How to clear the Slack cache on a Mac
By Vishva Variya · Updated · 3 min read
Short answer
In the Slack desktop app, open Help in the menu bar › Troubleshooting › Clear Cache and Restart. Slack quits, clears its cache and reopens. By hand: quit Slack and delete the Cache and Code Cache folders in ~/Library/Application Support/Slack, leaving the rest of that folder alone.
Where is the Slack cache on a Mac?
~/Library/Caches/com.tinyspeck.slackmacgap~/Library/Application Support/Slack/Cache~/Library/Application Support/Slack/Code Cache
Safe to clear. Temporary files stored by Slack including message thumbnails and previews. Safe to delete and Slack will rebuild them automatically.
How do I clear the Slack cache from the app?
- 1Open the Slack desktop app
- 2Click Help in the menu bar at the top of your screen
- 3Select Troubleshooting
- 4Click Clear Cache and Restart
How do I delete the Slack cache by hand?
- 1Quit Slack (Slack › Quit Slack, or Cmd-Q)
- 2In Finder choose Go › Go to Folder and enter ~/Library/Application Support/Slack
- 3Move the Cache and Code Cache folders to the Trash
- 4Optionally also clear the contents of ~/Library/Caches/com.tinyspeck.slackmacgap
- 5Reopen Slack
What happens when you clear it?
Slack's help article lists Clear Cache and Restart as the first fix for loading trouble but does not say what it removes. Clearing the cache folders removes temporary files such as image thumbnails and previews; Slack rebuilds them. Leave the rest of the Slack folder alone: it holds your sign-in and local settings.
Clearing it with Peekaboo
Peekaboo’s App Caches page lists “Slack” with its size and the note above, alongside every other cache it finds. It won’t offer a folder the app is still running from, and the cleanup goes to the Trash, so ⌥⌘Z puts it back.
- 1Open App Caches.⇧⌘E
- 2Find Slack, check its size, and move it to the Trash.
Questions
Where is Clear Cache and Restart in Slack for Mac?
- In the Mac menu bar, open Help › Troubleshooting › Clear Cache and Restart. Slack quits, clears its cache and opens again.
When does Slack recommend clearing its cache?
- Slack's 'Troubleshoot connection issues' article makes it Step 1 for loading trouble in the desktop app. If an error message shows a Restart Slack button, that button clears the cache and restarts too.
Clearing the cache didn't fix my connection. What next?
- In the same Help › Troubleshooting menu, Restart and Collect Net Logs gathers network logs you can send to Slack support. Slack's article also suggests opening Slack in a private browser window, to check whether a browser extension is causing the problem.