Getting rid of library files

steve666steve666
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
I was rooting around my system and located a folder called 'printers' in the 'library' folder on the hard drive.

There I found folders named 'canon', 'epson', 'lexmark' and 'hp'.

I assume these are drivers for all the printers, but i noticed that these folders are quite large. The canon and lexmark folders are over 100mb each, and the epson folder is 227 mb. All together thats over 400mb, not an insignificant amount on a 9Gb hard drive, half of which is filled.

Is it OK to safely remove these since I am using a HP printer? If I have to buy a new one eventually it will most likely be a HP since I am not fond of the other brands(If I were to pick one I would pick Canon second to HP)



Will removing these folders affect an OS update since its possible that new drivers will want to be installed but will have no folder to go to? Would it be safer to keep the actual folders but just empty the contents of each into the trash?



Also, in the Application Support Folder I see a folder called 'Lexmark Z53'. Why there is a folder named for a particular printer that I dont own is odd. Its only 5Mb large but can I get rid of this safely also?

Thanks



P.S. Are there any other useless folders that take up a lot of space that I can safely remove?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by steve666

    I was rooting around my system and located a folder called 'printers' in the 'library' folder on the hard drive.

    There I found folders named 'canon', 'epson', 'lexmark' and 'hp'.

    I assume these are drivers for all the printers, but i noticed that these folders are quite large. The canon and lexmark folders are over 100mb each, and the epson folder is 227 mb. All together thats over 400mb, not an insignificant amount on a 9Gb hard drive, half of which is filled.

    Is it OK to safely remove these since I am using a HP printer? If I have to buy a new one eventually it will most likely be a HP since I am not fond of the other brands(If I were to pick one I would pick Canon second to HP)



    Will removing these folders affect an OS update since its possible that new drivers will want to be installed but will have no folder to go to? Would it be safer to keep the actual folders but just empty the contents of each into the trash?



    Also, in the Application Support Folder I see a folder called 'Lexmark Z53'. Why there is a folder named for a particular printer that I dont own is odd. Its only 5Mb large but can I get rid of this safely also?

    Thanks



    P.S. Are there any other useless folders that take up a lot of space that I can safely remove?



    You will hurt nothing by removing drivers for printers that you don't intend to ever use.
  • Reply 2 of 12
    ibook911ibook911 Posts: 607member
    If I ever needed these drivers, could I reinstall them with software that comes with the printer? No problem with that, right?
  • Reply 3 of 12
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ibook911

    If I ever needed these drivers, could I reinstall them with software that comes with the printer? No problem with that, right?



    Maybe so, maybe not. You should use the most recent driver. That may not be the one that came with your printer. If I want to replace a driver, I would check the manufacturer's website first.
  • Reply 4 of 12
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    Would it be better to trash the folder itself, or keep the folder but just throw out its contents?
  • Reply 5 of 12
    chychchych Posts: 860member
    You can nuke them safely, doesn't matter how you delete it.
  • Reply 6 of 12
    jabohnjabohn Posts: 588member
    Suggestion: if you haven't already, use the program Delocalizer (check versiontracker.com) to delete unneeded system language packs (installed in OS X by default). This can save you tons of space on your hard drive.
  • Reply 7 of 12
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    Thanks, Im pretty sure I deleted the language files already.

    I think I am going to just delete the contents of each printer driver folder and keep the folder itself intact. Dont know why but I would feel better doing it this way.
  • Reply 8 of 12
    ikaika Posts: 52member
    When you delete a language, do you lose the ability just to type it, or to view it as well?
  • Reply 9 of 12
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Neither.



    Those language packs are actually for the *UI* for various applications, so your menu items, etc, show up in French, or in Italian, or Korean. It has nothing to do with your available fonts for viewing or writing those languages.
  • Reply 10 of 12
    ikaika Posts: 52member
    nice...
  • Reply 11 of 12
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Yes, it is.
  • Reply 12 of 12
    jasocojasoco Posts: 75member
    Something to keep in mind. Next time you install OS X, customize the installization and turn off all the printers you don't have. (I turn them all off as I don't have a printer, nor do I like them. Paper sucks! Vive la Digital Age!)



    Saves the installation time as well. (Those drivers sometimes take a long time to install. So just remove them before you start.)



    BTW, if you only speak English as well and don't need the Asian fonts, you can save a lot of space at install time by turning them off as well. That's a few hundred saved right there. Half a gig sometimes.



    Along with DeLocalizer, I can get a fresh installation to a little under 1.5 GB including default Apps.
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