Why Claude Desktop takes up so much space on your Mac

What’s in Claude’s support folder

Open ~/Library/Application Support/Claude and sort by size. The two large entries are vm_bundles, which holds claudevm.bundle, and claude-code-sessions.

claudevm.bundle is the working disk of the sandboxed virtual machine that Cowork tasks run in. It grows while the VM is in use and doesn’t shrink on its own. A public report of an 11 GB Claude folder with a 9.2 GB bundle matches what we measured.

claude-code-sessions holds JSON for Claude Code sessions started from the desktop app, and it was 1.0 GB with no images on the measured Mac. The support folder also keeps your login state, your settings and a few ordinary caches such as Cache and GPUCache.

Removing the VM bundle by hand

If you don’t use Cowork much, the bundle is the one large thing you can take back. It’s the disk of a virtual machine, so only touch it with the app fully closed.

1. Quit Claude Desktop completely.
2. Open ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/vm_bundles in Finder.
3. Move claudevm.bundle to the Trash, then empty the Trash once Claude starts normally again.
4. Expect Claude to download the bundle again the next time you start a Cowork task.

What Mint adds

Mint lists Claude Desktop’s folders under Claude in the Disk tab, so those gigabytes have a name. In the Direct and Setapp editions, the Cowork VM bundles show up in Rebuildable as a row that isn’t ticked, described as data Claude downloads again when you next use Cowork. You can remove it only while Claude is closed, and while Claude is running Mint moves the row to Keep and says why.

Claude Desktop’s ordinary caches are offered in full when the app is closed, and while it runs Mint offers only cache entries nothing is using. Session metadata and login state are measured and left alone.

Things to check before you delete

Never remove the VM bundle while Claude Desktop is running, since that can break the feature that’s using it. Don’t clear the whole support folder either, because your login and settings live there.

Deleting local data doesn’t delete or export your chats, which stay on the server. If a VM disk looks huge, check how much it really takes on disk, because sparse files and APFS clones can look larger than the space they use.

Frequently asked questions

Where are Claude Desktop conversations stored?

On Anthropic’s servers. The local folder holds app state, the VM bundle and session metadata.

What is claudevm.bundle?

It’s the disk of the virtual machine Claude Desktop uses for Cowork. One public report put it at 9.2 GB, and the VM bundles came to 10.9 GB on the Mac we measured.

Will deleting it free the space for good?

Only until you use Cowork again, because Claude downloads the bundle when the feature needs it.

Can Mint remove it?

In the Direct and Setapp editions, yes, while Claude is closed. It appears unticked in the Disk tab, and nothing is removed until you pick it.

See what Claude Desktop is storing on your Mac

Run a scan to see Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Codex and Cursor measured side by side in the Disk tab.

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