The cleaning catalog

We can only delete what's on this list.

DiskBroom doesn't roam your disk looking for things to remove. It works from a fixed, published catalog of locations where macOS and well-known tools store rebuildable data — the same catalog you're reading now. If a folder isn't listed here, DiskBroom cannot touch it. Every entry says what it is, what happens after you delete it, and how careful to be.

Safe — regenerates automatically Re-downloads — safe, but costs bandwidth or build time Review first — may hold things you want

Step-by-step cleaning guides

The most-asked-about locations, each with free manual removal steps — no app required.

App caches

Shown per app in DiskBroom, so you can see exactly which application is the hog.

User app caches safe ~/Library/Caches/<each app> Working files apps keep to avoid redoing work — thumbnail stores, downloaded assets, browser caches. Apps rebuild these automatically the next time they run. Often the single biggest reclaimable pile on a Mac.

Developer

The reason a "vibe coding" Mac fills up. All of it comes back on the next build or install.

Xcode DerivedData safe ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData Build products and code indexes. Xcode rebuilds them on the next compile — this folder is routinely tens of gigabytes.
iOS DeviceSupport safe ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS DeviceSupport Debug symbols copied from every iPhone you've ever plugged in. Re-copied automatically on the next connection.
Xcode Archives review first ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/Archives Your released builds and their debug symbols (dSYMs). If you ship apps, you may need these to read crash reports — review before removing.
Simulator caches safe ~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Caches iOS Simulator runtime caches; rebuilt by the simulator as needed.
Simulator devices review first ~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices The simulators themselves, including any apps and data installed in them. Deleting resets your simulators.
npm cache safe ~/.npm Downloaded JavaScript packages. npm re-downloads what it needs on the next install.
pnpm store re-downloads ~/Library/pnpm/store pnpm's shared package store used across all your projects. Removing it means the next install re-downloads dependencies.
Cargo registry re-downloads ~/.cargo/registry Downloaded Rust crates. Re-fetched on the next build.
Gradle caches re-downloads ~/.gradle/caches Gradle dependencies and build caches. Rebuilt and re-downloaded on the next build.
Go module cache re-downloads ~/go/pkg/mod/cache Downloaded Go modules. Re-fetched on demand.
CLI tool caches safe ~/.cache/<each tool> The shared cache folder used by command-line tools — pip, uv, Playwright, and friends — shown per tool. Rebuilt or re-downloaded when needed.

AI & machine learning

Model weights are big and slow to re-download — DiskBroom is deliberately more cautious here.

Hugging Face & PyTorch caches re-downloads ~/.cache/huggingface · ~/.cache/torch Downloaded models and datasets. Nothing breaks if they go — but the next run re-downloads them, which can take a while on big models.
Ollama models review first ~/.ollama/models Local LLM weights. Often tens of gigabytes and slow to re-fetch — review which models you still use before removing.
LM Studio models review first ~/.lmstudio/models Downloaded LLM weights for LM Studio. Same caution as Ollama.

Photo & video

Render and conform caches — the quiet disk-eaters of every editing workflow.

Adobe media cache safe ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/Media Cache Files · Media Cache Premiere Pro and After Effects conformed audio and video. Rebuilt automatically when a project opens — famously grows to hundreds of gigabytes.
Adobe peak files safe ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/Peak Files Audio waveform previews. Regenerated as you edit.
DaVinci Resolve cache safe ~/Library/Application Support/Blackmagic Design/DaVinci Resolve/CacheClip Resolve's render cache clips. Re-rendered when needed.

Logs & reports

User logs safe ~/Library/Logs Diagnostic logs written by your apps. Regenerated as apps run; only useful if you're actively debugging something.
Crash reports safe ~/Library/Application Support/CrashReporter Reports from past app crashes. Safe to remove.

Temporary files & Trash

User temporary files re-downloads $TMPDIR (your user temp folder) Scratch space apps use while running. Quit heavyweight apps before cleaning here — files may be in active use.
Trash review first ~/.Trash Files you already deleted. This is the one place DiskBroom's cleaning is permanent — because emptying the Trash is permanent by definition. It will tell you so before you confirm.

The catalog grows as new tools earn a place on it — that's part of what a Pro subscription funds. Think something's missing? Tell us: if it's rebuildable and it gets big, it belongs here.