To remove purgeable space on a Mac, remove the things it's made of. Time Machine's local snapshots go through Time Machine's settings or Disk Utility. Downloaded iCloud Drive files go with Remove Download in Finder. Full-size photos can be left to iCloud with Optimize Mac Storage in Photos. There's no single button for "purgeable", because it isn't one thing.
Most of the time, though, you shouldn't bother. macOS already counts purgeable space as available and frees it by itself when something needs the room. Removing it early costs you restore points, offline files or a download later, and it doesn't make your Mac any faster.
It's worth doing when a large job checks for free space and stops: a macOS update that says there isn't enough room, a big copy that fails, or a video export that won't start, while Finder says there's plenty.
This post takes each part of purgeable space in turn: what it is, how to see it, how to remove it with the tools macOS gives you, and what each step costs. For a short introduction first, see the guide to purgeable space.
What purgeable space is made of
Purgeable space is space your files are using now that macOS has agreed to give up when asked. It isn't free yet, and it isn't junk either. It's a promise macOS keeps when an app or an installer asks for room.
What does Apple mean by purgeable?
Apple's Disk Utility guide describes purgeable space as space macOS can free up when needed by removing files from your computer. It adds that you can't remove the files designated purgeable yourself; macOS removes them as space is required.
That second sentence matters. You can't select "purgeable files" anywhere and delete them. What you can do is remove the things that make them up, each in its own place.
Time Machine's local snapshots
If you back up with Time Machine, your Mac keeps snapshots of its own disk: one about every hour, each kept for 24 hours, plus one of your last successful backup and one before each macOS update. A snapshot holds on to every file you've changed or deleted since it was taken.
Apple says your Mac counts the space snapshots use as available, and Time Machine removes them as they age or when other things need the space. On many Macs, they're the largest part of purgeable space.
Downloaded copies of iCloud Drive files
With Optimize Mac Storage on for iCloud Drive, macOS can remove the downloaded copy of older files when your Mac needs room, and keep them only in iCloud. Until then, those copies take space on your Mac that macOS is allowed to reclaim.
Apple says that if space isn't needed, the full contents of iCloud Drive stay on your Mac. So a Mac with plenty of room can hold a lot of iCloud Drive files that only look permanent.
Full-size photos with iCloud Photos
With iCloud Photos and Optimize Mac Storage in Photos, Apple says Photos stores smaller versions of your photos on your Mac when storage space is limited, and keeps the full-size originals in iCloud. Until space is limited, the originals can stay on the Mac.
Apple doesn't say whether Photos reports those originals as purgeable. What it does say is that they're kept only until space is needed, which is the same promise.
Caches and other files macOS clears by itself
Apple says that when space is needed, macOS clears caches and logs it knows are safe to delete. Its list includes temporary database files, interrupted downloads, staged macOS and app updates, and Safari's website data.
None of these needs you. They're cleared when something asks for room, and many come back as you use the apps that made them.
What isn't purgeable?
Your own documents, apps, the Trash and swap files aren't on Apple's list. Apple says a file's space doesn't become available until you empty the Trash, so items there keep it until you do, or until Finder's 30-day setting removes them.
Swap files belong to virtual memory, which macOS manages separately. Restarting clears them, but that isn't purgeable space being freed.
| Part | What removes it on request | What removing it costs | Does it come back? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time Machine local snapshots | Time Machine settings, or Disk Utility | Restore points from the last day | Yes, about every hour |
| Downloaded iCloud Drive files | Remove Download in Finder | A download when you open them again | When you open them |
| Full-size photos in iCloud Photos | Optimize Mac Storage in Photos | A download to see an original | When you open an original |
| Caches, staged updates, temporary files | macOS, when space is needed | Apps rebuild or download them | As you use your apps |
| Watched TV, older mail attachments | Optimize Storage in Storage settings | Downloading them again | If you download them |
- Downloaded iCloud Drive and other cloud files5–100 GB · Usually safe
- App caches, some cleared by macOS2–30 GB · Safe
Ranges seen on Macs where each had grown large, from the research behind the app's catalog. Local snapshots aren't shown: their size depends entirely on how much you change or delete in a day.
