iPhone Software Updates folder on Mac: safe to delete?

Where it is

What it is

When you update or restore an iPhone or iPad by connecting it to a Mac, the Mac first downloads the full system installer as an .ipsw file. Those files are kept in ~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates, with a matching iPad Software Updates folder for iPads.

After the update has been installed the file has no further use, but it is not always removed. A Mac that has updated several devices over the years can hold several old installers.

Not every Mac has this folder. It appears only after a device has been updated or restored through this Mac, and newer versions of macOS may tidy the files up themselves. These files are not your device backups, which are stored separately.

How big it gets

Each installer is several GB, so a few of them left behind add up quickly.

How to clear it by hand

1. Make sure no update or restore is running in Finder.
2. In Finder, choose Go, then Go to Folder, and enter ~/Library/iTunes. If there is no iPhone Software Updates or iPad Software Updates folder, there is nothing to clean.
3. Move the .ipsw files inside to the Trash, then empty the Trash.
4. You can also check System Settings, General, Storage and click the info button next to iOS Files, which lists installers and backups together. Take care to remove only the installers there, not the backups you want.

ls -lh ~/Library/iTunes/iPhone\ Software\ Updates

What happens afterwards

Nothing changes on your iPhone or iPad. The next time you update or restore a device through the Mac, the installer is downloaded again, which takes a while on a slow connection.

How Diskzy handles it

Diskzy shows the folder on the disk map, and Search finds large files like these by kind or size wherever they are. Anything you remove with Diskzy goes to the Trash.

Related guides

• iPhone and iPad backups~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup
• iOS DeviceSupport~/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS DeviceSupport
• Trash~/.Trash