DiskBroom › What it cleans › Clearing the Homebrew cache (brew cleanup, explained)

Homebrew keeps every download. You don't have to.

~/Library/Caches/Homebrew

What it is

Every formula and cask you install arrives as a downloaded "bottle" that Homebrew keeps after installing, alongside superseded versions of packages you've since upgraded.

How big it gets

Commonly 0.5–5 GB; on this machine's most recent scan it was 533 MB. Machines that brew upgrade often but never clean accumulate more.

What happens if you delete it

Installed software is untouched — /opt/homebrew keeps working exactly as before. You're deleting the installers, not the installations; anything needed again is re-downloaded.

How to remove it manually — free, no app needed

1. The built-in way: brew cleanup — removes old versions and stale downloads (Homebrew also does this periodically on its own).
2. Go further: brew cleanup --prune=all removes every cached download regardless of age.
3. See what it would do first (optional): brew cleanup -n
4. Verify: du -sh ~/Library/Caches/Homebrew

Risk rating

Safe. Pure installer cache. Your installed tools live elsewhere and are never touched.

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