--- title: "Claude taking up space on Mac? Where the 10+ GB goes" description: "Claude desktop can use 10–13 GB on a Mac, mostly a sandbox VM in vm_bundles, and Claude Code keeps every session in ~/.claude. Here’s what’s safe to clear." url: https://tidymac.space/guides/claude-taking-up-space-mac/ updated: 2026-10-20 --- [Home](/) [Guides](/guides/) Claude taking up space on Mac? Where the 10+ GB goes # Why is Claude using so much storage on my Mac? Claude desktop can use 10–13 GB on a Mac, mostly a sandbox VM in vm\_bundles, and Claude Code keeps every session in ~/.claude. Here’s what’s safe to clear. 6 min readUpdated October 16, 2026By the Tidy Mac team Short answer Most of it is one folder: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/vm\_bundles, a virtual machine Claude desktop downloads to run tasks in a sandbox, about 10 GB. Claude Code adds its session history in ~/.claude/projects. Caches are safe to clear; the VM comes back if you use the features that need it. The steps 1. Quit Claude desktop and any running Claude Code sessions. 2. Measure the folders with du -sh in Terminal. 3. Clear Cache and Code Cache in Claude’s Application Support folder. 4. Decide on vm\_bundles: delete it only if you don’t use Claude’s sandbox features. 5. Delete old Claude Code project folders in ~/.claude/projects you won’t resume. 6. Set cleanupPeriodDays in ~/.claude/settings.json so old sessions clear themselves. ## What we measured On one of our MacBooks, Claude took **13.08 GB** in `~/Library/Application Support/Claude`, and **10.22 GB** of that was a single folder, `vm_bundles`. Claude Code's `~/.claude` added **2.8 GB**, 2.61 GB of it old session transcripts. People on Reddit and Apple's forums report the same 10–13 GB. macOS counts all of it as **System Data**, which is why it's hard to find. [What System Data is](/learn/what-is-system-data-on-mac/) ## Measure yours Quit Claude, then run: ``` du -sh ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h | tail du -sh ~/.claude/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h | tail ``` Nothing here deletes anything. ## vm\_bundles: the big one Claude desktop downloads a small Linux virtual machine so it can run code and tasks in a sandbox, isolated from your Mac. That image lives in `vm_bundles` (sometimes `claude-code-vm` or `claudevm.bundle`). - **Safe to delete?** Yes, with Claude quit. Nothing of yours is inside. - **The catch:** if you use the features that need it, Claude downloads it again on its next launch, so you only gain the space if you don't use them. ## Cache and Code Cache: always safe `Cache`, `Code Cache` and `GPUCache` in the same folder are ordinary app caches, usually a few hundred MB. Delete them with Claude quit; Claude rebuilds what it needs. ## Claude Code: ~/.claude/projects Claude Code saves every conversation as a file so you can resume it, one folder per project. A long session can pass 100 MB. Deleting a project folder only means you can't resume those sessions. Keep `~/.claude/settings.json`, `CLAUDE.md` and any `skills`, `agents` or `commands` folders: they're your setup. To stop it growing, add this to `~/.claude/settings.json`, which tells Claude Code to delete sessions older than the number of days you choose: ``` { "cleanupPeriodDays": 14 } ``` ![](/img/brand/tidy-128.png) ### Let Tidy Mac do this for you See every part of your storage explained, and clear junk to the Trash with Undo. $9.99 once, 2 Macs. [Download](/download/TidyMac.dmg) [Buy for $9.99 once](/buy/) ## Uninstalling Claude completely Move Claude from Applications to the Trash, then remove `~/Library/Application Support/Claude`, `~/Library/Caches/com.anthropic.claudefordesktop` (if present) and its preferences file in `~/Library/Preferences`. [App leftover finder](/tools/app-leftover-finder/) ## The other AI tools Claude is rarely alone. On the same Mac, Gemini / Antigravity (`~/.gemini`) used 5.31 GB, Codex (`~/.codex` plus `~/.cache/codex-runtimes`) 5.6 GB, and Cursor 3.56 GB. [Check any folder](/tools/is-it-safe-to-delete-mac/) · [Hidden folders in your home](/learn/hidden-dot-folders-mac-home/) ## Where Tidy Mac fits Tidy Mac names Claude, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and local AI models inside System Data, shows their real size, and moves what you pick to the Trash with Undo. It also has an [MCP server](/integrations/claude-desktop/), so you can ask Claude itself what's filling your disk. ## Frequently asked questions What is vm\_bundles in Claude’s folder? A virtual machine image Claude desktop uses to run tasks in an isolated sandbox. It’s about 10 GB and holds nothing of yours. Can I delete vm\_bundles? Yes, with Claude quit. If you use the features that need the sandbox, Claude downloads it again, so it only saves space if you don’t. Is it safe to delete ~/.claude? Not as a whole: it holds your Claude Code settings, CLAUDE.md and skills. The projects folder inside is session history, and old project folders are safe to delete. Why does Claude show up as System Data? macOS’s Storage settings only name Apps, Documents, Photos and a few others. App data in ~/Library/Application Support and hidden folders like ~/.claude are counted as System Data. ## Keep reading [Hidden dot-folders in your Mac home folder](/learn/hidden-dot-folders-mac-home/)[Application Support, Containers and Group Containers](/learn/mac-application-support-folder/)[Is it safe to delete?](/tools/is-it-safe-to-delete-mac/)[Local AI models on Mac](/learn/local-ai-models-ollama-lm-studio/)[How to check storage on your Mac](/guides/how-to-check-storage-on-mac/)[How to clear System Data on macOS 27 Golden Gate without breaking anything](/guides/clear-system-data-macos-27/) Share:[X](https://x.com/intent/post?text=Why%20is%20Claude%20using%20so%20much%20storage%20on%20my%20Mac%3F&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Fclaude-taking-up-space-mac%2F)[Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Fclaude-taking-up-space-mac%2F&title=Why%20is%20Claude%20using%20so%20much%20storage%20on%20my%20Mac%3F)[Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/submitlink?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Fclaude-taking-up-space-mac%2F&t=Why%20is%20Claude%20using%20so%20much%20storage%20on%20my%20Mac%3F)[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Fclaude-taking-up-space-mac%2F) #### On this page [What we measured](#what-we-measured)[Measure yours](#measure-yours)[vm\_bundles: the big one](#vm-bundles-the-big-one)[Cache and Code Cache: always safe](#cache-and-code-cache-always-safe)[Claude Code: ~/.claude/projects](#claude-code-claude-projects)[Uninstalling Claude completely](#uninstalling-claude-completely)[The other AI tools](#the-other-ai-tools)[Where Tidy Mac fits](#where-tidy-mac-fits)[FAQ](#faq) **Tidy Mac** See this on your own Mac in under a minute. $9.99 once, 2 Macs. [Download](/download/TidyMac.dmg)