Can You Clear Microsoft User Data Folder On Mac

 
Can You Clear Microsoft User Data Folder On Mac 4,2/5 229 reviews

The Microsoft User Data folder contains an Office 2011 Identities folder that stores the Office database for each identity in its own folder. You can move the folder for an identity, or the whole Microsoft User Data folder, to a different location, such as another hard disk attached to your computer or to a network.

  1. Audio Transcript If you’ve got a lot of files and folders on your Mac, you want to clean up every once in a while to stay organized and make it easier to find specific items. First, locate any files or folders that you want to delete. You just click to highlight file and drag it.
  2. Jan 12, 2020  It's not clear why Apple decided to hide the user's Library folder, but you have multiple ways to get it back: two Apple provides (depending on the version of OS X you are using) and one in the underlying file system. The method you use depends on whether you want permanent access to the Library folder or only when you need to go there.
  3. Jun 21, 2018  If you use both a Mac and a Windows PC in your home, you might sometimes want to share files between them. Whether its photos, music, or documents, it's actually fairly easy to set up file sharing between macOS and Windows so long as the two machines are on the same network.

You’ve probably heard and seen the term 'cache' used on your Mac but do you know what it is?

Cache files are basically temporary data stored on your hard drive and used to speed up processes. For instance, Safari will download images on a webpage into cache so that next time you visit the site you don’t have to download the images again.

How are cache files different from cookies?

Cookie files are tiny members of the big cache family. This form of cache is collected by your browser to remember previously visited websites. Cookies collect the details of your visit, its duration, actions on a page, etc. Advertisers also use these to follow you around the internet. However annoying they are, cookies are a part of internet reality that we cannot help but “Accept.”

There are many reasons to remove old cache from your MacBook and disk space issue is only one of them. So what are the other benefits ?

  • Fixing issues with laggy web pages that load outdated content
  • Removing personal data stored by websites and applications.
  • You need to force-delete outdated cache from an app.

Are you ready to reclaim space on your Mac? Let’s go!

What are main cache types?

There are roughly three main types of caches you can clean on your Mac:

  • System cache
  • User cache (including app cache and DNS cache)
  • Browser cache.

This article will go over cleaning up all three.

Now, when it comes to clearing cache on Mac, there are two ways you can do it. You can clean them up manually step-by-step, or you can clean them in second with a cleaning utility like CleanMyMac X. If you want to clear cache on your Mac right now, we suggest doing it the easy way:

  1. Launch CleanMyMac X (2019 version is preferable)
  2. Select System Junk
  3. Click 'Scan', and then “Clean”

That’s it, all cache files cleaned! CleanMyMac X works on all systems, including the latest macOS Catalina. You can download CleanMyMac X for free here and try.

However, if you’d like to clean them all manually, follow the steps below.

How to empty user cache on Mac?

Can You Clear Microsoft User Data Folder On Mac Computer

Potential space reclaimed from junk - Up to 70%

As you can see, a single user cache folder on my computer takes up enormous 1.6 GB of space. And that’s just one folder out of hundreds. That means a good cleaning could free up gigabytes of free space and speed up your Mac in the process.

To clear your user cache, do the following:

  1. Open a Finder window and select “Go to Folder” in the Go menu.
  2. Type in ~/Library/Caches and hit enter to proceed to this folder.
  3. Optional step: You can highlight and copy everything to a different folder just in case something goes wrong.
  4. Go into each of the folders and clean out everything.
    Note: We recommend that you remove the insides of these folders, but not the folders themselves.

Now, repeat the same steps above, but substitute…
~/Library/Caches with… /Library/Caches

Make sure that once you have finished clearing out these caches for additional hard drive space, you empty out your Trash. To do this, Control-click on the Trash icon in the dock and select “Empty Trash.” Restart your Mac afterward so your Mac can begin to create new, fresh cache files.
To help you make sense of your Library folder here's a brief explanation what each sub folder stands for.

4 main types of cache within Library folder


Caches

Temporary data created by apps and websites. Your apps keep generating cache files for as long as they are active. Relying on such pre-loaded content reduces memory load and speeds up data exchange.
Preferences

Prererences folder is where you’ll find customized settings for your apps. Sometimes, there is a need to reset an app and delete its corrupted Preferences file. Preference files always end with .plist — so they are easy to spot and delete.

App support
App support folder contains large pieces of app data, like game saves. App support files may remain on your Mac long after you’ve deleted the app itself. That’s why “cleaners” for system junk were invented.

Containers
Containers folder is an exchange buffer that apps use to communicate with one another. This is often referred to as “sandboxing.” Containers folder is automatically emptied after you restart your Mac.

If you aren’t comfortable with the risk of deleting user cache manually, a specialist cleaning app CleanMyMac X can do it for you. It will only remove files you don’t need and will find up to 7x more temporary cache files to remove from all over your system.

