Claude Code disk usage: where session data lives & safe cleanup

Claude Code is a terminal app, so its leftovers don't show up in macOS "Storage" advice — but it accumulates gigabytes over weeks of daily use.

Where the space goes

Path	What it is	Safe to delete?
`~/.claude/projects/`	per-project session transcripts (JSONL, grows forever)	Yes — old sessions
`~/.claude/shell-snapshots/`	shell env snapshots, one per session	Yes
`~/.claude/statsig/`, `~/.claude/telemetry`	analytics cache	Yes
`~/.claude.json`	global config & project list	No
`~/.claude/settings.json`, `CLAUDE.md`	your config & memory	No

Safe cleanup

# sessions older than 14 days
find ~/.claude/projects -name '*.jsonl' -mtime +14 -delete
rm -rf ~/.claude/shell-snapshots/*
rm -rf ~/.claude/statsig ~/.claude/telemetry

Also check the npm global install itself (npm ls -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code) — old versions pile up in ~/.npm/_npx too.

FAQ

Will deleting transcripts lose my work?
No — code changes live in your repo. Transcripts are conversation history only.

Why is it so big?
Every session logs full tool output. Heavy users hit 5–20 GB in a month.

One-click alternatives

Don't want to touch the terminal? These do it safely (paid):

CleanMyMac (macOS) — free scan DaisyDisk (macOS) CCleaner (Win/Mac)

Sponsored links. We only list tools we'd run ourselves.