How to see how much purgeable space you have
Only one of macOS's tools shows purgeable space as a number of its own, and even that one isn't always consistent. Knowing which figure is which saves a lot of confusion.
Where does Disk Utility show it?
Open Disk Utility, in the Utilities folder inside Applications. Select your startup disk's volume in the sidebar, then click the Info button in the toolbar. Apple says available space combines free space and purgeable space, and the window lists them.
The free figure is what's unused right now. The purgeable figure is what macOS says it could add to it on request. The post on what else Disk Utility shows covers volumes, snapshots and First Aid.
Why does Finder show more space than Disk Utility?
Finder shows one figure, available space, and it includes purgeable space. You see it in a Finder window's status bar (choose View › Show Status Bar), or by selecting your startup disk and choosing File › Get Info.
That's why Finder can say 120 GB is available while Disk Utility says 70 GB is free. Neither is wrong. Finder answers "how much could macOS make room for?" and Disk Utility's free figure answers "how much is unused now?"
Why doesn't Storage settings show purgeable space?
System Settings › General › Storage in macOS 27 Golden Gate and macOS 26 Tahoe shows used and available space by category, and doesn't name purgeable space at all. Local snapshots in particular tend to end up inside System Data, with no way to open it.
Before macOS Ventura, the same view was in About This Mac › Storage. Either way, it's the place to find what to remove, not to measure purgeable space.
Can the purgeable figure be wrong?
It can be inconsistent. Howard Oakley's tests on macOS Tahoe found Disk Utility showing the same snapshot-held space as used at one moment and purgeable at another, while Finder's Get Info didn't mention purgeable space at all.
So treat the purgeable figure as a guide. The test that matters is Disk Utility's free figure before and after you remove something.
| Where you look | Shows purgeable space? | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Disk Utility's Info window | Yes, next to free and available | Knowing how much is free right now |
| Finder's status bar or Get Info | No; it's included in "available" | A rough idea of the room macOS could make |
| Storage settings | No; snapshots usually sit in System Data | Finding what to remove |
| Software Update or an installer | No; it tells you if there's room | The final word for that task |
When to remove purgeable space on a Mac
Removing purgeable space helps when something checks for free space before it starts and won't wait for macOS to make room. The space is promised, but the promise arrives too late for that task.
A macOS update says there isn't enough space
This is the most common case. An update needs room to download, unpack and stage the new system, all at once. If most of your available space is purgeable, the installer can decide there isn't enough, even though Finder shows plenty.
Remove Time Machine's local snapshots first, because they're quick and often large. Then remove downloads of iCloud Drive files you don't need on this Mac. Our post on how much space a macOS update needs explains how much room to aim for.
A large copy, download or export stops
Copying a big folder to the startup disk, downloading a large file or exporting video can all fail with a message that there isn't enough space. macOS is meant to free purgeable space when that happens, and often does. When it doesn't, the task stops first.
In Oakley's tests, copies failed for lack of space while a snapshot still held deleted files, and macOS didn't always purge it when it should have. Removing the snapshots by hand let the copy through.
Apps that check free space before a big job
Some apps measure free space before they start a large job, such as creating a virtual machine, installing a large component or rendering a long project. If the figure they read leaves out purgeable space, they stop rather than wait for macOS.
The fix is the same: remove the part of purgeable space that's largest on your Mac, then try again.
On a Mac with a small disk
On a 256 GB or 512 GB Mac, purgeable space can be a large share of what's available, so big tasks run into it more often. A day of video work, with large files made and deleted, can leave tens of gigabytes in snapshots.
There, it helps to watch Disk Utility's free figure rather than Finder's, and to remove snapshots before something big rather than after it fails.
How much should you free?
