Which Xcode caches are safe to delete?

Device support symbols, DerivedData, documentation caches, simulator leftovers and old logs are all regenerable. Archives are the exception: they contain the dSYMs needed to symbolicate crash reports from builds you already shipped.

Where does Xcode store device support symbols?

In ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS DeviceSupport (plus watchOS and tvOS variants) - 2-5 GB per OS version of every device you ever plugged in. Xcode re-fetches symbols on the next connect.

How much disk space do Xcode caches use in total?

30-100 GB on most iOS development machines.

← All guides

Clear all Xcode caches safely

CacheCleaner guides · Updated July 18, 2026

Xcode's junk lives in ~/Library/Developer – and it adds up to 30-100 GB on most iOS dev machines. Everything below is regenerable; the table tells you what regenerating costs.

Device support symbols – usually the biggest

~/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS DeviceSupport
~/Library/Developer/Xcode/watchOS DeviceSupport
~/Library/Developer/Xcode/tvOS DeviceSupport

Debug symbols downloaded for every OS version of every device you ever plugged in, 2-5 GB each. Delete all but the versions your devices currently run – Xcode re-fetches symbols on next connect.

DerivedData – build products & indexes

rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData

Always safe; next build is a full rebuild. Details →

Archives – ⚠️ the one to be careful with

~/Library/Developer/Xcode/Archives

⚠️ Archives contain your distributed builds and their dSYMs – you need those to symbolicate crash reports from released versions. Delete only archives of builds that are no longer in the wild.

Simulators

xcrun simctl delete unavailable   # simulators orphaned by old Xcode versions

Plus platform runtimes at 5-8 GB each – separate guide →

Smaller but real: docs, logs, previews

~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DocumentationCache
~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/Previews
~/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS Device Logs
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.dt.Xcode

All regenerable. A couple of GB each on long-lived installs.

CacheCleaner maps all of this automatically – sizes per OS version, per project, per runtime – pre-selects only the safe stuff, and marks everything riskier (like archives) with warnings.

Get CacheCleaner for Mac