Logs

What is Logs?

The /Library/Logs folder is a macOS system-wide location for log files created by the operating system and by apps or services installed for all users. These logs help record normal activity, warnings, crashes, errors, and other diagnostic details that developers, support staff, and administrators use when troubleshooting problems. You may encounter this folder when checking disk usage, investigating software issues, or following support steps that ask for log files. Its contents can include plain-text logs, archived logs, and app-specific diagnostic data written over time by different components. Because the folder is shared at the system level, its contents may relate to background services, security tools, enterprise software, and other software used across the Mac.

Safety overview

Status: Use with caution

Files in /Library/Logs are not applications, but they can contain diagnostic details such as timestamps, device names, account names, network activity, and error messages from macOS or installed software. Removing old log files is usually less risky than deleting application data, but active software may recreate them and deleting the wrong items can make troubleshooting harder or interfere with support investigations. Do not remove logs that are currently being collected for a support case or logs inside vendor-specific folders you still need for debugging.

Recommendation: Keep this folder if you are troubleshooting crashes, performance issues, installation problems, or network and security events. If you only want to recover a small amount of space, review the contents and remove only old, nonessential log files after closing related apps, knowing that some software may create new logs again later. Leave anything you do not recognize in place if it may be tied to a current problem you still need to diagnose.

File path

• /Library/Logs

Related can I delete pages

• /private/var/log

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