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Scratch Disk Full in Premiere Pro & After Effects on Mac: Safe Fix Guide

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The Dusty Team

Mac storage guides

calendar_today September 25, 2026
schedule 6 min read
bolt Quick Answer (How to Fix Scratch Disk Full on Mac)

To fix "Scratch disks are full" in Premiere Pro on Mac: Close the app, press Cmd + Shift + G in Finder, navigate to ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/, and delete the contents of Media Cache and Media Cache Files. Alternatively, redirect scratch disks to an external SSD via Premiere Pro > Settings > Scratch Disks.

format_list_bulleted Quick Navigation (Table of Contents)

1. Why Scratch Disks Fill Up So Fast 2. Clear Cache via Premiere & After Effects GUI 3. Purging Media Cache via Finder / Terminal 4. Relocate Scratch Disks to External SSD 5. How to Permanently Prevent Scratch Disk Bloat

Few errors cause more dread for video editors than launching Adobe Premiere Pro or After Effects only to be greeted by the dialog: "Scratch disks are full". The timeline freezes, exports abort halfway through, and Finder reports your 512GB Mac SSD has 0 bytes remaining.

The good news is that you don't need to delete your valuable source footage or reinstall Creative Cloud. Here is the step-by-step guide to recovering 50GB–150GB of Adobe disk space safely and learning how to free up space on Mac without losing essential files.

help 1. Why Do Scratch Disks Fill Up So Fast?

Every time you import footage (.MP4, .MOV, .R3D, ProRes) into Premiere Pro, the app creates three types of helper files in the background:

  • Conformed Audio Files (.cfa): Uncompressed 32-bit floating-point audio tracks generated for seamless scrubbing.
  • Peak Files (.pek): Graphical representations of waveforms displayed on your timeline.
  • Video Previews & After Effects Cache: Pre-rendered segments written to disk every time you press the Spacebar or play through complex motion graphics.

Even after a project is finished and archived, Adobe retains these helper files permanently in hidden user directories. A year of editing can accumulate over 100GB of orphaned cache files, which is one of the biggest hidden culprits behind mysterious System Data storage bloat on macOS.

settings 2. Clear Media Cache Directly in Premiere Pro & After Effects

If Premiere Pro can still open, you can trigger internal cache clearing directly:

  1. Open Premiere Pro.
  2. In the menu bar, navigate to Premiere Pro > Settings (Preferences) > Media Cache.
  3. Under Media Cache Management, click the Delete... button next to Remove Media Cache Files.
  4. Select "Delete all media cache files from the system" and click OK.

For Adobe After Effects:

Go to Edit > Purge > All Memory & Disk Cache. A prompt will display the exact gigabytes currently consumed by the After Effects cache (often 40GB+). Click OK to confirm.

folder_delete 3. Purging Media Cache via Finder or Terminal (When App Crashes)

If Premiere Pro refuses to launch because the disk is completely packed, you must manually delete the cache folders from Finder:

  1. Quit all Adobe applications completely (Cmd + Q).
  2. In Finder, press Cmd + Shift + G to open "Go to Folder".
  3. Enter the path: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/
  4. You will see two massive directories: Media Cache and Media Cache Files.
  5. Select all files inside both directories and move them to the Trash.
  6. Empty the Trash to reclaim your disk space.
# Or execute via macOS Terminal:
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/Common/Media\ Cache/*
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/Common/Media\ Cache\ Files/*
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/Adobe/After\ Effects/*

Prefer running pre-tested terminal cleanup scripts without risking accidental file deletion? Use our interactive macOS Cleanup Command Generator to tailor safe shell commands for your system.

swap_horiz 4. Relocate Scratch Disks to a High-Speed External SSD

If your Mac has a 256GB or 512GB internal SSD, editing 4K footage will inevitably trigger scratch disk errors again. The best practice used by professional studios is to redirect scratch locations to a dedicated NVMe Thunderbolt or USB-C drive:

  1. Connect an external SSD formatted as APFS.
  2. In Premiere Pro, open Project Settings > Scratch Disks.
  3. Change Captured Video, Video Previews, and Audio Previews from "Same as Project" to a dedicated folder on your external SSD.

Much like video creators relocating scratch disks, audio producers frequently need to delete or relocate GarageBand sound libraries to reclaim dozens of gigabytes from cramped primary drives.

Related Guides

Delete GarageBand Sound Library

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Fix Mac System Data Storage

Step-by-step methods to identify and clear mysterious system caches.

Reduce System Data on macOS Sequoia

Fix 100GB+ APFS snapshot bloat and purgeable storage on macOS 15.

How to Free Up Space on Mac

7 proven strategies to reclaim massive SSD storage on any Mac.

auto_awesome 5. Never Run Out of Space Again: The Dusty Approach

Generic cleaners often delete application preferences or break project links. Dusty is an AI-powered macOS cleaner built specifically for power users, developers, and creative professionals.

  • Identifies Adobe & Final Cut Bloat: Discovers orphaned render files and peak files without risking your raw project archives.
  • Gemini AI Reasoning: Explains exactly what each cache folder belongs to and whether it's safe to clear.
  • Trash-First Architecture: Moves items to the macOS Trash first, so you can reverse deletions instantly if needed.
  • Pay Once, Own Forever: Just $7.99 Lifetime (no recurring monthly or annual subscriptions).
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