Quotas and Caches

Some macos applications use local caches. This means that the application takes a copy of a page or document you are viewing and stores it locally on your computer.

On the damtp installed macs the cache gets kept in your home directory and counts towards your quota. As the cache keeps growing, sooner or later you run out of disk quota.

This document explains how to empty and disable the cache for the programs listed below.

• Quicktime
• Safari

Quicktime

1. Emptying the Cache

   To remove all the files in your Quicktime Cache, open your System Preferences (from the main apple menu) -> Select Quicktime (under internet & network) -> select the browser tab -> click on the Empty Download Cache button.

2. Disabling Caching

   Follow the instructions in the above paragraph to access the Quicktime browser preferences. Remove the tick from the box for Save movies in disk cache.

Safari

1. Emptying the Cache

   To remove all files in your local Safari Cache, start Safari. Under the Safari menu is an option to Empty Cache; select this. The university already has a webcache so you do not need your own.

2. Disabling Caching

   To disable caching under safari, first quit Safari. You must have Safari closed before you carry out the following instructions.
   • Open a terminal or xterm window
   • Type in the following

     	 rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/Safari  
     

     and press return or enter.
   • Now type in

     	 touch  ~/Library/Caches/Safari  
     

     and press return or enter.
   • Close the terminal or xterm window.
   • Restart Safari. It will no longer cache.