Help · Mac storage
Log files on a Mac: should you delete them?
Apps and macOS keep logs: text records of what happened, plus crash and diagnostic reports when something goes wrong. They're useful when you need to report a problem, and usually small. macOS already clears logs it considers safe to remove when space is needed.
See them: Console
- Open Console (press ⌘Space and type
Console). - Under Reports in the sidebar you'll find Crash Reports, Spin Reports, Log Reports and others.
- To remove one, select it and choose File › Move to Trash. You can also reveal it in Finder from the same menu.
Administrator accounts see reports for the whole Mac; other accounts see only their own.
Is it worth deleting them?
Usually not much. Logs rarely add up to more than a few hundred megabytes, and macOS clears safe logs and caches by itself when your disk runs low. The exceptions are an app that logs constantly, or crash reports from an app that keeps crashing. Then the fix is the app (update it, reset it, or remove it), not the logs.
App logs for your user are in ~/Library/Logs; apps create new ones as needed. Apple doesn't document clearing that folder by hand. If you do, remove only the files inside an app's folder, quit that app first, and leave anything you need for a support request.
For finding what's really using your space, see how to find large files.
See how big your logs really are.
Pangalin Space Manager measures your logs alongside everything else, so you can see whether they matter at all. It lists your user logs and diagnostic reports, and sandboxed apps' logs, as safe to clear. Clearing logs is permanent: like caches, they don't go to the Trash, and the review sheet says so before you confirm.
Free to scan · first 5 GB freed free, then $25 a year · 14-day full refund · Notarised by Apple