Can You Delete Group Containers on Mac? What Happens

What is Group Containers on Mac?

Group Containers is a directory inside your user Library: ~/Library/Group Containers The ~ symbol represents your home folder. For example, if your macOS account is named alex, the path would look like: /Users/alex/Library/Group Containers This directory holds shared storage created through a macOS development capability called App Groups. Normally, an application running in the macOS App Sandbox has restrictions on which files and system resources it can access. App Groups provide a controlled way for applications that belong to the same group to share data and communicate with each other. For example, a developer might have a main application and a separate widget extension. Both components can be configured to access the same App Group container instead of maintaining separate copies of the information they need to share. Apple documents App Groups as a way to share containers and enable communication between applications. Its WidgetKit documentation also describes how an app and its widget extension can access the same shared container.

Read more: Apple Developer: Configuring App Groups · Apple Developer: Developing a WidgetKit strategy

Does every Mac application use Group Containers?

No. This is an important distinction. App Groups are an explicit capability that developers configure for their applications. Not every Mac application uses them, and not every application installed on your Mac has a folder inside ~/Library/Group Containers. Apple requires App Sandbox for applications distributed through the Mac App Store. For applications distributed outside the Mac App Store, sandboxing is optional. A notarized application using the Hardened Runtime is not automatically sandboxed. This means you should not assume that every application downloaded from the internet, or every application with a background helper, uses Group Containers.

Read more: Apple Developer: Distributing software on macOS

What does a Group Container actually store?

There is no universal folder structure or fixed list of files that every application must use. The developer decides what to place in a shared container. Apple provides standard locations inside the group directory, including: - Library/Application Support/ - Library/Caches/ - Library/Preferences/ Depending on the application, shared storage can include: - Application settings and preferences. - Local databases and other persistent data. - Files that need to be accessible to multiple components. - Downloaded or offline resources. - Cache files and other supporting data. - Information used by an app and its widgets or extensions. One important detail: App Groups also provide ways for applications to communicate. Not all communication data or authentication information is necessarily stored as ordinary files in the Group Containers directory. For example, Apple documents several interprocess communication mechanisms available to members of an App Group. That does not mean deleting a group folder will automatically delete every process or communication mechanism associated with the application.

Read more: Apple Developer: Configuring App Groups

Why is Group Containers taking up so much storage?

The amount of space used depends on the applications installed and the data they maintain. There is no reliable size threshold that tells you whether a Group Container is safe to delete. A large folder could contain useful local data, replaceable caches or a mixture of both. Here are two documented examples that show why you should identify a folder before removing it. 1. Microsoft Outlook and the Office group container Microsoft documents the following Outlook profile location on Mac: ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles This is where the Outlook profile is stored. Microsoft describes Outlook for Mac as a locally cached email client, meaning it maintains local copies of mail items in the profile. That makes this folder particularly important to inspect before deleting it. The profile is not simply a temporary download folder. Removing it can remove local Outlook profile data, including information that may not be available in another copy. Microsoft also documents this location when troubleshooting Outlook search and Spotlight indexing problems. 2. 1Password and its group container Password managers can also use App Group storage. For example, 1Password documents this location for its desktop application settings: ~/Library/Group Containers/2BUA8C4S2C.com.1password/ Its settings.json file is stored deeper inside that directory at Library/Application Support/1Password/Data/settings/settings.json. 1Password explains that this file contains changes to the application's default settings and is protected using cryptographic signatures. This example demonstrates why a folder belonging to a password manager should not be treated as disposable cache data. It is important, however, not to assume that this particular settings file represents the entire password vault or that every password manager stores all its account data in the same way.

Read more: Microsoft Support: Troubleshoot search issues in Outlook for Mac · Microsoft Learn: Outlook for Mac is a locally cached email client · 1Password Support: About the security of your desktop app settings

What happens if you delete a Group Container?

The consequences depend on which application group owns the directory and what the developer stores in it. Deleting an active container can make its shared files unavailable to the applications that use it. Some applications may recreate a fresh directory when they next request access, but that does not restore the data that was removed. Possible consequences include:

These are possible outcomes, not guaranteed results for every application. Will deleting a Group Container log you out? Not necessarily. An application may store some account or session information in its group container, in another Library location, or in macOS Keychain. The storage design differs between developers. Deleting a group container could therefore cause an application to request sign-in again, but there is no basis for saying that it will automatically log out every related application or browser extension. Will cloud synchronization restore everything? Not always. If an application has successfully synchronized its data with a remote account, it may be able to download that information again. But cloud synchronization does not guarantee that every local file, draft, setting or offline record exists on the server. Any changes that have not finished syncing are particularly important. Removing the local data before synchronization completes can result in permanent loss. Before deleting an active container, check the application's sync status and make a separate backup of any important local data.

Can you delete Group Containers left behind by uninstalled apps?

