Remove Purgeable Space on Mac Catalina

To remove purgeable space on macOS Catalina, the first thing you should do is to restart your Mac. This action will delete any temporary cache files clogging up your system.

There’s little worse than getting the “your storage is almost full” notification on your Mac, especially when there’s nothing on your device you want to delete. To make matters more confusing, you then check your disk usage, and notice a sizable chunk of your storage is being used up by ‘purgeable space’. So what is purgeable space, and how can you find it and delete it? Well, stay tuned, and you’ll be an expert in all things purgeable space in minutes.

Before we start:

 

We’ll show you how to find purgeable files, as it can be incredibly difficult to know what’s taking up space on Mac without using software like MacKeeper. Its Safe Cleanup feature will scan your entire system for junk files that can easily be deleted to save space on your Mac.

 

To use MacKeeper’s Safe Cleanup:

1. Download and install MacKeeper.
2. Click Safe Cleanup from the side menu.
3. Hit Start Scan, and MacKeeper will find all junk files on your Mac.
4. Select the file types you’d like to purge, MacKeeper will then delete them from your device in seconds.

What does purgeable space mean in macOS Catalina

Apple uses the concept of purgeable space to label temporary files, which are usually called caches. These files help to speed up your Mac, but the thing is they’ll be removed automatically from your device if you run out of storage space on your Apple device.

How to find purgeable space on Mac Catalina

To find purgeable space on macOS Catalina:

1. Open Spotlight Search by pressing command + spacebar.
2. Type in Disk Utility into the Spotlight Search, then press Enter.
3. In the menu, select your main storage drive.
4. Scroll down to the Available section, and the amount of purgeable space will appear in parentheses.

Is it safe to clear purgeable space on macOS Catalina

Yes, it’s 100% safe to clear purgeable space on macOS Catalina. Purgeable space is another word to describe the temporary cache files that automatically regenerate after they’re deleted. Clearing purgeable space helps to save disk space on your Mac without having to delete important files.

How to delete purgeable space on Mac Catalina manually

To delete purgeable space on macOS Catalina, we’d recommend starting with clearing cache files by going to the Caches folder in your Library.

To be more detailed on how to find and delete cache files on macOS Catalina, we suggest you to follow these steps:

1. Open Finder and select Go from the toolbar.
2. Hold down the Options key until the Library option appears. Click Library.
3. Find your Caches folder, and move any unwanted cache files to your Trash.

Here are our best methods for removing purgeable space on macOS Catalina:

1. Reboot your Mac
2. Get rid of purgeable space using Terminal
3. Delete cache files
4. Turn off the Time Machine backups
5. Turn on the Optimized Storage feature
6. Disable optimize Mac Storage for iCloud drive
7. Flush your DNS cache using Terminal
8. Remove purgeable space from an external hard drive

1. Reboot your Mac

MacBooks automatically creates temporary files called caches for any apps you’ve opened. Some of these files are cleared upon restarting your device, so just a simple reboot can be a good place to start when trying to clear purgeable space and solve many macOS Catalina problems. Here's how to release purgeable space by rebooting your Mac:

1. Be sure to save your work before rebooting, so you don’t lose anything important.
2. Select the Apple icon located in the top left corner of your display.
3. Choose Restart from the dropdown menu.
4. Allow a few moments for your Mac to restart.

2. Get rid of purgeable space using Terminal

Your Mac automatically creates local snapshots, serving as a safeguarded restore point in case of crashes or physical damage. However, if you've backed up your Mac to an external drive, these snapshots are unnecessary and will take up space on your disk drive. To remove local snapshots on macOS Catalina by using the built-in Terminal app:

1. Press command + spacebar to display Spotlight Search.
2. Type in Terminal, press Enter.
3. To delete all local snapshots, copy and paste the following command into the Terminal (excluding the full stop at the end) and press Enter:
   • for d in $(tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates | grep "-"); do sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots $d; done.
4. Your Mac will then prompt you to enter your password to confirm you want to delete your local snapshots. Once done, click OK.

3. Delete cache files

Over time, Macs generate caches, which are non-permanent files that allow your apps to launch and run faster. But as these caches accumulate, they can gradually consume substantial purgeable disk space. To manage your disk usage effectively, we advise clearing your cache files regularly to free up purgeable space. Here's how to delete temp files on Mac:

1. Open Finder and press Shift + Command + G. This will bring up the Go to Folder window.
2. Copy and paste the following into the Go to Folder window: ~/Library/Caches. Next, click Go.
3. Select the cache files from your library that you want to remove and drag and drop them into your Trash.

4. Turn off the Time Machine backups

If you back up your Mac using Time Machine, you’ll likely have lots of purgeable space on your device. This is because, by default, macOS Catalina creates snapshots of your Mac, which are stored on your device. These snapshots provide you with a safe state to restore your Mac, but if you already regularly back up to an external drive, this feature isn’t too useful. To turn off Time Machine backups on macOS Catalina:  

1. Open Spotlight Search by pressing Command + Spacebar at the same time.
2. Write System Preferences into the Spotlight Search bar and press Enter.
3. In System Preferences, click Time Machine.
4. Untick the box labelled Back Up Automatically to turn off the local snapshots feature and save on purgeable space.

