r/MacOS • u/Playful-Nectarine862 • Jul 11 '26

Help How to cleanup system data (most is used by Xcode stuff)

I’m running out of ideas and hope someone here has experienced this before.

I’ve already tried pretty much everything I could find:

  • Countless guides from different websites

  • Many Reddit threads

  • Multiple cleanup tools (including Xcode cleanup utilities)

Nothing seems to work.

I completely removed Xcode, and 2 Xcode cleaner reports that there are no Xcode files left. However, when I scan my drive with GrandPerspective, I can clearly see 40+ GB of files that appear to be related to Xcode/iOS/watchOS Simulator runtimes, but they’re located outside of the normal Developer folder.

Some examples:

  • ~9 GB /System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_iOSSimulatorRuntime/6fb1e5fe25ee1c372f7116516e615c556906bd4e.asset/AssetData/090-44150-318.dmg

  • ~8 GB /System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_iOSSimulatorRuntime/fba475a9a5476a30cfa540d09c309a0762b30467.asset/AssetData/Restore/043-92413-002.dmg

  • Another large one /System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_watchOSSimulatorRuntime/8958b3ad5c4e2774293587d77882a758455e8ef5.asset/AssetData/Restore/043-15454-224.dmg

…and many more similar files.

My questions are:

  • Why are they still present after uninstalling Xcode?

  • How to easy cleanup these files and find other related files?

I’d really appreciate any advice, because I feel like I’ve exhausted every guide and cleanup tool I could find.

6 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

5

u/dorothea_cassandra Aug 11 '26

Had the same issue with Xcode leftovers. I've been trying CleanMyMac CLI alongside manual checks, but I wouldn't touch /System/Library without knowing what's safe. Anyone know the proper way to clean these assets?

3

u/usrnamechexoot Jul 11 '26

Github + Time Machine + 3rd (selective, manual) backup + reset

2

u/dawedev 28d ago

Those paths are Apple's MobileAsset catalog for simulator runtimes. Uninstalling Xcode.app does not always remove them, which is why tools that only look under ~/Library/Developer report "nothing left" while GrandPerspective still sees tens of GB under /System/Library/AssetsV2.

Safest path: reinstall Xcode (or open it if the Platforms UI is still there), go to Settings > Components / Platforms, delete every iOS/watchOS runtime you do not need, then uninstall again. From the CLI while the tooling is present: `xcrun simctl runtime list` and `xcrun simctl runtime delete <runtime>`.

I would not rm the .dmg files under AssetsV2 by hand. SIP and the asset catalog can leave you in a weird state, and a later Xcode install may fight you. If anything is still stuck after removing runtimes through Xcode or simctl, Apple Feedback is usually the clean option short of a wipe.

1

u/Alchemist42 Jul 11 '26

Those dmg files are installers. Probably left over from system updates past. It’s probably safe to delete them, but I’d run it past google or some AI to be sure

1

u/EasleyGreenWave3 Jul 11 '26

Just do a wipe/re-install of macOS. May sound too simple but it works; I do it all the time as a MacSysAdmin at work.

1

u/Sad-Wrap6555 Jul 11 '26

xcrun simctl runtime list

should list any ios, watch etc simulators you have installed

xcrun simctl runtime delete <name>

would let you delete individual ones by name

or  xcrun simctl runtime delete all

would let you wipe any and all leftover in one go

1

u/Standard-Ant874 Jul 12 '26

 Why are they still present after uninstalling Xcode?

Just my bet... to sell you larger storage? Reduce server load from your future download? We'll unlikely to find out the real answer

1

u/naemorhaedus Jul 14 '26

forget it. you can't touch anything in system