making instantaneous use of VM which means you have adequate physical RAM for the system with the applications you have loaded. If the figure in parentheses is running positive and your hard drive is constantly being used (thrashing) then you need more physical RAM.
Adding RAM only makes it possible to run more programs concurrently. It doesn't speed up the computer nor make games run faster. What it can do is prevent the system from having to use disk-based VM when it runs out of RAM because you are trying to run too many applications concurrently or using applications that are extremely RAM dependent. It will improve the performance of applications that run mostly in RAM or when loading programs.
Clearing caches should only be done as a troubleshooting technique. Usually, used if you have kernel panic problems as some panics may be caused by corrupted caches. It is not a "fix" for a slowly running computer. More often than not this problem is from running too many applications for the amount of installed RAM or the result of using incompatible software.
Allan Eckert wrote:
Cache is there for a reason. It is to store data that the operating system knows you will need again. So it stores it for you in a location that it can reach faster then where the data was originally stored. So in effect cache is a way of speeding your computer up.
When you clear or clean cache what you are in effect doing is slowing your computer down until it is able to restore all of the data that you just deleted once more.
Beyond that, your monthly is just a waste of time and a way to make your computer run slower.
So, I am just deliberately telling myself that my computer performs faster than prior to doing it...
Caches can be and are your friends, until they become outdated and or corrupted.
And if it would bring nothing to delete them, aside from making the computer slower, then how come every time I was on the phone with Apple Care or in the Apple Store... Exactly THAT was one of the first thing they did or asked me to do....???
Yes. It is true that cache can become corrupt. So far I have had it happen to my computers now once every four or five years at the most. So monthly purging of cache is tremendous overkill to say the least.
I can't say anything about what Apple support tells you to do. That is their opinion and I have nothing to do with it. All I can vouch for is my experience after my years of experience supporting servers. It is a waste of any time expended purging cache.
Allan Eckert wrote:
Yes. It is true that cache can become corrupt. So far I have had it happen to my computers now once every four or five years at the most. So monthly purging of cache is tremendous overkill to say the least.
I can't say anything about what Apple support tells you to do. That is their opinion and I have nothing to do with it. All I can vouch for is my experience after my years of experience supporting servers. It is a waste of any time expended purging cache.
we all have different things that we do with computers. some things don't corrupt caches as much as others. given all you points here, you seem to be spending most your computer time with a browser. I spend very little time with a browser. More time developing and doing video and audio. If you did that, you would never have posted what you did. You must understand that not all people use their computer the way you use yours. So they may have diff. needs than you, even ones you don't know about.
I hate to burst your bubble but the vast majority of my time is actually spent on my photography and writing.
Plus on top of that my experience was gained supporting servers before my retirement. I specialized in analyzing the performance of the servers so that I could suggest possible upgrade paths for the customers whose out sourced computer we supported.
During all those years about the only thing that I ever found that caused cache corruption with the frequency you are talking about was disk drives that were about to fail.
You don't have to spend inordinate amounts of time at the browsers to gather points if you answer questions.
Allan Eckert wrote:
I hate to burst your bubble but the vast majority of my time is actually spent on my photography and writing.
Plus on top of that my experience was gained supporting servers before my retirement. I specialized in analyzing the performance of the servers so that I could suggest possible upgrade paths for the customers whose out sourced computer we supported.
During all those years about the only thing that I ever found that caused cache corruption with the frequency you are talking about was disk drives that were about to fail.
You don't have to spend inordinate amounts of time at the browsers to gather points if you answer questions.
OK - but it is not my imagination causing these caches to make my system slower. It is not like I think it is great time spent, doing that. It actually works.
I was not condescending in regards to your points. I respect that. A lot. Helping folks on your free time is admirable, to me !!! But it does take a considerable amount of time to get that amount of points. It would take 3 days of non-stop-writing-correct answers alone to get that amount and that if each post was deemed 'right answer' and would take no further than 60 seconds to write ;-)
I have been a member of these forum since 2002
OK ;-) Still, kudos for your accomplishments. Again, NOT meant as condescending. Sorry for jumping to the conclusion I took ;-)
The cache is not slowing down the computer. It's best to describe the problem in as much relevant detail as possible, rather than what you think is causing it or how you think it should be solved.
Use this script to clear Safari Cache:
--Empty Safari Cache (v1)
--NB: Save as application
---------------------------------------------
(*==========PROPERTIES==========*)
property path2home : (path to home folder)
property TargetFileName : "Cache.db"
property TargetFileLocation : (path2home & "Library:Caches:com.apple.Safari:") as text
property TargetFile : TargetFileLocation & TargetFileName
property mytitle : "Empty Safari Cache"
(*==========SCRIPT==========*)
--check if Safari is running
set SafariRunning to false
tell application "Finder" to get name of processes
set application_list to result
if application_list contains "Safari" is true then
set SafariRunning to true
end if
--dialog
display dialog "Empty Safari Cache?" default button 2 --with icon 1
--quit Safari first!
if SafariRunning is true then
display dialog "Quit Safari to continue!" buttons {"Cancel", "OK"} default button 2 with icon 0
end if
tell application "Safari" to quit
delay 1
--trash file
tell application "Finder"
if exists file TargetFile then
deleteTargetFile
tell me
display dialog "Cache emptied." buttons {"Launch Safari", "Done"} default button 2 --with icon 1 with title mytitle
set button_returned to button returned of the result
end tell
else
tell me
display dialog "Cache already empty!" buttons {"Launch Safari", "Done"} default button 2 --with icon 1 with title mytitle
set button_returned to button returned of the result
end tell
end if
end tell
--relaunch Safari
if button_returned is "Launch Safari" then
tell application "Safari" to activate
end if
(*==========END==========*)
How do I clear the Cache in Yosemite?