5. Turn on the Optimized Storage feature

If you're someone who enjoys binge-watching TV shows, it's likely that your Mac has accumulated many downloaded TV shows over time. However, video files are usually massive and consume significant disk storage on your Mac. So, if you've already viewed them, macOS Catalina has a handy Storage Optimizer to delete redundant video files automatically. To remove purgeable video files using the Storage Optimizer:

1. Go to the Apple icon in the top left corner of your screen.
2. From the Apple menu, select About This Mac.
3. In the Storage tab, click on Manage.
4. In the Recommendations section, choose Optimize to remove any video files that you've already viewed.

6. Disable optimize Mac Storage for iCloud drive

If you rely on iCloud Drive to back up your essential files, you might expect that once uploaded, these files will be deleted automatically from your device. But by default, your Mac will retain these iCloud files—along with those from all your other Apple devices—on your Mac’s disk drive. To reclaim some purgeable space by disabling Optimize Mac Storage for iCloud, follow our guide:

1. Go to the Apple icon in the top left corner of your screen.
2. Choose System Preferences.
3. Click on the Apple ID option in System Preferences.
4. Untick the Optimize Mac Storage box to save on some purgeable space.

Though disabling Optimize Mac Storage will free up space on Mac Catalina, you don’t need to worry about losing any of these files. As they’re all backed up to your iCloud drive, you can still access and redownload them anywhere—as long as you have an internet connection. Here’s how to find your iCloud files using Finder:

1. Open Finder and select iCloud drive from the sidebar.
2. Any folder or file that has the cloud icon next to it is not currently stored locally on your Mac.
3. To save these files to your Mac, right-click on a file or folder and select Download Now.

7. Flush your DNS cache using Terminal

To enhance your web browsing speed, your Mac will automatically store records of IP addresses you’ve frequently visited on your device. This storage, known as a DNS cache, is beneficial, however it adds to the purgeable space on your Mac. Furthermore, regularly flushing your DNS cache helps to protect your identity from online hackers. Here's how you can clear your DNS cache on macOS Catalina:

1. Hit command + space at the same time to open up Spotlight Search.
2. Type in 'Terminal' into the search bar, and hit Enter.
3. Copy and paste the following into your Terminal window (excluding the full stop at the end):
   • sudo dscacheutil -flushcache;sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder;say cache flushed.’
4. Then, press Enter, and your Mac will flush your DNS cache.

Hint from our experts: 

 

If your Mac is ever attacked by hackers, they're likely to check your DNS records to find out which websites and online services you frequently visit. This means that they’ll know exactly where to enter any stolen passwords. This is why it’s incredibly important to have reliable antivirus software installed on your Mac.

MacKeeper’s Antivirus tool will automatically detect threats and protect you from hackers in real-time, allowing you to feel safe online. Moreover, MacKeeper comes bundled with additional security features, such as StopAd to block adverts online, and Private Connect, a built-in VPN so you can browse the internet in privacy.

8. Remove purgeable space from an external hard drive

While we've covered multiple ways to clear purgeable space on your MacBook's internal disk drive, you can additionally use macOS Catalina to free up purgeable space on your external disk. Similarly to your internal storage, your external drive can periodically accumulate unnecessary cache files, particularly if you back up your Mac to external storage in Time Machine. Discover how to clean up purgeable space on your external disk using macOS Catalina below:

1. Connect your external drive to your Mac’s USB port.
2. Go to your Dock and select Launchpad. Here, click on the Terminal app. You can find Terminal in the Other folder in Launchpad by default, if you’re struggling to find it.
3. Type diskutil list into your Terminal window and then hit Enter.
4. Terminal will then display all the disk drives currently connected to your Mac. Here, locate the name of your external drive and take a note of it - it will look something like the following: /dev/disk4.
5. Terminal may then inform you that there’s no free storage left on your drive - if so, type in this command: dd if=/dev/zero bs=100m of=dev/disk4/Test. Ensure that the disk number is the same as the one we identified in step 4.
6. Finally, to free up purgeable files on your external storage, type in rm -rf dev/disk4/Test, making sure that the disk number is identical to the one we identified in step 4. Hit Enter and Terminal will remove any purgeable space on your external drive.

How to delete purgeable space on Mac Catalina with software

If you’re wondering how to clear purgeable space on Mac, by far the easiest method is to use dedicated software, which does all the heavy lifting for you. As clearing your cache files by going into hidden folders and using Terminal can be quite intimidating, we recommend installing MacKeeper, which includes a Safe Cleanup feature to scan your entire Mac for purgeable files, such as logs, caches, email attachments and more. Here’s how you can use MacKeeper’s Safe Cleanup today:

1. Download and install MacKeeper.
2. Choose Safe Cleanup in MacKeeper’s menu.
3. Allow MacKeeper to scan your Mac for purgeable files.
4. Select which file types you want to delete, such as logs, caches, trash.
5. Press Clean Junk Files to delete purgeable files and free up space on your Mac in just a few moments.

Rid your Mac of those pesky purgeable files

Hopefully, our in-depth guide has helped to clarify what exactly the mythically named purgeable space actually is and how you can remove it—both manually and by using MacKeeper to keep on top of it. Though the manual methods of removing purgeable space on macOS Catalina can be useful, they can often be quite confusing and involve using Terminal commands, which can be overwhelming and a bit too techy for many of us.

Fortunately, at MacKeeper, we’ve simplified this whole process, allowing you to free up that pesky purgeable space with a couple of clicks by using the Safe Cleanup feature to free up space on Mac Catalina and other versions of macOS. All being well, after completing our guide, you’ll have freed up plenty of purgeable space on your Mac to use for whatever your heart desires.