--- title: "What is safe to delete on a Mac? A clear list" description: "A plain list of what you can delete on a Mac to free space safely, what to check first, and what to leave alone, with the folder paths and the right tools." url: https://tidymac.space/guides/what-is-safe-to-delete-on-mac/ updated: 2026-10-16 --- [Home](/) [Guides](/guides/) What is safe to delete on a Mac? A clear list # What’s safe to delete on a Mac (and what isn’t) A plain list of what you can delete on a Mac to free space safely, what to check first, and what to leave alone, with the folder paths and the right tools. 7 min readUpdated October 16, 2026By the Tidy Mac team Short answer Usually safe: the Trash, old .dmg and .pkg installers, caches of apps that are closed, Xcode DerivedData, old iOS device support files, and package-manager caches. Check first: iPhone backups, Downloads, Mail attachments and Time Machine local snapshots. Leave alone: the macOS system, Docker.raw (shrink it with Docker), app containers of apps you use, and anything in /System. The steps 1. Empty the Trash and delete installers you’ve already used (.dmg, .pkg, old “Install macOS” apps). 2. Clear caches of closed apps in ~/Library/Caches. 3. Developers: delete Xcode DerivedData and unused simulators with xcrun simctl delete unavailable. 4. Remove iPhone backups you no longer need from Finder › Manage Backups. 5. Review Downloads and large files before deleting. 6. Leave /System, Docker.raw and app containers alone. ## Usually safe to delete What Where Comes back? Trash Dock › Trash No Old installers Downloads, /Applications (“Install macOS…”) No App caches (closed apps) ~/Library/Caches Yes, slowly Xcode DerivedData ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData Yes, on next build Old iOS DeviceSupport ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS DeviceSupport Only for devices you connect npm, pip, Homebrew caches ~/.npm, ~/Library/Caches/pip, Homebrew’s cache Yes, on next install More detail: [App caches](/learn/mac-app-caches/) · [DerivedData](/learn/xcode-deriveddata/) · [Package caches](/learn/homebrew-npm-pip-caches/) ## Check first - **iPhone and iPad backups**: delete only ones you don’t need. [Where they are](/learn/iphone-backups-on-mac/) - **Time Machine local snapshots**: thin them with tmutil rather than deleting files. [How](/learn/time-machine-local-snapshots/) - **Downloads and large files**: sort by size and decide. [Find large files](/guides/find-large-files-mac/) - **Local AI models** (Ollama, LM Studio): big, but re-downloading takes time. [Models](/learn/local-ai-models-ollama-lm-studio/) ![](/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/) ## Leave alone - **/System and the macOS volume**: sealed and read-only. - **Docker.raw**: use docker system prune instead. [Why](/learn/docker-raw-mac/) - **Containers and Group Containers** of apps you use: they hold the app’s data. - **Anything a cleaner can’t explain.** ## Let Tidy Mac sort it Tidy Mac's Clean screen sorts every item in a similar way: Safe to clear (ticked for you), Worth a look (never ticked, you decide) and Kept (shown, never removed). What you clear goes to the Trash first, with Undo in History. $9.99 once for 2 Macs. [See how](/mac-cleaner/) ## Keep reading [“Your disk is almost full”: how to free up space on a Mac safely](/guides/mac-storage-full/)[Are Mac cleaner apps safe, and do you need one?](/guides/are-mac-cleaners-safe/)[What is “System Data” on a Mac, and why is it so big?](/learn/what-is-system-data-on-mac/)[Folders](/folders/)[What is “Other Volumes in Container” on a Mac, and can you delete it?](/guides/other-volumes-in-container-mac/)[Mac storage stuck on “Calculating…”: why it happens and how to fix it](/guides/mac-storage-stuck-calculating/) Share:[X](https://x.com/intent/post?text=What%E2%80%99s%20safe%20to%20delete%20on%20a%20Mac%20\(and%20what%20isn%E2%80%99t\)&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Fwhat-is-safe-to-delete-on-mac%2F)[Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Fwhat-is-safe-to-delete-on-mac%2F&title=What%E2%80%99s%20safe%20to%20delete%20on%20a%20Mac%20\(and%20what%20isn%E2%80%99t\))[Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/submitlink?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Fwhat-is-safe-to-delete-on-mac%2F&t=What%E2%80%99s%20safe%20to%20delete%20on%20a%20Mac%20\(and%20what%20isn%E2%80%99t\))[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Fwhat-is-safe-to-delete-on-mac%2F) #### On this page [Usually safe to delete](#usually-safe-to-delete)[Check first](#check-first)[Leave alone](#leave-alone)[Let Tidy Mac sort it](#let-tidy-mac-sort-it) **Tidy Mac** See this on your own Mac in under a minute. $9.99 once, 2 Macs. [Download](/download/TidyMac.dmg)