We tell you about the different options to delete your Mac’s cache and improve its performance. If your Mac doesn’t seem to work as well as it used to, it’s most likely because your device’s hard drive or browser has accumulated a bunch of temporary files that not only take up valuable space but negatively affect your performance. So, knowing how to clear your Apple computer’s cache can be helpful in dealing with such a situation.
You’ve probably heard that Apple computers don’t need maintenance. Well, you see they are wrong! Because it can even happen that sometimes your Mac does not recognize the hard drive. Of course, compared to Windows PCs, these computers generally need less attention for the software and hardware to work perfectly, however, they are not without maintenance. So to help you, below we will show you how to clear the system cache and browser on your Mac.
What is the cache?
Before showing you the options we have to empty the cache, I want to tell you what we are talking about. The term cache refers to a small memory area that has the purpose of speeding up the execution of programs since a set of data resides temporarily inside it that will presumably be used in the near future.
In other words, the cache represents a kind of shortcut to access specific information more easily and quickly. Consequently, it is something very useful, but in the long term, and especially with the increase in size, it can cause slowdowns and errors.
How to Delete the Cache?
If you want to clear your Mac’s cache, you have several different alternatives at your disposal. The first is to clear the Mac cache manually, the second involves the use of specific third-party tools, like BuhoCleaner, and the last is to clear the browser cache.
Clear your Mac’s Cache Manually
To clear the user cache, you will only have to comply with the following steps:
- Open a Finder window and select the Go to folder… option from the Go menu.
- Type the command / Library / Caches to see the system caches, or / Users / [Your User Name] / Library / Caches (replace with your real username) to see the application cache.
- Alternatively, you can select and copy everything to another folder in case something goes wrong.
- Go to each of the folders and delete the content within them, but not the folders themselves.
- Remember to empty the trash once you are done to free up disk space.
Clear the cache using an app
If the previous method has not worked for you or it just seems very complicated, you can also use third-party apps that can take care of the situation. Our recommendation, in this case, is OnyX, a free application considered a kind of Swiss army knife for macOS maintenance. To clean the Mac cache with OnyX what you have to do is:
- First of all, download the OnyX app.
- Once downloaded, launch the app and enter the password for your macOS user account.
- Click the Accept button if you agree to the terms of use of the application.
- Now, select the Continue option to run the hard drive health check and wait until the process is complete.
- Once the main software window appears, click the Automate button.
- Then click on the Run button, located at the bottom right, and wait for the data deletion process to finish.
- If you consider it appropriate, before clicking the Run button you can select the specific elements on which the software will act, but we recommend doing so with those that are selected by default.
How to clear the browser cache?
If problems are occurring in your Mac’s browser, there is also a solution. All you have to do is follow the steps detailed below:
- Open the Safari browser on your Mac.
- Go to the development menu in the options bar.
- Click Preferences.
- Go to the Advanced tab.
- Once there, select the Development option.
- To finish, click on the Empty cache option, and you’re done.
And if you liked this article, you might also be interested in knowing how to use the iPhone or iPad apps on a Mac.