Clear Adobe Cache (Photoshop, Premiere, Lightroom) on a Mac
Adobe apps build large caches: Premiere and After Effects media cache, Photoshop scratch and temp files, Lightroom previews and the Camera Raw cache — often tens of gigabytes. All are regenerated from your projects and originals, so they're safe to clear. Clean the Media Cache in Premiere's preferences and clear Lightroom previews and the Camera Raw cache.
Where Adobe hides space
- Premiere / After Effects: Media Cache (Preferences → Media Cache) — often the single biggest.
- Photoshop: scratch disk temp files and Camera Raw cache.
- Lightroom: previews (
.lrdata) and the Camera Raw cache.
Clear it safely
- Premiere/AE: Preferences → Media Cache → Delete Unused (or clear all).
- Lightroom: Preferences → Performance → Purge Cache; delete old preview data for catalogs you're not using.
- Photoshop: Edit → Purge, and clear the Camera Raw cache in preferences.
The one-scan version
MacCleaner measures these Adobe caches with real byte counts alongside Final Cut/Resolve and the rest of your big space-users, and clears the safe ones in a couple of taps — recoverable until you empty.
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to delete Adobe media cache?
Yes. The media cache speeds up playback and is rebuilt from your source media. Use Preferences → Media Cache → Delete Unused. Your projects and originals are untouched.
Where is the Adobe cache stored on a Mac?
Mostly under ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe and ~/Library/Caches/Adobe — media cache, previews and Camera Raw cache. Clear them from within each app's preferences.
How much space do Adobe apps use?
The caches alone often reach tens of gigabytes on an active creative Mac, all regenerable from your projects.
Reclaim the space in two taps
MacCleaner scans read-only, shows every file before anything is touched, marks the safe groups, and lets you choose Trash or permanent. Free for up to 500 MB of cleanup a day.
Download for Mac