How to Clear System Data on Mac (2026 Guide), by MacKeeper on YouTube. 3 min 53 s.
- Video length
- 3 min 53 s
- Time to do it
- 20 minutes
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Steps
- 8
What you need
Steps
Open the Apple menu, go to System Settings > General > Storage and wait for the coloured bar to load. Click the System Data segment to see how much space it is using.
Back up your Mac with Time Machine first. Connect an external drive, then choose it under System Settings > General > Time Machine and run a backup.
Open Finder, press Shift+Command+G, type ~/Library/Caches and press Return. This folder holds cached files from your apps and browser.
Sort the folder by size, then drag the cache folders of apps you are not using to the Trash. Leave the folder itself in place and skip anything you do not recognise.
Press Shift+Command+G again, go to ~/Library/Application Support and remove leftover folders from apps you have already uninstalled. Do not delete folders for apps you still use.
Open Terminal from Applications > Utilities and type tmutil listlocalsnapshots / then press Return. You will see a list of Time Machine local snapshots.
In Terminal, run tmutil thinlocalsnapshots / 100000000000 4 to thin those snapshots and reclaim space. The large number is the target in bytes and 4 is the urgency level.
Empty the Trash, restart your Mac, then check System Settings > General > Storage again to confirm the space is back.
Tips and common mistakes
Never delete the Caches or Application Support folders themselves, only the contents inside them.
System Data will grow again over time, so repeat this cleanup every few months.
Time Machine snapshots come back after your next backup, so thin them rather than trying to remove them for good.
If a single app is the culprit, uninstall it properly instead of hunting through hidden folders.
Questions
Is it safe to delete the Caches folder on a Mac?
Yes. Cache files are temporary copies that apps rebuild when needed, so deleting them only means a slightly slower first launch. Do not delete the folder itself.
Why is System Data still large after cleaning?
MacOS counts things like snapshots, logs and swap files in that category, and some of it is recreated automatically. Restarting and running a fresh backup usually settles the number.
Do I have to use Terminal?
Only for the Time Machine snapshot step. The cache and app support cleanup can be done entirely in Finder with the Go to Folder shortcut.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
