How much space Adobe takes on a Mac, and what you can actually delete

The two parts of Adobe on your disk

People open Storage settings, see Adobe at tens of GB, clear a cache, and the number barely moves. The reason: most of Adobe's footprint is the installation, not junk.

• Installation: the apps themselves (Photoshop about 6 GB, Premiere and After Effects similar), the shared libraries in /Library/Application Support/Adobe (Camera Raw, plug-ins, CEP, Creative Cloud), and the Creative Cloud app. This only shrinks when you uninstall an app or an old version.
• Caches: Premiere and After Effects Media Cache, the Camera Raw cache, Photoshop scratch files, Creative Cloud downloads. The apps rebuild these, they are safe to clear, and they are what makes "System Data" balloon.

On Adobe's own forum a user measured ~/Library/Caches/Adobe at 350 GB on a 1 TB drive; after clearing it and setting a 30 GB cap, free space rose by more than 500 GB. That is the second part.

Real numbers from a Photoshop-only Mac

Machine: a Mac mini with Photoshop 2026 and Creative Cloud only, no Premiere, no Lightroom. Measured 27 Oct 2026.

Where	Size	Can it go?
/Applications/Adobe Photoshop 2026	6.2 GB	No, it is the app
/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CameraRaw (lens profiles, Camera Raw AI models)	2.2 GB	Better not, Photoshop needs it for RAW files
Rest of /Library/Application Support/Adobe (Desktop Common, Plug-Ins, CEP, CC Libraries)	2.4 GB	No, shared libraries
/Applications/Utilities/Adobe Creative Cloud plus Adobe Sync and Experience	0.6 GB	No
~/Library/Application Support/Adobe (your settings, CoreSync)	126 MB	Small
~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop 2021	3 MB	Leftover from an old version, yes
Camera Raw cache, Media Cache	0	Yes, when present

11.5 GB in total, of which only a few MB can go. This Mac has no Premiere and never opens RAW files, so the two big caches have not appeared yet. A Mac that edits video or RAW photos every day will have the items below on top.

Premiere and After Effects Media Cache

• What it is: for every clip you import, Premiere and After Effects build audio and index files (.cfa, .pek, .ims) so scrubbing stays smooth. According to Adobe, on macOS they live in ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common (the Media Cache Files and Media Cache folders). By default Premiere does not delete them ("Do not delete cache files automatically" is the default), so finished projects leave their cache behind.
• How to spot it: those folders are several GB, or System Data jumps after every video project.
• Fix: in Premiere open Premiere › Settings › Media Cache, click Delete next to "Remove Media Cache Files", then choose Delete unused media cache files (only clips that can no longer be found) or Delete all media cache files from the system (close all projects first; files are recreated automatically when a project needs them). In the same pane turn on Automatically delete cache files older than (Adobe's default once enabled is 90 days) or Automatically delete oldest cache files when cache exceeds (default 10% of the volume). After Effects: After Effects › Preferences › Media & Disk Cache, then Empty Disk Cache and Clean Database & Cache. Deleting by hand in Finder also works once the apps are closed: Adobe's own guide says to delete the contents of the Common folder and empty the Trash; the next project open waits while the cache rebuilds.

Camera Raw cache

• What it is: Lightroom Classic and Camera Raw in Photoshop keep the original image data of every RAW file you opened so previews build faster next time. According to Adobe, Lightroom Classic caps this at 5 GB by default, and Adobe itself suggests raising it to 10–20 GB for a faster Develop module, so many Macs run it high. The folder is usually called Adobe Camera Raw 2 inside ~/Library/Caches (or wherever you pointed it).
• How to spot it: that folder is big, or in Lightroom Classic Preferences › File Handling › Camera Raw Cache Settings shows a high Maximum Size.
• Fix: in the same place click Purge Cache, then lower Maximum Size; in Photoshop the equivalent sits under Camera Raw Preferences › Performance. Purging does not touch your originals or your edits (those live in the catalog and XMP files); reopening an image is just a beat slower.

Photoshop scratch files

• What it is: when RAM runs out, Photoshop writes to disk (the scratch disk), potentially tens of GB with large files and many History steps. A normal quit gives the space back; Adobe recommends keeping at least 100 GB free on the scratch drive.
• How to spot it: the disk fills up or Photoshop reports "Scratch disk full" during a session, growing as you work.
• Fix: quit Photoshop (if it hung, restart the Mac; macOS clears its temp folder). Lower History States in Photoshop › Settings › Performance (default 50) to write less, and pick a drive with room under Settings › Scratch Disks. On Windows Adobe tells you to delete "Photoshop Temp" files by hand on the C: drive; on the Mac Adobe gives no manual deletion step, quitting and restarting is enough.

Old versions and installers

• What it is: Adobe ships a new version every year (Photoshop 2025, 2026), 5–6 GB each. The Creative Cloud update dialog has Remove old versions ticked by default; anyone who unticked it (to keep old plug-ins, say) now has both versions installed.
• How to spot it: two folders with the same app name and different years in /Applications.
• Fix: uninstall the old version through the Creative Cloud app (Installed, three-dot menu, Uninstall), not by dragging to the Trash, which leaves the Library parts behind. Next update, leave Remove old versions ticked.

Set limits so you never clean again

1. Premiere: turn on one of the two automatic Media Cache options (by age or by size); on a 256–512 GB Mac, 30 days or 20–30 GB is plenty. Adobe notes the setting takes effect after a restart of the app and then runs weekly.
2. Camera Raw: keep Maximum Size at 5–10 GB unless you edit RAW daily.
3. Creative Cloud: leave Remove old versions ticked when updating.
4. Heavy video work: move the Media Cache to an external SSD (same Media Cache pane, Browse; Adobe recommends a dedicated SSD too) so the internal drive only holds the apps.
5. Photoshop memory: Adobe says Photoshop takes 70% of available RAM by default, so on a 16 GB Mac seeing it hold about 8 GB while idle is normal. If you often run other heavy apps, open Photoshop › Settings › Performance, lower Let Photoshop Use in 5% steps (Adobe's advice), stay inside the Ideal Range it suggests, and restart the app. The trade-off: with less RAM, Photoshop writes more scratch data to disk on large files, so the internal drive can fill faster; point Scratch Disks at a drive with room to spare. More: do RAM cleaners help a Mac?

Find it fast with Tidymint

Tidymint's Space Lens draws every folder as a bubble sized by its real footprint, so a swollen Media Cache or Camera Raw folder stands out at once, and Uninstaller lists old Adobe versions with their leftovers. Everything goes to the Trash and can be undone.