How to delete system and app cache on Mac

Potential space reclaimed from junk - Up to 10% (manual methods) or 15% (using cleaner)

Next up we’re looking at your system cache files. These hidden cache files are mainly created by the apps that run on your Mac.

What is app cache? In short, it’s any media downloaded by the apps you use in order to work faster and not load it every time you open the app. Do you need it? It’s debatable, but app cache takes up disk space and can be cleaned.

Oct 03, 2016  Office 2011 on macOS Sierra? Hello, I have a Macbook Pro that I just upgraded with macOS Sierra. Office for Mac Home and Student 2011. Mac OS X version 10.5.8 (or a later version) 1 gigabyte (GB) or more of memory (RAM) 2.5 GB of available hard disk space; HFS+ hard disk format (also known as Mac OS Extended or HFS Plus). Oct 03, 2016  Office for Mac Home and Student 2011 A Mac computer that has an Intel processor; Mac OS X version 10.5.8 (or a later version) 1 gigabyte (GB) or more of memory (RAM) 2.5 GB of available hard disk space; HFS+ hard disk format (also known as Mac OS Extended or HFS Plus) 1280 x 800 or higher resolution monitor. Mac os sierra microsoft office 2011.

You can delete app cache on Mac in the same way as user cache, by going to ~/Library/Caches and removing the insides of the folders with the app name.

Proceed with caution! Not all app cache can be safely cleared. Some app developers keep important user info on cache folders. Backing up a folder before you delete is always a good idea. If everything works fine then you can delete the backup later.

To be on the safe side, use CleanMyMac, it works with a Safety Database and knows how to clear app cache safely. As if that wasn’t enough it will also remove more junk than manual methods.

How cache is created? An example from Photos

Every time you do image manipulations, like rotating a picture, its additional copy is created on your drive. In this manner, just 4 rotations are enough for an image size to grow from 2.5 MB to 10 MB of disk space taken. If you edit photos and videos on a regular basis, you may notice that your editor application also keeps temporary data — like intermediate version of your files.

How to clear browser cache on Mac

Potential space reclaimed from junk - Up to 15%

We all love to surf the web but every site we visit adds to the growing browser cache. Clearing your browser cache doesn’t just free up space, it will can also clear your browsing history to secure your privacy.

Browser cache temporarily stores website data such as images, scripts, and other stuff, in order to make your browsing faster when you revisit the same site. If you’re worried about your privacy or want to hide pages you’ve visited, you can clear your Internet cache (or browser history). Also, resetting your browser cache will potentially help to get rid of 404, 502, and other errors caused by corrupted cache.

Each browser has its own cache location, so the process of clearing is different in each case. For instance, Chrome cache location is in Settings, Safari stores its cache in Privacy, and Firefox cache location is History tab.

Here’s a quick introduction into how to delete browser cache on Mac.

How to clear cache in Chrome

Here’s how to clear browser cache in Chrome manually:

  1. Click the 3-dot icon in the top right corner of Google Chrome browser.
  2. Choose Settings.
  3. At the bottom of the menu, choose Advanced.
  4. Click “Clear browsing data.”
  5. Deselect all, but Cached images and files.
  6. Timewise, choose All time.
  7. Hit “Clear data” button.

How to clear cache in Firefox

Here’s how to delete cache in Firefox manually:

Can you clear microsoft user data folder on mac laptop
  1. Click the hamburger icon in the top right corner.
  2. Choose Privacy & Security on the left sidebar.
  3. Scroll to the section 'Cached web content' menu item.
  4. Now, click Clear Now to delete Firefox cache.
  5. Exit/quit all browser windows and re-open the browser.

In the same menu, checkmark Override automatic cache management and limit the cache size in MB. Go with the default amount of 350 MB, which is enough for most users' needs.

TIP:

If for some reason you cannot open a web page, try putting cache: in front of the URL address. This redirects you to the site’s cached copy.

For example: cache:macpaw.com

It works most of the time and can magically open even the otherwise blocked sites.

How to clear cache in Safari

Safari is a little trickier than the rest of the browsers. You could remove caches together with all the other website history through History — Clear History in menu bar.

But if you need more precision, here’s how to empty cache on Safari browser:

  1. In the top menu, choose Safari.
  2. Click Preferences.
  3. Choose the Advanced tab.
  4. Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
  5. Now go to Develop in menu bar.
  6. Choose Empty caches.

Make sure you close/quit the browser and restart it after clearing cache. Note, that all your auto logins and predicted websites in the address bar will be cleared.

Manual methods remove most of the browser junk but if you want to remove all of it, from all your browsers at once, there’s a safer and faster method to clear your internet cache on any browser.

How to clear cache files on Mac with a single click of a button

Instead of searching all over your Mac to find and remove cache files yourself, you can clear user caches on a Mac using CleanMyMac X. It makes removing cache files as easy as can be.

