---
title: "Discord's cache on a Mac: where it is and what to leave alone"
description: "Discord's guide puts its Mac cache in ~/Library/Application Support/discord/Cache. The rest of that folder holds your sign-in data and Discord's code."
url: "https://wappapp.app/tips/discord-cache-mac"
---

# Discord's cache on a Mac: where it is and what to leave alone

By Wapp team · Published November 2, 2026

Tested on macOS 27.2 on a MacBook Air (Mac16,12, M4), Discord 0.0.420 (measured inside its installer)

Discord keeps its cache on a Mac in `~/Library/Application Support/discord/Cache`. That's the one folder Discord's own [troubleshooting guide](https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/31623498041623-Discord-Troubleshooting-Guide) tells you to clear, and Discord builds a new one the next time it opens.

The rest of the `discord` folder isn't cache. It holds the website data that keeps you signed in, and most of Discord's code, which arrives after you install the app.

## Clear the cache

1. Quit Discord with ⌘Q, as Discord's [macOS guide](https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022082931--macOS-Install-and-Updating-Errors) says, and end any Discord processes left in Activity Monitor.
2. In Finder, choose Go ▸ Go to Folder (⇧⌘G), type `~/Library/Application Support/discord` and press Return.
3. Drag the `Cache` folder to the Trash.
4. Open Discord. It downloads what it needs again, so images and servers may load slowly at first.
5. Empty the Trash when you're sure Discord works. Until then the space isn't free, and you can drag the folder back.

## What else is in the discord folder

Discord is an Electron app (a Chromium browser packaged as an app), so most of its folder follows Chromium's layout. We read the rest from Discord's own startup code.

| In `~/Library/Application Support/discord` | What it is | Clear it? |
|---|---|---|
| `Cache` | Images and other files Discord downloaded | Yes: Discord's guide names it |
| `Code Cache`, `GPUCache` | Compiled scripts and graphics data, rebuilt on demand | You can, but they're usually small |
| `Cookies`, `Local Storage`, `IndexedDB` | Website data: what a web app keeps to sign you in | No |
| A folder named after the version, such as `0.0.420`, with `modules` inside | Discord's own code, downloaded after install | No |
| `module_data` | Data for those modules | No |

For scale, an AI assistant app built on Electron has these Chromium folders on our Mac: `Cache` 33 MB, `Code Cache` 5.2 MB, `GPUCache` 307 kB. Discord's depend on what you've opened.

Leave the rest alone. Deleting it is how Discord's guide has you reinstall the app, and you'd have to sign in again.

## The app you download is only a starter

Discord 0.0.420, measured inside its installer, is 539.5 MB on disk, and nearly all of it is browser engine:

![Bar chart of Discord’s 540 MB app: the Chromium engine 517.1 MB and everything else 22.4 MB.](https://wappapp.app/images/tips/discord-cache-mac/discord-app.svg)

The engine is `Electron Framework.framework`, Discord's copy of Chromium: 517.1 MB, 96% of the app. It's a universal build, for both Intel and Apple silicon Macs, so its copy is about twice the size of [Slack's Apple silicon one](https://wappapp.app/tips/slack-mac-disk-space-cache). [Every Electron app ships its own copy](https://wappapp.app/tips/electron-apps-ship-their-own-chrome).

Discord's own code, in `app.asar`, is 3.5 MB. Its `package.json` calls it "Discord Client for Desktop - Bootstrapper". When it starts, it downloads Discord's real code, in modules such as `discord_desktop_core`, into the version folder in the table above.

So Discord takes three things on a Mac: the 539.5 MB app, the modules it downloads, and its cache and data. We could measure only the first, because Discord isn't installed on our test Mac. To see the other two on yours, run this read-only command, which prints each folder's size in Finder's units:

```sh
du -sh --si ~/Library/Application\ Support/discord/*
```

## How we measured

- **When:** November 2, 2026, on a MacBook Air (Mac16,12, M4) running macOS 27.2.
- **The app.** We downloaded `Discord.dmg` (234,062,073 bytes) from `discord.com/api/download?platform=osx`, the link in Discord's macOS guide. We measured the app on the read-only disk image with `/usr/bin/du -sk` and `du -sAk`, without installing or opening it. The version is from its `Info.plist`, the architectures from `lipo -archs`.
- **The folder's name and the modules' location** come from `package.json` and the startup code in `app.asar`, read as text. Discord's test builds add their channel's name to the folder.
- **The AI assistant app's sizes** come from `du -sh --si`.
- **Once installed,** a copy from the disk image takes about what we measured. An app from the App Store can take less: on our Mac, macOS stored those compressed.