If you are a Windows user who is familiar with application data (app data) folders such as Local, LocalLow, and Roaming and want to find similar files in macOS.
If you have an SSD with limited storage and are considering deleting AppData files to free up space, you must first know where those files are located.
Today, Ourtechroom will guide you in finding app data files and folders in macOS.
Table of Contents
Application Data in macOS
AppData folders contain various files and folders related to custom settings made by you on applications and application-related information. In fact, AppData is hidden files by default in macOS.These AppData are actually located in 3 places.
- Application Support
- Caches
- Preferences Folders
Every user account you create on your computer has its own AppData Folder. Also, do not haphazardly update or delete these files.
First, let's unhide the Library Folder in Mac:
Method 1: Goto terminal and type below command and this will unhide your Library folder.
chflags nohidden ~/Library
Method 2: Click on Go Option and Click on "Go to Folder" and then type "~/Library" and then click on Go to open Library Folder as shown below.
Now let's look at app data folders:
1 Application Support Folder
This Application Support folder is the most frequently accessed Library folder that contains third-party application support files (such as media files, plugins, themes, and so on) that applications require in order to operate. Its size differ based on the installation and deletion of an application from Mac.
It is best not to delete any files or folders directly from the Application Support folder unless you have prior knowledge of them.
Location of Application Support Folder:
~/Library/Application Support
2 Caches Folder
Caches Files are generally used by applications and systems to improve application performance, and we do not recommend cleaning those files on a regular basis for no reason. Mac includes plenty of application caches folders and files within the Cache Folder.
Location of Cache Folder in Mac:
~/Library/Caches
If you want to get the size of files in the Cache folder then you can use the below command in terminal
du -s /Library/Caches/* | sort -h
3 Preference Folder
The majority of application preferences files are kept in a folder called Preferences, which is located in your home directory's Library folder. The macOS Preference Folder is used to save application preferences.
If the apps crash or open frequently in a short period of time, macOS may prompt you to delete the preferences files.
Again, don't delete the contents of the Preferences folder; otherwise, the app will revert to its default state or might crash.
Location of Preferences Folder in Mac:
~/Library/Preferences
Using GUI to navigate to Preferences, Application Support Folder, and Cache Folders
There are many other folders inside Library which you can navigate to the path and see it. You can use GUI to visit those files with the following steps:
1 Open Finder
2 On the Menu bar, Click on "Go"
3 Then Press and Hold the "Option/Alt" key
4 Click on the "Library" shortcut.
5 Then navigate to your desired folder like Application Support, Caches, Preference, Containers, etc.
FAQs:
It is the location of your iCloud sync directory. It's an alias for iCloud Drive. If you delete what's in there, your iCloud will be erased on the next sync. If you use iCloud services, you will need a lot of disk space.
You can delete the content of Mobile Documents files from iCloud Drive if you don't need them to free up disk space.
The "Containers" folder serves as the sandbox in which the applications exchange data. When you restart your Mac, it is usually cleared.
Location:
~/Library/Containers
Cookies other than session cookies(stored in computer memory) are stored in the following location:
~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Cookies
It is an SQLite database and DB Browser for SQLite can open it.
If you have a Chrome user profile other than the default, replace Default with that profile name.
It is stored in the following path:
~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/IndexedDB
Replace Default with your profile name.