Sometimes. First, you need to establish that the container is no longer used by any installed application or related component. Apple's documentation states that macOS creates an App Group directory when an application first needs it and does not automatically remove it. This explains why a group container can remain on disk after an application has been removed. However, there is an important difference between macOS removing a directory automatically and an application's uninstaller removing it deliberately. Some developers provide cleanup instructions that remove their own group data. For example, Microsoft's Office for Mac uninstall instructions explicitly list certain folders inside ~/Library/Group Containers as part of its removal procedure.

Read more: Apple Developer: App Group container directory · Microsoft Support: Uninstall Office for Mac

How to identify which application owns a Group Container

Folder names can be confusing. Some use a developer identifier or an application-group identifier rather than the product name you see in Finder. For example: UBF8T346G9.Office 2BUA8C4S2C.com.1password Both are documented examples of group container paths used by Microsoft and 1Password. Do not assume that every folder follows one naming convention or that a name alone proves which installed application owns it. Use these checks instead: 1. Look at the folder name and its contents: Open the candidate folder and look for recognizable application or developer names. Check whether it contains databases, settings, profiles, downloads or files that you may need. Do not edit or delete database files while investigating. 2. Check installed applications and related components: Look in /Applications and ~/Applications. Also check for companion applications, menu bar utilities and background components from the same developer. An application can have more than one component, and removing its main .app bundle does not prove that all related software has been removed. 3. Inspect the application's App Groups entitlement (advanced): For a signed application, Apple's codesign tool can display its entitlements:

Replace the example path with the actual application path. Look for the com.apple.security.application-groups entitlement. It can show the group identifiers that the inspected application is authorized to use. This is a useful ownership clue, but it is not a complete system-wide dependency check. A helper or extension may have its own entitlements, so inspect relevant components or consult the developer's documentation as well. 4. Check the developer's uninstall instructions: When a developer provides an official uninstaller, prefer that procedure over manually deleting folders. For example, Microsoft's Office uninstall guide identifies specific Group Containers folders to remove. Those instructions are intended for Office removal, not as general cleanup instructions for unrelated applications. If you cannot confidently identify a folder or confirm that nothing depends on it, leave it alone.

Read more: Apple Developer: Creating distribution-signed code for macOS

How to find the largest Group Containers folders

You can inspect this directory using Finder or Terminal without installing additional software. Method 1: Find large folders using Finder 1. Open Finder. 2. Press Command + Shift + G. 3. Enter: ~/Library/Group Containers and press Return. 4. Switch to List View with Command + 2. 5. Press Command + J to open View Options. 6. Enable Calculate all sizes, if available. 7. Click the Size column to sort the folders. Finder may take some time to calculate folder sizes, particularly when there are many files or deeply nested directories. Pay attention to large folders, but remember that size alone does not indicate whether the contents are safe to remove. Method 2: Compare folder sizes using Terminal You can also use the built-in du command to inspect disk usage. Run:

This command measures the disk usage of each item directly inside Group Containers, reports sizes in kilobytes, and sorts the results numerically from smallest to largest without deleting or modifying files. To inspect a particular folder in a more readable format, use:

Replace the example folder name with the one you want to inspect. These commands are for inspection only. They do not determine whether a folder is safe to delete.

How to reclaim storage without breaking applications

If you have identified a large Group Container, the safest cleanup approach depends on whether you still use the application. If you still use the application: Do not delete its entire group container. Instead: - Open the application and check its built-in storage or download settings. - Look for an official way to remove old downloads or rebuildable caches. - Allow pending cloud synchronization to finish. - Export or back up important local data. - Follow the developer's cleanup instructions for the specific application. There is no universal Group Containers cleanup button or retention setting that applies to every application. If you have uninstalled the application: Take a more careful approach: - Confirm that the main application has been removed. - Check for related apps, background utilities and extensions. - Identify the exact group container using the application identifier or developer documentation. - Check its contents for local data, backups and files you want to retain. - Make a backup before removing anything you are uncertain about. - Use the developer's official uninstaller or cleanup instructions where available. For a confirmed leftover folder, moving that specific folder to Trash is safer than permanently deleting it immediately. Keep it there while you check that other applications still work normally. Do not use broad Terminal commands such as: rm -rf ~/Library/Group\ Containers/* This targets multiple group containers and can remove data belonging to applications you still use. If you are unsure whether another component depends on a container, do not remove it.

Group Containers vs Containers vs Application Support

These three Library locations are easy to confuse, but they serve different purposes.

A Group Container is not simply another name for an individual app's private sandbox. Its purpose is to make selected data available to multiple authorized components. Also, not everything inside ~/Library/Caches is automatically safe to remove. The application's current activity and its own cleanup guidance still matter. For a deeper explanation, see our guide to which Mac Library folders are safe to delete.