Aim for the shortfall the message gives, plus a margin. If an installer says it needs 25 GB more, freeing exactly 25 GB leaves no room for the work it does while installing.
Free the purgeable parts that cost you least first: snapshots you don't need, then iCloud downloads you can get back. Leave the rest to macOS.
When removing it is pointless
If nothing is failing, removing purgeable space gains you almost nothing. Several reasons make it worse than doing nothing.
It's already counted as available
macOS treats purgeable space as space you can use. Apps that ask for room the normal way usually get it, because macOS frees the purgeable part for them. Removing it ahead of time only moves the same space from one column to another.
It doesn't make your Mac faster
Purgeable space isn't using memory or processor time. A Mac with 80 GB of purgeable space and one with none run the same. Any guide that promises a faster Mac from clearing purgeable space is wrong about what it is.
Most of it comes back
Time Machine makes a new local snapshot about every hour. iCloud Drive downloads a file again the moment you open it. Photos downloads an original when you view it full size. Caches fill again as you use your apps. A clean slate today is mostly gone within a day or two.
Why does purgeable space grow after a cleanup?
Because snapshots keep what you delete. Clear 50 GB of old files on a Mac that uses Time Machine, and for the next day the snapshots still hold much of that 50 GB. It may show up as purgeable rather than free.
That's normal, and it sorts itself out as the snapshots age. Our post on why deleting files doesn't free up space explains this and the other places deleted files wait.
You give something up
Each part costs something to remove. Snapshots are your restore points for the last day, useful when you've just deleted the wrong thing and your backup disk is elsewhere. iCloud files you remove need a connection to open. Originals in iCloud take time to download.
That's why macOS waits: it removes these only when the space is worth more than what they give you.
Remove Time Machine's local snapshots
Snapshots are usually the largest and quickest part to remove, and the one most worth removing before a big install. There are two supported ways, and neither touches the backups on your Time Machine disk.
How do you remove all of them at once?
Turn off automatic backups for a few minutes. Apple says Time Machine removes its local snapshots when you do, and remembers its backup disks for when you turn them back on.
- Choose Apple menu › System Settings, click General in the sidebar, then click Time Machine.
- Click Options, set Backup Frequency to Manually, and click Done.
- Wait a few minutes, then check Disk Utility's free figure.
- Open Options again and set Backup Frequency back to what it was.
The steps are the same in macOS 27 and macOS 26, and have been since macOS Ventura. In macOS Monterey and earlier, open System Preferences › Time Machine and turn off Back Up Automatically instead.
How do you remove one snapshot?
Open Disk Utility, choose View › Show APFS Snapshots, and select your startup disk's volume in the sidebar. A table at the bottom of the window lists each snapshot and when it was made.
Select a snapshot, click the Delete Snapshot button and confirm. Choose View › Hide APFS Snapshots when you're done. Snapshots share most of their data with each other, so removing one often frees less than you expect.
What if some snapshots aren't Time Machine's?
Snapshots named with com.apple.TimeMachine are Time Machine's. Others can come from a macOS update or from a backup app such as Carbon Copy Cloner, which keeps its own on its own schedule.
Change a backup app's snapshots in that app, not in Disk Utility. Deleting them behind its back can leave it with a broken history. The guide to Time Machine local snapshots covers these cases.
Should you turn off Time Machine to stop snapshots?
No. Turning off automatic backups stops your backups too, which is a far bigger risk than a few gigabytes of snapshots. Turn them back on as soon as the space has come back.
There's one exception. If you no longer use a Time Machine disk, Time Machine can keep making local snapshots for a backup that never happens. Remove the old disk in Time Machine settings, or set up a new one.
Will removing snapshots free space every time?
Not always as much as you'd hope. Apple says Time Machine stores snapshots only on disks with plenty of free space, so a nearly full disk may hold few of them. And if you haven't deleted or changed much in the last day, they hold little.
