Freeing Up Space for the 18.4GB macOS 27 Installer: How to Safely Clear Mac System Cache
The macOS 27 Golden Gate installer weighs in at an unprecedented 18.4GB. Here is a step-by-step guide to reclaiming disk space safely using terminal commands and selective cache pruning.
Section
Tips
Applies to
Mac (저장 공간 부족 시)
Reviewed
2026-09-14
At a glance
macOS 27 requires at least 35GB to 40GB of free drive space to unpack and install its 18.4GB payload. Prune Xcode derived data, purge local user caches, and clear stale snapshots before upgrading.
One of the most frequent hurdles during annual macOS upgrades is the dreaded 'Not enough free space to install' warning.
The macOS 27 Golden Gate installer weighs 18.4GB. Accounting for archive extraction, APFS snapshot creation, and safety overhead, your Mac requires approximately 35GB to 40GB of contiguous storage.
Purging User Caches Safely
Stale application caches inside ~/Library/Caches frequently hoard tens of gigabytes. Execute the following terminal command to safely prune old transient data:
Terminal — Clear User Caches
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/*
Clearing Xcode Derived Data
If you build or test applications on your Mac, lingering build artifacts can consume massive storage:
