On the radio today, I started off by talking a little bit about Cache files in OS X. These little guys help speed your computer along, but when they get corrupt, lots of odd things can happen. Applications become slow, fonts look or print oddly, or strange artifacts can appear on your screen.
Below I talk a little bit more about Cache (pronounced “cash”) files and how you can force them to be rebuilt. Often this can clear up little odd-ball problems. And you loose nothing other than a little time trying it.
Mac OS X will keep commonly used files in a pre-digested format called “caches” that allow it to use these files (such as fonts, parts of web pages, calendar appointments) much more quickly. Unfortunately, these caches can get corrupt and this will yield odd results. Usually, you’ll see things like:
- Some applications will not launch
- Fonts look “odd” on the screen or when printed
- Applications behave in unexpected ways or crash for no reason
Fortunately, this is fairly easy to correct. We just throw away the cache files and restart the computer. OS X will auto-magically recreate the caches from the original files. Here’s how to do this:
- Save any documents and close any open applications.
- Open your hard drive by double clicking on it (Usually the icon in the upper most RH corner of your desktop. Or use the “Go” menu and choose “Computer”. You should see it there also.)
- Click on “Library” then “Caches”
- Move everything in this folder to the Trash. You’ll probably have to type in your password
- NOTE: Only throw away the things INSIDE the Caches folder. Do NOT through away anything else, especially the other items in your Library folders.
- Click on the “house” on the LH side of the window (or use the “go” menu and choose “Home”).
- Click on “Library” then “Caches
- Throw away all of the files inside of the this Caches folder too.
- Click on your hard drive again.
- Click on “System”, then “Library”, then “Caches”.
- Throw away all the things in this Cache folder also. You will have to enter the password again.
- Restart your iMac. It may take a bit longer to start up as it rebuilds the cache files. (Only by 10 seconds or so.)
- When your computer is back up, don’t forget to empty your Trash at some point.
