Howdy!
First of all, this post is strictly for Xcode users. If you aren’t, there are plenty of pointers on google for cleaning up space on your Mac machine. Here are some directory paths where you can free up hard drive space by deleting subdirectories of it on your Mac.
~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData
The Derived Data folder here contains all of your project’s intermediate build information, index and debug/release built targets. You will generally delete this data when you observe peculiar behaviour like improper indexing or slowness of Xcode. Deleting all folders(Not derived data folder itself) from derived data will just make all your projects to be recreated when you build again; rebuilding will be bit slower.
Tip: Open Organiser and select the Projects tab. Select the desired project and click the Delete button next to the Derived Data path.
~/Library/Developer/Xcode/Archives
All your targets are kept in archived form in Archives folder. Before you decide to delete contents of this folder, here is a warning if you want to be able to debug deployed versions of your App, you shouldn’t delete the archives.
~/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS DeviceSupport
iOS Device Support folder creates a subfolder with the device version as identifier when you attach the device. Most of the time it’s just old stuff. Keep the latest version and rest of them can be deleted (if you don’t have an app that runs on 5.1.1, there’s no reason to keep the 5.1.1 directory/directories). If you still have a device running a particular version, the directory will be recreated by Xcode when you attach the device. And, no, this has nothing to do with simulator.
Note: You’ll want to be careful when removing files from inside /Libraryand /Users/<yourusername>/Library, as deleting the wrong files can cause applications, and even the OS, to misbehave.
~/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator
iPhone Simulator folder is familiar for many Xcode users. It’s simulator’s territory; thats where it stores app data. It’s obvious that you can toss the older version simulator folder/folders if you no longer support your apps for those versions.
And, it’s safer to use ‘Reset content and Settings’ option from menu to delete all of your app data in a Simulator.
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.dt.Xcode
Caches are always safe to delete since they will be recreated as necessary. This isn’t a directory, it’s a file of kind Xcode Project. Delete away!
~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup
Apple iOS device automatically syncs specific files and settings to your Mac every time they are connected to your Mac machine. To be on safer side, it’s wise to use Devices pane of iTunes preferences to delete older backups; you should be retaining your most recent back-ups off course.
Sigh! I hope you’ve brought a smile on your face after seeing the difference in free space on your Mac machine. I’d happy to know if you have some tip to add to the mix.
Clean ‘em up, yo!!
johnnylists