Check Disk Utility before and after. If the free figure barely moved, the purgeable space is mostly something else.
Remove downloaded iCloud Drive files
The second large part of purgeable space on many Macs is iCloud Drive. Removing downloads keeps every file in iCloud and on your other devices, and frees the space on this Mac at once.
How do you use Remove Download?
- Open a Finder window and click iCloud Drive in the sidebar.
- Choose View › as List, then click the Size column heading to see the largest items first.
- Control-click files or folders you don't need on this Mac and choose Remove Download.
Each item then shows a cloud icon. It downloads again when you open it, which needs an internet connection. The same works for your Desktop and Documents folders when Desktop & Documents Folders is on.
Which iCloud files should you remove first?
Start with the largest items you won't need offline soon: folders of finished projects, videos, disk images and archives. Removing a few large items frees more than many small ones, and costs you fewer downloads later.
Leave on the Mac what you'll need without a connection, such as files for a trip, and mark them with Keep Downloaded so Optimize Mac Storage leaves them alone too.
Remove Download isn't Delete
Delete removes a file from iCloud and from every device that uses it. It's the step to avoid when all you want is space on this Mac.
If you're not sure which you chose, look for the item in the Trash. A file you deleted is there; a file you removed the download of is still in iCloud Drive, with a cloud icon.
Should you turn on Optimize Mac Storage?
It lets macOS do the same thing for older files by itself, when space is needed. Choose Apple menu › System Settings, click your name at the top of the sidebar, click iCloud, then Drive, and turn on Optimize Mac Storage.
It doesn't free anything at once. It lets macOS reclaim older files the next time something needs room, instead of keeping everything downloaded. Files you mark with Keep Downloaded in Finder stay on the Mac either way.
Other cloud storage apps
Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive keep downloaded files on your Mac too, under their own names. Use their commands in Finder: Make online-only in Dropbox, Free up space in OneDrive, and turning off Available offline in Google Drive.
It isn't documented whether macOS counts these files as purgeable. Either way, removing the download frees the space and keeps the file in the service. Deleting it removes it from the service too.
Let Photos keep smaller versions
If you use iCloud Photos, Photos can keep the full-size originals in iCloud and smaller versions on your Mac. It's the main way to shrink a large library without moving it off the startup disk, but it doesn't work instantly.
How do you turn on Optimize Mac Storage in Photos?
- Open Photos and choose Photos › Settings.
- Click iCloud, and make sure iCloud Photos is selected.
- Select Optimize Mac Storage.
To go back, select Download Originals to this Mac. Photos then downloads every original again, which needs room on the Mac for all of them.
Why doesn't the library shrink right away?
Because Apple says Photos keeps smaller versions on your Mac when storage space is limited. With plenty of space, it can leave the originals where they are. The space they take becomes something macOS can reclaim, not space that's free now.
When a large task needs room, macOS and Photos can give it. If you need the space before then, the purgeable parts above are quicker to remove.
Does it change anything on your other devices?
No. The setting decides what this Mac keeps. Your originals stay in iCloud, and your iPhone and iPad keep their own storage setting for Photos.
Deleting is different: with iCloud Photos on, a photo you delete on your Mac is deleted on every device that uses iCloud Photos.
What if you don't use iCloud Photos?
Then Photos has no originals in iCloud to fall back on, and Optimize Mac Storage isn't available. Every original is stored only in your library. To make room, delete what you don't need in Photos and empty Recently Deleted, or move the library to an external drive, as Apple describes.
Never delete files inside the library in Finder. It's a package that Photos manages, and changing it from outside can damage it.
Other settings that hand space back to macOS
A few more settings work on the same idea: they let macOS remove things when it needs room. Two of them are recommendations in System Settings › General › Storage.
Store in iCloud
Store in iCloud moves files in Desktop and Documents to iCloud Drive, photos and videos to iCloud Photos, and messages and attachments to iCloud. Apple says that when space is needed, only recently opened files stay on the Mac.
