Is it safe to delete ~/.npm/_cacache?

Rebuildable. Your tools make it again on their own. The cost is a slower next run.

What it is
Package files npm downloads and keeps so it doesn't have to fetch them again on your next install. npm's own documentation (npm help cache) describes this as a content-addressable cache of “http request data as well as other package-related data.”
Made by
npm
If you remove it
The next time you install a package that was cached here, npm downloads it from the registry again, that install is slower and needs an internet connection. Packages already installed into a project's node_modules folder are not touched.
How it comes back
Run npm install in any project that needs it, npm re-downloads what's missing and rebuilds the cache automatically, though a package version that has since been unpublished from the registry may not come back.npm install

The tool's own commands

  • npm cache verify“Verify the contents of the cache folder, garbage collecting any unneeded data, and verifying the integrity of the cache index and all cached data.”From docs.npmjs.com/cli/commands/npm-cache, read 3 Nov 2026.
  • npm cache clean --force“Delete a single entry or all entries out of the cache folder.” npm adds: “it should never be necessary to clear the cache for any reason other than reclaiming disk space, thus why clean now requires --force to run.”From docs.npmjs.com/cli/commands/npm-cache, read 3 Nov 2026.

The proof

Verified by
vendor documentation
Checked on
macOS 26.6.2, npm 10.9.3
Catalogue
Spaceific's rules.json 1.2.0, 2 Nov 2026. The whole file.
Measured
2.79 GB on the builder's Mac (6 Oct 2026)

Related

Get the Disk Cheat SheetEvery developer folder, its verdict, and each tool's own clean command, made for your tools.

Spaceific shows this rule for this folder in the app, checks it again at the moment you act, and moves only to the Trash, with Put Back. What Spaceific is.