To get rid of cache files with CleanMyMac X:

  1. Download CleanMyMac X (free) and launch it.
  2. Select Smart Scan in the left menu.
  3. Hit Scan at the bottom of CleanMyMac X.
  4. Then click Clean.

And you're done! If you’d like to remove only cache files and nothing else, click on Review Details before clicking Clean. Deselect everything but System Cache Files and User Cache Files, then click Clean.

The easy way to clear all browsing data

Instead of clicking between browsers and being limited to what they let you clean, take full control of all your browser cleaning with this simple method:

  1. Open CleanMyMac and select the Privacy module
  2. Click on your browser of choice
  3. Make your selections from the list of all your cache and privacy tracks
  4. Click Remove to clean your browser

Cleaning your Mac has never been easier. Download CleanMyMac X and try for free to get yourself a faster, cleaner Mac — without worrying about cleaning the wrong thing.

And if you’re looking to clear just browser cookies, check out this easy one-minute explanation we’ve made for you.

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Whenever you download a file from the Internet, it is saved in your operating system's downloads folder. Additionally, there is a record of it in your Internet browser. When a file is in the downloads folder, it can take up unnecessary storage space. It also shows the things you've downloaded, which could be a security risk or a privacy issue. The following sections show details on how to clear your downloads folder or your download history in many of the popular web browsers. To proceed, click a link in the list below and follow the instructions.

Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 10 users

To clear the files in the Downloads folder from your hard drive in Windows, follow the instructions below.

  1. Press the Windows key on your keyboard, type Downloads, and then press Enter.
  2. In the window that appears, highlight all of the downloaded files with your mouse or press Ctrl+A.
  3. Press Delete to send the files to the Recycle Bin.
  4. To permanently delete the files, right-click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop and select Empty Recycle Bin from the drop-down menu that appears.
Tip

If there isn't a Recycle Bin icon on your desktop, you can restore it.

Apple Mac users

To clear the files in the Downloads folder from your hard drive in iOS, follow the instructions below.

  1. Select Finder from the Dock at the bottom of your desktop.
  2. In the window that appears, select Downloads from the list on the left side of the screen.
  3. Clear each of the download history entries by highlighting them and pressing Delete.

Microsoft Edge

If you are using Microsoft Edge, follow these steps.

  1. Open the Microsoft Edge browser.
  2. Press Ctrl+J.
  3. You may delete each downloaded item individually by clicking next to the entry or click Clear all to erase all of them.

-OR-

  1. Open the Microsoft Edge browser.
  2. In the upper-right corner, select the Hub button.
  3. Click the icon that looks like a down arrow.
  4. You may delete each downloaded item individually by clicking next to the entry or click Clear all to erase all of them.

Can I Delete Microsoft User Data Folder Mac

Microsoft Internet Explorer

If you are using Internet Explorer, follow these steps.

  1. Open the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser.
  2. Press Ctrl+J.
  3. You may delete each downloaded item individually by clicking the X next to the entry or click Clear all to erase all of them.

-OR-

  1. Open the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser.
  2. Click the Gearicon in the upper-right hand side of the window.
  3. Click View downloads in the drop-down menu that appears.
  4. You may delete each downloaded item individually by clicking the X next to the entry or click Clear all to erase all of them.

Mozilla Firefox

If you are using Firefox, follow these steps.

  1. Open Firefox.
  2. Press Ctrl+J.
  3. You may delete each item individually using the Delete key, or click Clear All at the top of the window.

-OR-

  1. Open the Firefox browser.
  2. Select Display the progress of ongoing downloads in the upper-right corner of the screen.
  3. Select Show All Downloads from the menu that appears.
  4. You may delete each item individually using the Delete key, or click Clear All at the top of the window.

Google Chrome

If you are using Google Chrome, follow these steps.

  1. Open the Chrome browser.
  2. Press Ctrl+J.
  3. In the new window that opens, click next to each entry you'd like to remove.
  4. To clear all entries, click the More actions.. icon in the upper-right corner of the screen and select Clear all.

-OR-

  1. Open the Chrome browser.
  2. Select Customize and control Google Chrome in the upper-right corner of the screen.
  3. Select Downloads from the drop-down menu that appears.
  4. In the new window that opens, click next to each entry you'd like to remove.
  5. To clear all entries, click the More actions.. icon in the upper-right corner of the screen and select Clear all.

Opera

If you are using the Opera browser, follow these steps.

  1. Open an Opera browser window.
  2. Press Ctrl+J.
  3. In the tab that opens, you may delete each entry individually by clicking on the right side, or you can click button to erase all entries.

-OR-

  1. Open the Opera browser.
  2. Click in the upper-left corner of the window.
  3. From the drop-down menu, select Downloads.
  4. In the tab that opens, you may delete each entry individually by clicking on the right side, or you can click button to erase all entries.

Delete Microsoft User Data Folder Mac

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