Where Xcode Actually Hides Your Disk Space

The Script

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Xcode & iOS Simulator cleanup
# Reclaims disk space from DerivedData, caches, and simulator bloat.

set -u

echo "🧹 Xcode cleanup starting..."
echo

BEFORE=$(df -k / | awk 'NR==2 {print $4}')

echo "→ Quitting Xcode and Simulator..."
osascript -e 'tell application "Xcode" to quit' 2>/dev/null
osascript -e 'tell application "Simulator" to quit' 2>/dev/null
sleep 2

echo "→ Removing DerivedData..."
rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData
rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/ModuleCache.noindex

echo "→ Removing Xcode caches..."
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.dt.Xcode
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.dt.Instruments

echo "→ Removing old iOS DeviceSupport..."
rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS\ DeviceSupport
rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/watchOS\ DeviceSupport
rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/tvOS\ DeviceSupport

echo "→ Deleting simulators tied to missing runtimes..."
xcrun simctl delete unavailable

echo "→ Erasing all simulator content and settings..."
xcrun simctl shutdown all 2>/dev/null
xcrun simctl erase all

echo "→ Clearing CoreSimulator caches..."
rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Caches/*

echo "→ Clearing package manager caches..."
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/org.swift.swiftpm
rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/SourcePackages
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/CocoaPods

echo "→ Removing unusable simulator runtimes..."
xcrun simctl runtime delete unusable 2>/dev/null || true

# ─── Interactive runtime cleanup ────────────────────────────────────────
echo
echo "→ Scanning installed simulator runtimes..."

RUNTIME_TEXT=$(xcrun simctl runtime list -v 2>/dev/null)

if [ -z "${RUNTIME_TEXT}" ]; then
  echo "   No runtimes found. Skipping."
else
  PARSED=$(python3 <<PYEOF
import re
text = """${RUNTIME_TEXT}"""
header_re = re.compile(r'^(iOS|watchOS|tvOS|visionOS)\s+([\d.]+)\s+\(([^)]+)\)\s+-\s+([A-F0-9\-]{36})\s*$', re.M)
matches = list(header_re.finditer(text))
entries = []
for i, m in enumerate(matches):
    platform, version, build, uuid = m.group(1), m.group(2), m.group(3), m.group(4)
    start = m.end()
    end = matches[i+1].start() if i+1 < len(matches) else len(text)
    block = text[start:end]
    size_m = re.search(r'Size:\s*(\S+)', block)
    last_m = re.search(r'Last Used At:\s*(\S+)', block)
    size = size_m.group(1) if size_m else "?"
    last = last_m.group(1) if last_m else "never"
    entries.append((platform, version, build, uuid, size, last))
platform_order = {"iOS": 0, "watchOS": 1, "tvOS": 2, "visionOS": 3}
def version_key(v):
    return tuple(int(x) for x in v.split('.'))
entries.sort(key=lambda e: (platform_order.get(e[0], 9), version_key(e[1])))
for p, v, b, u, s, l in entries:
    print(f"{p}|{v}|{b}|{u}|{s}|{l}")
PYEOF
)

  if [ -z "${PARSED}" ]; then
    echo "   Could not parse runtime list. Skipping."
  else
    echo
    printf "  %-3s %-9s %-9s %-9s %-6s %-12s\n" "#" "Platform" "Version" "Build" "Size" "Last Used"
    echo "  ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────"

    UUIDS=()
    PLATFORMS=()
    LASTUSED=()
    i=1
    while IFS='|' read -r platform version build uuid size last_used; do
      last_short="${last_used:0:10}"
      printf "  %-3s %-9s %-9s %-9s %-6s %-12s\n" "$i" "$platform" "$version" "$build" "$size" "$last_short"
      UUIDS+=("$uuid")
      PLATFORMS+=("$platform")
      LASTUSED+=("$last_used")
      i=$((i+1))
    done <<< "${PARSED}"

    TOTAL=${#UUIDS[@]}
    echo
    echo "  Options:"
    echo "    • Numbers separated by spaces (e.g. '1 3 5 7')"
    echo "    • 'all'  — delete ALL runtimes"
    echo "    • 'old'  — keep the 2 most recently used iOS runtimes, delete the rest"
    echo "    • Enter to skip"
    echo
    read -p "Your choice: " CHOICE

    DELETE_INDICES=()

    if [ "${CHOICE}" = "all" ]; then
      for ((j=0; j<TOTAL; j++)); do DELETE_INDICES+=("$j"); done
    elif [ "${CHOICE}" = "old" ]; then
      KEEP_INDICES=$(python3 <<PYEOF
entries = []
$(for ((j=0; j<TOTAL; j++)); do
    echo "entries.append(($j, '${PLATFORMS[$j]}', '${LASTUSED[$j]}'))"
  done)
ios = [(idx, last) for idx, plat, last in entries if plat == 'iOS' and last != 'never']
ios.sort(key=lambda x: x[1], reverse=True)
for idx, _ in ios[:2]:
    print(idx)
PYEOF
)
      for ((j=0; j<TOTAL; j++)); do
        if ! echo "${KEEP_INDICES}" | grep -qx "$j"; then
          DELETE_INDICES+=("$j")
        fi
      done
    elif [ -n "${CHOICE}" ]; then
      for num in ${CHOICE}; do
        if [[ "${num}" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] && [ "${num}" -ge 1 ] && [ "${num}" -le "${TOTAL}" ]; then
          DELETE_INDICES+=("$((num-1))")
        else
          echo "   ⚠️  Ignoring invalid selection: ${num}"
        fi
      done
    fi

    if [ "${#DELETE_INDICES[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
      echo
      echo "→ Deleting ${#DELETE_INDICES[@]} runtime(s)..."
      for idx in "${DELETE_INDICES[@]}"; do
        uuid="${UUIDS[$idx]}"
        label="${PLATFORMS[$idx]} (${uuid:0:8}...)"
        echo "   • ${label}"
        if ! xcrun simctl runtime delete "${uuid}" 2>&1 | sed 's/^/     /'; then
          echo "     ⚠️  Failed — see message above"
        fi
      done
    else
      echo "   Skipped runtime deletion."
    fi
  fi
fi

AFTER=$(df -k / | awk 'NR==2 {print $4}')
RECLAIMED=$(( (AFTER - BEFORE) / 1024 / 1024 ))

echo
echo "✅ Done. Approximately ${RECLAIMED} GB reclaimed."
echo "   Next Xcode launch will be slower while indexes rebuild."

The Gotcha That Burned Me

The 'old' Preset Is What You Actually Want

What This Doesn't Touch

Run It Quarterly