title: "How to Clean Adobe Premiere Pro & After Effects Scratch Disks on Mac"
subtitle: "A video editor's guide to reclaiming 100GB+ of conformed audio (.cfa), waveform peaks (.pek), and After Effects disk cache."
description: "Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Final Cut Pro, and DaVinci Resolve hoard hundreds of gigabytes in background render caches and conformed audio. Learn where these scratch disks live on macOS and how to safely purge them."
datePublished: "2026-03-12"
dateModified: "2026-03-24"
author: "CleanSlate Systems Engineering"
readingTime: "9 min read"
category: "Creator"
targetBloat: "60GB – 300GB"
keywords:
- "clean adobe media cache mac"
- "delete premiere pro media cache files cfa"
- "after effects disk cache clean mac"
- "final cut pro delete render files"
- "davinci resolve cacheclip delete mac"
- "adobe scratch disk full mac fix"
faq:
- question: "Will deleting Adobe Media Cache Files (.cfa, .pek) delete my raw video footage?"
answer: "No. Never. Media Cache Files (.cfa and .pek) are temporary conformed audio files and visual waveform previews generated by Premiere Pro for smooth timeline playback. Your original source media and .prproj project files are completely untouched. If you re-open an old project, Premiere simply regenerates the cache for active timeline clips."
- question: "Where does Premiere Pro store Media Cache on macOS?"
answer: "By default, Adobe Premiere Pro stores media cache in two directories: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/Media Cache and ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/Media Cache Files. After Effects stores its cache in ~/Library/Caches/Adobe/After Effects/."
- question: "Why does my Mac SSD run out of space during 4K video editing?"
answer: "Video editing software generates uncompressed 32-bit floating point audio and ProRes/DNxHR render files in the background whenever you apply effects, color grading, or time-remapping. A single 10-minute 4K timeline can silently generate 40GB to 80GB of render cache on your startup disk."
- question: "How do I clear Final Cut Pro render files taking 100GB?"
answer: "In Final Cut Pro, select your Library in the sidebar, go to File > Delete Generated Library Files, and check 'Delete Render Files' (choose 'All' or 'Unused Only'). This purges render files without touching your master media."
If you edit video or motion graphics on a Mac with Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Final Cut Pro, or DaVinci Resolve, you have almost certainly faced the dreaded macOS warning:
**"Your startup disk is almost full."**
Video and audio production apps are notorious for generating massive scratch disks and render caches silently in the background. A creator who edits two 4K YouTube videos or client commercials per week can easily accumulate **100GB to 350GB of orphaned cache files** in just a few months.
In this deep guide, we map out the exact macOS paths where Adobe, Apple, and Blackmagic store these files, explain what can be safely purged, and show you how to clean them without corrupting your projects.
1. The Video Editor's Bloat Anatomy: What Lives in the Scratch Disks?
When you import an MP4, MOV, or BRAW clip into an editing timeline, your NLE (Non-Linear Editor) cannot process compressed audio and video in real time without lag. To guarantee smooth 60fps scrubbing, it transcode-caches:
1. **`.cfa` Conformed Audio Files:** Premiere converts AAC or compressed audio into massive, uncompressed 32-bit floating point PCM audio files. A 2GB raw video file can easily generate an 8GB `.cfa` file!
2. **`.pek` Peak Files:** Binary visual waveform data rendered so Premiere can draw audio wave lines on your timeline tracks.
3. **After Effects Disk Cache (`AEtemp`):** Uncompressed, fully rendered frame buffers written to your SSD so you can preview RAM compositions in real time.
4. **Final Cut Pro Render Files:** ProRes 422 proxy renders written inside `.fcpbundle` library packages.
5. **DaVinci Resolve `CacheClip`:** Optimized media and timeline render files stored in the Scratch Disk folder.
2. Cleaning Adobe Premiere Pro Media Cache (30GB – 120GB)
Adobe splits Premiere cache files across two primary folders in your user Library:
Measuring Total Adobe Cache Size
Run this in Terminal:
du -sh ~/Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/Common/Media\ Cache*It is very common for this single command to report **60GB to 140GB** of data on active editing machines!
Method A: Cleaning from Within Premiere Pro
1. Open **Premiere Pro**.
2. Go to **Premiere Pro > Settings (Preferences) > Media Cache**.
3. Under **Remove Media Cache Files**, click **Delete**.
4. Choose:
- **Delete unused media cache files:** Purges files created for projects that have not been opened recently.
- **Delete all media cache files:** Purges everything. (Requires restarting Premiere with no project open).
Method B: Terminal Deep Clean (When Premiere Won't Launch Due to Full Disk)
If your Mac SSD is at 0 bytes free and Premiere crashes on startup:
# Safely purge all conformed audio and peak waveform files
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/Common/Media\ Cache/*
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/Common/Media\ Cache\ Files/*
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/Common/Peak\ Files/***Safety Guarantee:** Your raw video camera files and your `.prproj` project files are stored elsewhere. Deleting these cache files will **never** lose a single frame of your footage or edit cuts.
3. Cleaning After Effects Disk Cache (20GB – 80GB)
After Effects defaults to a maximum disk cache of 10% to 20% of your total drive space, often claiming 50GB to 100GB on a 512GB Mac.
Default macOS Path:
~/Library/Caches/Adobe/After Effects/Clean Inside After Effects:
1. Open **After Effects**.
2. Go to **Edit > Purge > All Memory & Disk Cache...**
3. Click **OK** to purge all rendered composition frames.
Clean via Terminal:
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/Adobe/After\ Effects/*4. Final Cut Pro: Purging Hidden Render Files from `.fcpbundle` (50GB – 200GB)
Final Cut Pro stores its render cache directly inside its `.fcpbundle` package files by default. If you use background rendering, FCP renders ProRes files every time you pause editing for 5 seconds!
How to Purge in Final Cut Pro:
1. Open **Final Cut Pro**.
2. In the left **Libraries** sidebar, click on your project Library.
3. In the top macOS menu, click **File > Delete Generated Library Files...**
4. Check **Delete Render Files** and select **All**.
5. *(Optional)* Check **Delete Optimized Media** and **Delete Proxy Media** if you are finished with the project.
6. Click **OK**.
You will frequently see your `.fcpbundle` file drop from **180GB down to 12GB** in under 5 seconds!
5. DaVinci Resolve: Cleaning `CacheClip` and Proxy Files
DaVinci Resolve saves rendered nodes and optimized media inside its working folder:
~/Movies/DaVinci Resolve/CacheClip/To Purge:
1. Open **DaVinci Resolve**.
2. In the top menu, go to **Playback > Delete Render Cache**.
3. Choose **All** or **Unused**.
4. Or execute via Terminal:
rm -rf ~/Movies/DaVinci\ Resolve/CacheClip/*6. Automate Creator Scratch Disks with CleanSlate
As a video editor, your time is better spent cutting stories and grading color rather than hunting down `.cfa` files in hidden Library folders.
**CleanSlate** features a dedicated **Creator Studio Cleaner**:
Reclaim your creator SSD today with CleanSlate — $14.99 one-time purchase with lifetime ownership.