System
System caches are created by macOS at a low level. When clearing system caches Cocktail will always clear caches in
the following locations:
Always cleared caches
- /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.bootefisignature
- /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.bootstamps/
- /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.IntlDataCache.le
- /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.IntlDataCache.le.kbdx
Cocktail is by default set to clear even more system caches. Which system caches Cocktail is to clear is configurable
in the options. The possibility to return to the initial settings is provided by the defaults button. The different
caches supported by Cocktail is:
Available option caches:
- Component caches
-
-
Audio components
/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.Components2.SystemCache.AudioComponents
/Library/Caches/com.apple.Components2.LocalCache.AudioComponents
-
QuickTime components
/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.Components2.SystemCache.QuickTimeComponents
/Library/Caches/com.apple.Components2.LocalCache.QuickTimeComponents
- Other components
/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.Components2.SystemCache.Components
/Library/Caches/com.apple.Components2.LocalCache.Components
- Boot caches
/private/var/db/BootCache.data
/private/var/db/BootCache.playlist
/private/var/db/BootCaches
-
Content caches
/Volumes/*/Library/Application Support/Apple/AssetCache/Data
Flushes the macOS content cache. Content cache retains all sorts of Apple and iCloud related data. Devices on the local network can recognize the cache and retrieve what they need from the Mac instead of a new Internet download.
-
CoreDuet database
/private/var/db/CoreDuet/
-
Core files
/cores/
- CUPS (Common Unix Printing System) job files
/var/spool/cups/
/var/spool/cups/tmp/
- Data detectors caches
/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.datadetectorscore.cache.full.system
/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.datadetectorscore.cache.urlifier.system
-
Dynamic link editor's (dyld) shared cache
Ensures that the dynamic link editor's shared cache is up-to-date by clearing and regenerating the shared cache files.
Under normal circumstances Mac OS keep the dyld's cache up-to-date. However, if you encounter "spinning wheel" problems
and get the "update_dyld_shared_cache" warnings in the system console, clearing the dynamic link editor's shared cache
can resolve the problems.
-
Hibernate (sleepimage) file
/var/vm/sleepimage
The hibernate (sleepimage) file is a large file containing what the computer had in it's memory when the machine went to sleep, an image of computers's previous memory state. When the computer wakes from sleep, the content of sleepimage is read again and placed back into active memory, and the computer is returned to the state that it was in prior to sleeping.
-
Kernel caches
/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/Extensions.mkext
/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/kernelcache*
-
Sandbox caches
/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.app-sandbox-cache.plist
-
Virtual memory swap files
/var/vm/swapfile*
CUPS cache is files created by CUPS and contain the processed print information. CUPS is stopped while files are deleted and
then restarted. Core files are files created when an application crashes and storing a copy of the application's state at
the time it crashed. Kernel cache is cache used by the system to speed up loading of kernel extensions. Temporary files from user
as well as system. Virtual memory swap files are used by the system to store often-used information from physical memory (RAM).