BrowserOS consumes excessive disk space (20GB), far exceeding Chrome and other browsers

[IAliceBobI]

Problem Description

BrowserOS occupied approximately 20GB of space in ~/Library/Application Support/ on macOS, which is far more than other mainstream browsers (Chrome/Chromium), causing rapid disk space consumption.

After manual cleanup, it reduced to 1.8GB, but the root cause remains: BrowserOS continuously accumulates data without any automatic cleanup mechanism.

Environment

• OS: macOS (Darwin 25.2.0)
• BrowserOS Version: 142.0.7559.49
• Location: ~/Library/Application Support/BrowserOS

Space Usage Analysis

Application Support Comparison

• BrowserOS: 20GB → 1.8GB (after cleanup) - 18.2GB freed
• Chrome (Google): 7.8GB
• Doubao: 3.2GB
• VS Code: 938MB

BrowserOS usage is 2.5x more than Chrome before cleanup.

Detailed BrowserOS Directory Breakdown (Current: 1.8GB)

BrowserOS/                              1.8GB
├── Default/                            1.4GB
│   ├── Service Worker/                 670MB  ⚠️ LARGEST
│   │   └── CacheStorage/               (4,798 cache files)
│   ├── Extensions/                     631MB  ⚠️ SECOND LARGEST
│   │   ├── ses-sandbox.js              22MB
│   │   ├── background.js               29MB
│   │   └── sss-x64.dat                 21MB
│   ├── IndexedDB/                       67MB
│   │   └── datatool.vip blobs          15MB
│   └── Local Extension Settings/        54MB
├── extensions_crx_cache/               164MB  ⚠️ THIRD LARGEST
│   └── Large cache files               (up to 66MB each)
├── .browseros/                          83MB
│   └── versions/                        75MB (old versions)
└── Other caches                        ~200MB

Before/After Comparison

State	Size	Notes
Before cleanup	20GB	Accumulated over time
After cleanup	1.8GB	Manual deletion
Freed space	~18.2GB	User had to manually delete

Core Issues

1. No Automatic Cleanup Mechanism

• Service Worker cache accumulates indefinitely
• No cache size limits or expiration policies
• No automatic cleanup of old/unused data

2. Service Worker Cache is the Main Culprit

• 670MB of Service Worker cache
• 4,798 cache files stored indefinitely
• Contains offline data, images, JS from websites
• This is the primary reason for reaching 20GB

3. Far Exceeds Similar Products

• BrowserOS: 1.8GB (after cleanup) vs Chrome: 7.8GB total
• Chrome has default cache limits: 300MB-1GB
• BrowserOS has no limits, leading to unlimited growth

4. Difficult Manual Cleanup

• Deleting entire BrowserOS directory loses all login state
• No clear cleanup options in settings
• Users don't know which subdirectories are safe to delete
• Risk of data loss when attempting cleanup

Suggested Improvements

1. Add Automatic Cleanup Functionality

• Add "Clear Cache" option in settings
• Implement cache size limits (e.g., max 1GB like Chrome)
• Auto-expire old cache data
• Set maximum Service Worker cache size

2. Provide Manual Cleanup Tools

• Add "Storage Management" section in settings
• Show detailed storage usage breakdown
• Allow selective cleanup while preserving login state
• One-click cache/temp file cleanup
• Clear explanation of what each directory contains

3. Optimize Storage Strategy

• Implement cache size limits (Chrome default: 300MB-1GB)
• Periodic cleanup of expired data
• Compress old session data
• Provide data export functionality for backup before cleanup
• Service Worker cache quota enforcement

4. Add Storage Usage Monitoring

• Display current storage usage in settings
• Alert users when usage exceeds threshold
• Provide cleanup suggestions
• Show cache size trends over time

Expected Behavior

1. BrowserOS should have cache management similar to Chrome
2. Provide clear storage usage interface
3. Allow users to clear cache without losing login state
4. Implement automatic cleanup to prevent unlimited growth
5. Service Worker cache should have size limits and expiration

Actual Impact

• Rapid disk space consumption (20GB from single application)
• Degraded system performance
• Users forced to manually delete all app data, losing login state
• BrowserOS resource management needs significant improvement compared to other browsers

Root Cause Analysis

The Service Worker cache is the primary culprit:

• Accumulates website offline data indefinitely
• No size limits or expiration
• Contains 4,798+ cache files
• Can grow to 670MB+ (and was likely much larger before cleanup)
• This explains how BrowserOS reached 20GB

Reference: Chrome's Cache Management

Chrome's implementation:

• Default cache limit: ~300MB-1GB
• Automatic cleanup of expired data
• Settings path: Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data
• Service Worker quota enforcement
• User-configurable site data deletion

---

Related Issues

This issue is part of a pattern of storage management problems:

• Data aggressively deleted on MacOS #28 - Data aggressively deleted on MacOS (CLOSED) - Users experiencing aggressive data deletion, losing cookies and local data
• Upgrade makes my data lost. #83 - Upgrade makes my data lost (CLOSED) - Users losing all bookmarks and data after updates

These issues indicate BrowserOS has both problems:

• Issue A: Data deleted too aggressively without user consent (Data aggressively deleted on MacOS #28, Upgrade makes my data lost. #83)
• Issue B: Data accumulates indefinitely without cleanup (this issue BrowserOS consumes excessive disk space (20GB), far exceeding Chrome and other browsers #334)

Both stem from the same root cause: Lack of proper storage management and user control mechanisms.

[shadowfax92]

@IAliceBobI Oh wow thank you so much for detailed analysis! I'll look into this.

Just checked my machine, seems 2.6GB. will see what is causing this.

[I] ~ ❯ du -sh ~/Library/Application\ Support/BrowserOS/                                                                                                                                                                                  (base)
2.6G    /Users/shadowfax/Library/Application Support/BrowserOS/

[IAliceBobI]

Update after one day of monitoring:

After using BrowserOS for a full day, the disk usage remains at approximately 1.7GB and is not growing rapidly as initially reported.

Current observations:

• BrowserOS size: ~1.7GB (stable)
• No significant growth over 24 hours of usage
• The previous 20GB report may have been an AI analysis error or an isolated incident

At this point, I'm uncertain about the root cause of the original 20GB usage. It's possible that:

1. The AI analysis was incorrect
2. There was a specific incident or accumulation that has since been resolved
3. The issue was temporary

I'll continue monitoring BrowserOS storage usage and will reopen this issue if I observe:

• Rapid disk space growth
• Storage exceeding reasonable limits
• Consistent accumulation pattern

Thank you for investigating, @shadowfax92!

Closing for now, but will reopen if problems recur.

[IAliceBobI]

Closing this issue for now based on updated observations. The disk usage remains stable at ~1.7GB after one day of monitoring, with no rapid growth detected. Will reopen if the issue recurs.