Everything it stores counts against your iCloud storage plan. If your plan is already full, it can't help until you make room there.
Optimize Storage
Optimize Storage removes Apple TV movies and shows you've already watched, and keeps only recent email attachments on the Mac when space is needed. Purchases can be downloaded again, and older attachments download when you open them.
Does safe mode remove purgeable space?
Not as such. Apple says starting up in safe mode clears certain system caches, which may give you enough room for something like a macOS update. Those caches come back as you use your Mac.
It's a one-off push for a task that needs room only while it runs. The post on making room to install macOS has the steps for both kinds of Mac.
| Setting | Where | What macOS can remove | What you keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| Optimize Mac Storage, iCloud Drive | System Settings › your name › iCloud › Drive | Downloads of older files | Every file, in iCloud |
| Optimize Mac Storage, Photos | Photos › Settings › iCloud | Full-size originals | Smaller versions, and originals in iCloud |
| Store in iCloud | System Settings › General › Storage | Older files, photos and messages | Recent items on the Mac |
| Optimize Storage | System Settings › General › Storage | Watched TV, older mail attachments | Purchases and mail on the server |
Tricks to avoid
Searches for removing purgeable space turn up a few tricks that do more harm than good. They all try to force macOS to give up space faster than it wants to.
Should you fill the disk with a dummy file?
Some guides suggest creating one huge file, so macOS panics and purges everything, then deleting the file. Don't. A disk filled to the last byte can stop apps saving your work and interrupt a backup or an update that's running.
If the space is held by snapshots, removing them in Time Machine settings or Disk Utility does the same job safely.
What about Terminal commands?
Guides often give commands to delete snapshots or "free purgeable space". Don't paste commands from a web page. Commands that delete can't be undone, and fake cleanup guides are a known way to install malware.
There's also a command named purge that sounds as if it should help. Its own manual says it empties the disk cache held in memory, for performance testing. It frees no space on the disk.
Do cleanup apps remove purgeable space?
An app has the same choices you do: Time Machine's snapshots, iCloud downloads and caches, since Apple says purgeable files themselves can't be removed by hand. Read what an app will remove before you let it, and be wary of any that promise to clear purgeable space to speed your Mac up.
Should you delete system folders or the Caches folder?
No. Deleting folders in the System folder, the Library folder itself or the whole Caches folder doesn't remove purgeable space and can break apps or macOS. Caches worth clearing are cleared one app at a time, and macOS clears the ones it knows are safe by itself.
A worked example
Say your MacBook Air has a 512 GB disk. Finder says 90 GB is available, but a macOS upgrade says it needs more space. Here's how you'd work through it.
Measure first
You open Disk Utility and click Info. It shows about 35 GB free and 55 GB purgeable. The installer wants more than 35 GB, so the purgeable part is the problem.
You choose View › Show APFS Snapshots and see a row of Time Machine snapshots from the last day. Yesterday you deleted a 40 GB folder of video, so they're likely holding it.
Remove the right parts
- In System Settings › General › Time Machine, you set Backup Frequency to Manually, wait five minutes, and set it back. Disk Utility now shows about 75 GB free.
- In iCloud Drive, you sort by size and choose Remove Download on two folders of finished projects. Free space rises to about 85 GB.
- You run the upgrade from Software Update, which now has room.
What you didn't do
You didn't change Photos' setting, delete anything from iCloud, paste a command or fill the disk. A few hours later Time Machine is making snapshots again, and that's how it should be.
The numbers in this example are for illustration. On your Mac, the split between snapshots, iCloud downloads and other purgeable space will be different, which is why measuring first matters.
How the app does it
Wombit shows what's using your storage, explains each item in plain language, and clears it safely: Trash first, undoable and logged. File names and paths never leave your Mac.
Its space meter shows the available space beside a bar that ends in what's truly free. The Why the numbers differ panel next to it says how much of the difference is purgeable and how many local snapshots there are.
