Is it safe to delete Voice Memos recordings?
The audio recordings you made or synced in Voice Memos.
Review first
It's your own data, or hard to recreate. Decide item by item.
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What it is
Voice Memos stores your recordings here as audio files, and keeps their titles and folders in its own records. If Voice Memos uses iCloud, recordings you made on your other devices are stored here too. The folder grows with every recording, and longer recordings take more space. Removing files here directly leaves recordings in Voice Memos that can't be played.
If it's removed
Recordings you delete permanently are removed from all your devices signed in to the same Apple Account, and can't be recovered unless you have another copy.
What to do instead
In Voice Memos, select a recording you no longer need, then press Delete. Deleted recordings stay in Recently Deleted for the time set in Voice Memos > Settings > Clear Deleted; to remove them sooner, select Recently Deleted and click Delete All.
The free analyzer finds it and explains it, with these steps. The app doesn't remove it for you.
Sources
- support.apple.com/guide/voice-memos/delete-a-recording-vmc3c0776462/mac
- nono.ma/location-of-apple-voice-memos
- discussions.apple.com/thread/256074783
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.