Help with Removing Old Adobe Files and Retaining Only Latest Versions

[agile_Star9606]

Hi everyone,

I’ve noticed that my Mac’s System Data is taking up an enormous amount of storage (99GB), and I suspect it’s due to leftover Adobe files like old versions, cache, and logs.

I want to keep only the necessary files for the latest versions of my Adobe applications (After Effects 25.1, Illustrator 29.1, Photoshop 26.1, etc.) and safely delete anything related to older versions (e.g., After Effects 24.6.4 or Illustrator 28.7.3).

Since I can’t use Adobe Cleaner Tool due to account restrictions, I plan to manually remove unnecessary files by accessing the Preferences folder on my Mac (~ / Library/ Preferences and / Library / Preferences).

Could anyone guide me on:

1. Which files or folders are essential for the latest Adobe versions and should not be touched?
2. Are there any specific files in the Preferences or Application Support folders that I should look out for when removing older version data?

[Anshul_Nautiyal · Accepted solution]

Hi @agile_Star9606,

Managing storage on your Mac, especially with large applications, can be challenging. Here are some steps to help you safely remove unnecessary files while keeping essential ones for the latest versions of your Adobe applications:

Essential Files and Folders
To avoid disrupting your Adobe applications, ensure you do not delete the following:

Preferences Folder:

~/Library/Preferences/com.adobe.* (e.g., com.adobe.AfterEffects.plist, com.adobe.Photoshop.plist)
~/Library/Preferences/Adobe/ (contains settings and preferences for Adobe applications)

Application Support Folder:

~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/ (contains essential files for running Adobe applications)
Specific subfolders for each application, such as ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/After Effects/, ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Illustrator/, and ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Photoshop/

Shared Resources
Avoid deleting shared Adobe files such as:
~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Color Profiles
~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Fonts
Licensing files in /Library/Application Support/Adobe/SLStore

Dynamic Link Files
Necessary for cross-application workflows, found in /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common

Removing Older Version Data
To remove data related to older versions:

Old Preferences Files:

~/Library/Preferences/com.adobe.AfterEffects.24.*.plist
~/Library/Preferences/com.adobe.Illustrator.28.*.plist

Old Application Support Files:

~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/After Effects/24.*
~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Illustrator/28.*

Old Cache and Log Files:

~/Library/Caches/Adobe/
~/Library/Logs/Adobe/

I recommend contacting your organization's IT department to temporarily gain access to the Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool through IT or account permissions. This tool can help you clean up and free up space more efficiently.

Note: Please back up the directories you plan to clean and delete files incrementally. Restart your Mac to ensure no essential functionality is affected.

I hope this helps! If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Regards,
^AN