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~/Library/Logs taking up space on Mac: safe to delete?

Safe to deleteRegenerated automatically; Thermo deletes it outright.

Where it is

  • ~/Library/Logs

⏱ Only items untouched for 30 days

What it is

Apps and user-level system services write text logs and debug output into ~/Library/Logs, usually in a folder named after the app. DiagnosticReports, where crash and hang reports land, lives here too.

Why it gets so big

Few apps rotate or prune their own logs, and a misbehaving app can write a lot in a short time. Developer tools tend to be especially chatty.

Is it safe to delete?

Yes for old logs. Nothing reads them to function, and apps create new log files as needed. Recent logs are worth keeping if you're chasing a bug or need to send diagnostics to an app's support team, which is why it makes sense to clean only files that are a month or more old.

Tip

The Console app shows crash reports under Crash Reports, a handy way to skim them before you delete anything.

See how much space it uses

du -sh "$HOME/Library/Logs" 2>/dev/null

Delete it by hand

Run in Terminal. Deleting cannot be undone, so check the paths first.

find "$HOME/Library/Logs" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -mtime +30 -exec rm -rf {} +

Related locations

All cleanup guides →