If you found a large folder called com.apple.coresymbolicationd while hunting for disk space, it is a macOS cache. The copy in your home folder is safe to clear. Here is what it is, where to look and how to remove it.
coresymbolicationd is a macOS system process, part of Apple's CoreSymbolication framework at /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CoreSymbolication.framework. It is not malware.
It turns raw memory addresses into function names and line numbers. That process is called symbolication, and it is what makes crash reports, debugger backtraces and profiler output readable. To do it quickly, the process caches symbol information on disk.
Symbols are added as you build, debug, profile and read crash logs, which is why the cache tends to show up on developers' Macs. Apple doesn't document a size limit or a setting to control it, so the only way to keep it in check is to clear it.
There are two folders with this name:
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.coresymbolicationd, in your own Library. This is the one this guide clears./System/Library/Caches/com.apple.coresymbolicationd, a system-level folder owned by root.du -sh ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.coresymbolicationdThe system-level folder can only be read as an administrator. This asks for your password:
sudo du -sh /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.coresymbolicationdIn Finder, choose Go › Go to Folder (Shift-Command-G), paste the path, then select the folder and press Command-I to see its size.
The contents of the folder in your home Library, yes. It is a cache: macOS fills it again as needed. The only cost is that symbolication, such as opening a crash report or attaching a debugger, can be slower the first few times afterwards. Your code, projects and Xcode settings are not stored there.
The system-level folder is a different matter. It belongs to root and sits outside your home folder. We haven't verified a safe procedure for clearing it, so this guide doesn't give one, and SymbolSweep never touches it.
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.coresymbolicationd.Or in Terminal, which deletes the folder's contents immediately and skips the Trash:
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.coresymbolicationd/*If the folder is already empty, zsh replies no matches found. That is harmless.
Stay inside this one folder. Clearing other folders in ~/Library/Caches without knowing what they belong to can sign you out of apps or make them download data again, and nothing under /System should be deleted by hand.
Nothing visible. macOS adds to the cache again the next time something needs symbols, so the folder starts growing again as soon as you build and debug. No network connection is needed and nothing has to be reinstalled.
This cache is the reason SymbolSweep exists. It watches the size of ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.coresymbolicationd and includes it in the total on its main screen. It isn't one of the four Dev Artifacts tiers; it is the symbolication cache that Clean empties along with the SAFE items that are ready.
~/Library/Logs/SymbolSweep/deletions.log./System.Scanning is free and never deletes anything. Deleting needs a one-time $12 license for one Mac. Requires macOS 13 or later on Apple silicon. See how it works.
The contents of ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.coresymbolicationd, yes. It is a cache that macOS rebuilds. Symbolication may be slower for a short while afterwards.
Yes. It fills again as you build, debug and open crash reports. Clearing it is routine maintenance, not a permanent fix.
No. It is part of macOS, shipped inside Apple's CoreSymbolication framework in /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks.
Apple doesn't provide a setting for it. The practical option is to clear it now and then, by hand or with a tool that does it when it passes a size you choose.