PruneoSpotify takes up a lot of space on Mac: how to free it
Spotify for Mac keeps a cache of the music you play plus the songs and podcasts you download. To free up space, open Settings > Storage and click Clear cache, which does not touch your downloads. If downloads are large, remove the ones you do not use or move the Offline storage location to another drive. Use the app's buttons before deleting folders by hand.
You check your Mac storage and Spotify takes up several gigabytes, even though you only stream music. That is normal: the app keeps a temporary copy of what you play so it loads faster, and adds the songs and podcasts you download. This guide explains what takes up the space and how to free it from the app itself.
The menu names are the ones in Spotify for Mac 1.3.6. If your version is different, they may change a little.
Why Spotify takes up so much space on Mac
- Cache. Temporary files Spotify stores so music loads quickly even on a slow network. It grows as you listen.
- Downloads. The songs, albums, playlists and podcasts you download to listen offline. With Premium you can download a lot of music, so this is usually the heaviest part.
- App files. Spotify also keeps other temporary files in
~/Library/Caches/com.spotify.client.
Step 1: clear the cache in Settings
- Open Spotify, click your profile picture at the top and choose Settings.
- Scroll down to the Storage section.
- Next to Cache, click Clear cache and confirm.
Spotify warns that the temporary files will be removed and that your downloads won’t be affected. Afterwards, the cache slowly grows again as you listen: that is how it works.
Step 2: remove the downloads you do not play
To remove a specific album, playlist or podcast:
- Open Your Library and go to what you downloaded.
- Click the green arrow button (the one that shows it is downloaded) to remove the download.
To remove them all at once, go to Settings > Storage and, next to Downloads, click Remove all downloads. That content will no longer be available offline on this Mac, but it stays in your library and you can download it again whenever you want.
Step 3: move storage to another drive
If you want to keep your downloads but not on the Mac’s drive, Settings > Storage has Offline storage location. Click Change location and choose a folder on an external drive. Spotify restarts to apply the change.
If you choose an external drive, connect it before opening Spotify. Also keep in mind that Spotify asks you to go online at least once every 30 days to keep your downloads.
The Mac app has no setting to limit the cache size, so the way to control it is to clear it now and then or move it.
What about deleting the folder by hand?
You can, with Spotify fully closed (Spotify > Quit Spotify, closing the window is not enough). The folders are:
~/Library/Caches/com.spotify.client: the app’s temporary files. Spotify creates them again when it opens.~/Library/Application Support/Spotify/PersistentCache/Storage: the music cache and, if you did not change the location, your downloads too.
Summary
- Spotify takes up space with its cache and with the songs and podcasts you download.
- In Settings > Storage, click Clear cache. Your downloads are not touched.
- Remove the downloads you do not play, one by one or with Remove all downloads.
- If you want to keep them, use Change location to move them to another drive.
- If you delete folders by hand, quit Spotify first and remember that
Storagealso holds your downloads.
More details in Spotify’s official help on storage. For the complete cleaning plan, read How to free up space on Mac, or download Pruneo for free.
FAQ
Where does Spotify store its cache on a Mac?
In two places. The music cache and, by default, your downloads are in ~/Library/Application Support/Spotify/PersistentCache/Storage. The app also keeps temporary files in ~/Library/Caches/com.spotify.client.
Do I lose my downloads if I clear the Spotify cache?
Not if you use the app's Clear cache button: Spotify says your downloads won't be affected. If you delete the Storage folder by hand, you can lose them, because by default they live in that same folder.
Can I limit the size of the Spotify cache?
The Mac app has no setting for that. You can clear the cache when it grows or move the offline storage location to a drive with more space.