So you can see how much of "available" is really free before you start something big. The menu bar item keeps the available space in view, and can check whether a waiting macOS update fits.
The parts of purgeable space each have a catalog entry and a level:
Hourly snapshots of your startup disk that Time Machine keeps on the disk itself, so you can restore files even without your backup disk.
Managed by macOS · Runs tmutil for Time Machine's own snapshots, through the helper
~/
Library/ Mobile Documents The iCloud Drive files that are downloaded to this Mac, including the iCloud folders that apps use.
Usually safe · Explained only: the app shows you how
~/
**/ *.photoslibrary A Photos library: your photos and videos, your edits and albums, and the previews Photos makes from them.
Managed by macOS · Explained only: the app shows you how
~/
Library/ Caches/ * Data that apps and macOS services keep so they can load things faster. Apps create it again when they need it.
Safe · Moves it to the Trash
- Local snapshots and the Photos library are Managed by macOS: explained and handled through macOS's own mechanism, never moved. The Local Snapshots page lists every snapshot, when it was made and which app made it.
- iCloud Drive is Usually safe: the app never removes its files, and its entry explains Remove Download instead.
- App caches are Safe: the app that owns them recreates them, and nothing is lost.
When you choose, the app deletes Time Machine's own snapshots with Time Machine's own tool, or asks Time Machine to remove as many as it can. Both need an administrator's name and password. Because macOS doesn't say what a snapshot holds, the app measures the available space before and after, and shows the difference.
The space meter, the menu bar item and the explanations are free. Removing Time Machine snapshots and Cleanup are PRO: one payment of $4.99 with lifetime access. Every Pro tool's review is free to open, so you see what would go and why before you buy.
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to remove purgeable space on a Mac?
Yes, when you do it through macOS's own tools: Time Machine settings or Disk Utility for local snapshots, Remove Download for iCloud Drive files, and Optimize Mac Storage in Photos. Each one costs something, such as restore points from the last day or a download later. It isn't safe to force it with Terminal commands or by filling the disk.
Why is purgeable space so large on my Mac?
Usually because of Time Machine's local snapshots, which hold everything you've changed or deleted in the last day, or because iCloud Drive keeps downloaded files on a Mac with plenty of room. Both are kept until space is needed. A large purgeable figure isn't a problem unless something you're doing can't get the room it needs.
Does purgeable space slow down a Mac?
No. Purgeable space is disk space that macOS can free when asked; it doesn't use memory or processor time. Removing it frees no speed, only room, and most of it comes back within a day or two.
How do I get rid of purgeable space without Terminal?
To remove local snapshots, open System Settings, click General, then Time Machine, click Options, set Backup Frequency to Manually for a few minutes, then set it back. Or delete single snapshots in Disk Utility after choosing View, then Show APFS Snapshots. For iCloud Drive, Control-click files in Finder and choose Remove Download.
Why didn't purgeable space go down after I removed snapshots?
The rest is probably something else, such as downloaded iCloud Drive files, Photos originals or caches macOS can clear. Disk Utility's purgeable figure can also be inconsistent and slow to update. Compare its free figure before and after each step to see what each one really freed.
Does restarting a Mac clear purgeable space?
Not reliably. A restart clears swap files, which aren't purgeable space, and doesn't remove Time Machine's local snapshots or iCloud downloads. Starting up in safe mode clears certain system caches, which can help a macOS update through, but they come back as you use your Mac.
Is purgeable space the same as free space?
No. Free space is unused right now; purgeable space is in use by files macOS can remove when something needs the room. Finder adds the two together as available space, while Disk Utility's Info window lists them separately.
Sources
- Get detailed information about a disk in Disk Utility on Mac · Apple
- About Time Machine local snapshots · Apple
- Optimize storage space on your Mac · Apple
- Store files in iCloud Drive on Mac · Apple
- Optimize storage in Photos on Mac · Apple
- Aren't snapshots purgeable? · The Eclectic Light Company