Is it safe to delete Group containers?
Shared folders where apps from the same developer, and their extensions and widgets, keep data they all use.
Review first
It's your own data, or hard to recreate. Decide item by item.
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What it is
When apps from one developer share data, such as an app and its widgets or the apps in an office suite, macOS gives them a group container, usually named with the developer's team ID and a group name. It can hold databases, downloads, settings and caches, and sometimes your own data. macOS creates it the first time an app needs it and doesn't remove it when the apps are deleted.
If it's removed
Removing a group container erases data shared by the developer's apps, which can include your own content, and resets their shared settings.
What to do instead
Manage this data in the apps that use it, or use the developer's uninstaller if there is one. If you've deleted all of the developer's apps, check that nothing inside is still needed before moving the folder to the Trash in Finder.
The free analyzer finds it and explains it, with these steps. The app doesn't remove it for you.
Sources
- developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/filemanager/containerurl(forsecurityapplicationgroupidentifier:)
- support.apple.com/en-us/102610
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.