If you have Xcode installed on your Mac , you will find that it takes up a lot of space, and you can't figure out why Xcode is so big. In this article, macw Xiaobian will tell you why Xcode takes up so much space and tell you what you can do to reduce Xcode's footprint.
- What is Xcode?
Xcode is Apple's integrated development environment (IDE) used to create software for macOS, iOS, iPad IOS, and tvOS. It supports source code for the most popular languages, including Apple's own Swift, C, C++, Objective-C, Objective-C++, Java, AppleScript, Python, and Ruby. It's a free download from the App Store and can be used for most of the development process, including creating the user interface, writing the code, compiling it, and then testing and debugging it. Once you're done, you can use Xcode to submit your app to Apple's App Store. This is the only part of the process you need to become a registered developer. If you want to use Xcode to learn new skills or improve existing ones, or just for fun, it's free.
- How much space does Xcode need?
On Xcode's App Store page, it lists Xcode 12.5 as 11.7GB in size. However, when you try to install it, you will get an error message unless you have at least 40GB free. However, that 40GB isn't all there is to it. As you use Xcode, especially as you connect more devices running different OS versions, Xcode will grow in size and can easily take up more than 40GB of space. Hence the answer to the question "How much space does Xcode need?". At least 40GB, but more than that depends on how you use it.
- Why is Xcode so big?
Xcode supports four different operating systems, iOS, iPad OS, macOS and tvOS. For each version, it supports multiple versions. For each operating system it has emulator runtimes, libraries, compilers and software development kits. It contains a lot of data about the statements supported by each operating system. That's why it's so big.
- How to make Xcode take up less space
Every time you connect a device with a device running a new version of the Apple OS, even just a 0.1 upgrade, Xcode adds more data and gets bigger. If you never delete any data, Xcode usage will keep growing. An effective way to reduce the amount of space Xcode uses is to delete data associated with older versions of the operating system that are no longer needed.
1. In Finder, navigate to the Go menu and select Go to Folder.
2. Type: ~/Library/Developer
3. Look for a folder called iOS DeviceSupport and open it
4. You will see that there are separate folders for each version of iOS. Drag them all to the trash.
5. Locate the folder named iPad OS DeviceSupport in ~/Library/Developer, and repeat step 4.
6. Empty the trash.
You should delete several gigabytes of data. The next time you connect an iOS or iPad OS device and use Xcode, it will download the libraries required to run that device's version of iOS or iPad OS. Therefore, there is no danger in deleting these folders.
You can also remove unwanted devices and simulators from Xcode all at once.
1. In Xcode, click the Window menu.
2. Select the device and emulator.
3. Click on the emulator you want to delete and select Delete.
You can also clear the cache associated with a project by opening the project and pressing Command+Shift+K. This frees up some space and fixes any issues you might have with your project crashing.