DiskBroom › What it cleans › Docker Desktop using huge disk space on Mac

Cleaning guide

Docker's disk file only ever grows — until you prune it.

~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/vms/0/data/Docker.raw

What it is

Docker Desktop keeps everything — images, containers, build cache, and volumes — inside one virtual disk file. macOS shows the file at its high-water mark: space freed inside Docker doesn't shrink the file until Docker compacts it.

How big it gets

Commonly 20–60 GB for regular users; the default disk limit is 64 GB and CI-style workflows fill it. The Docker Desktop dashboard shows the true internal usage.

What happens if you delete it

Images and build cache re-pull and rebuild — losing them costs time only. Volumes are different: they hold real data (databases, uploaded files). Pruning images is routine; pruning volumes deletes data that may exist nowhere else.

How to remove it manually — free, no app needed

  1. See what's using space: docker system df
  2. Reclaim the routine bulk: docker system prune — removes stopped containers, dangling images, and build cache. Add --all to also remove unused tagged images.
  3. Volumes, only after reading the list carefully: docker volume ls, then docker volume rm <name> for ones you're sure about. Skip docker system prune --volumes unless you know every volume is disposable.
  4. Shrink the file itself: Docker Desktop → Settings → Resources → lower the disk size, or use its Clean / Purge data control (this deletes everything in the VM).

Risk rating

Yours to decide. Images rebuild, but volumes can hold the only copy of real data. This one is genuinely your call.

Prefer not to do this by hand every time? DiskBroom scans this location (and every other one on its published list), shows the size, rates the risk with the same shape you see above, and asks before anything moves — everything goes to the Trash, never past it. Scanning is free forever.

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