Where Are macOS Aerial Screensaver Videos Stored?
Where macOS keeps downloaded Aerial screensaver videos, and how to safely reclaim gigabytes of disk space.
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macOS downloads Aerial videos on demand once the screensaver runs. The files land in a system wide folder managed by the idle assets daemon, not in any home directory. Entries manifest and asset database sit beside the videos.
That root Library path surprises everyone who checks their own Library first. Each clip is a large 4K file, so full shuffle collections grow into tens of gigabytes fast. Map the active clip through the video extension process before deleting blindly. Check folder size before deleting, since collections span gigabytes.
Where macOS Aerial Screensavers stores this, by platform
/Library/Application Support/com.apple.idleassetsd/Customer/4KSDR240FPS
System wide download root for 4K clips with UUID filenames. Needs admin rights to prune. Manifest and asset database sit beside the videos. Redownloads when still selected.
Frequently asked questions
How do I safely delete Aerial videos to free space?
Switch to a single still wallpaper and a non Aerial screensaver first, then delete the video files from the Customer folder. The system redownloads whatever the current selection needs, so deleting while shuffle all is active just refills the disk. Expect tens of gigabytes back.
Why is there no idleassetsd folder in my home Library?
The tilde path points at your home folder, but Apple stores Aerials system wide at the root Library instead. Paste the root path from this post into Go to Folder. Deleting there needs admin rights, unlike home folder caches.
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