Is it safe to delete conda package cache?

Packages conda downloaded and unpacked, kept to create and update your environments.

Safe

Its owner recreates it by itself when it needs it, and nothing you made is lost.

~/{miniconda3,miniforge3,anaconda3}/pkgs

/opt/{anaconda3,miniconda3}/pkgs

What it is

conda, which comes with Anaconda, Miniconda and Miniforge, downloads each package into this folder, unpacks it here and links its files into your environments. Old package versions and downloaded archives stay after you update or remove environments. conda's own cleanup removes archives, index data and packages no environment uses, and leaves the rest.

If it's removed

Environments keep working. Creating or updating environments may download packages again. Packages your environments still use stay, so less space is freed than the folder's full size.

How it's removed

conda's own cleanup command (conda clean --all --yes), run by the app. It removes only what nothing uses, so it frees less than the full size.

PRO

The free analyzer finds it and explains it. Removing it is Pro, after a review sheet that lists every move and command. It starts checked in the Cleanup checklist, except inside Documents or Desktop. Its size counts as “up to”, because the command removes only what nothing uses.

Sources

Last checked on 26 Sep 2026. Every entry is written and checked by hand; the app and the command-line tool use the same words.