Why does Docker use so much disk space on a Mac?

Docker Desktop stores everything in one VM disk image at ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker that grows as you pull images and rarely shrinks on its own. 30-100 GB is routine.

How do I free Docker disk space?

In increasing order of aggression: docker system prune, docker system prune -a (removes all images not used by a running container), docker builder prune -a (build cache is often the biggest offender). docker volume prune deletes data your containers wrote - check docker volume ls first.

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Docker is eating your Mac's disk

CacheCleaner guides · Updated July 18, 2026

Docker Desktop stores everything in one VM disk image that grows and rarely shrinks. It lives at ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker and routinely reaches 30-100 GB. Pruning inside Docker frees space in the VM; shrinking the file itself sometimes needs an extra step.

See what's taking the space

docker system df

Prune safely, in increasing order of aggression

# dangling images + stopped containers + unused networks
docker system prune

# also delete ALL images not used by a running container
docker system prune -a

# build cache (often the biggest offender)
docker builder prune -a

# volumes – ⚠️ this deletes data your containers wrote
docker volume prune

⚠️ prune -a removes every image no container currently uses – they'll be re-pulled on the next docker run. volume prune deletes persisted data (databases!) – check docker volume ls first.

Shrink the VM file

Docker Desktop → Settings → Resources → Disk usage shows the image size and offers cleanup; on recent versions the VM file shrinks automatically after pruning. The nuclear option is Troubleshoot → Reset to factory defaults – it deletes all containers, images and volumes.

Using OrbStack instead?

Same story, different path: ~/Library/Group Containers/HUAQ24HBR6.dev.orbstack. OrbStack reclaims space more eagerly, but images and volumes still add up.

CacheCleaner shows how big your Docker and OrbStack VM data actually is next to all the other dev caches on the disk – clearly marked with a warning, never selected by default.

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