Where apps hide your files
Fusion stores designs in Autodesk's cloud and keeps a local cache for speed and offline work. Here is where that cache sits on a Mac, what the folders inside mean, and how to clear it without losing unsaved work.
Autodesk's article on locally cached files explains the folders, and Autodesk forum posts, including Autodesk Support replies, give this Mac location:
~/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/Autodesk Fusion 360/Inside is one alphanumeric folder per account that has signed in on this Mac, and inside that a W.Login folder. Autodesk's article says F in W.Login holds the locally cached files and Q holds files waiting to be uploaded, which it calls the upload queue.
Autodesk's support pages blocked this guide's tools, so the path comes from search summaries and forum posts, several from 2018 and 2019. Fusion 360 has since been renamed Autodesk Fusion, and the folder name may differ in your version. Check what you have; both commands only read:
ls ~/Library/Application\ Support/Autodesk
du -sh ~/Library/Application\ Support/Autodesk/*Open it in Finder with Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G). ~/Library is hidden, so Go to Folder, or holding ⌥ in the Go menu, is the way in.
| Folder | What it is |
|---|---|
| alphanumeric folder | One per account that has signed in on this Mac |
W.Login/F | Locally cached copies of your cloud designs (.f3d archives) |
W.Login/Q | The upload queue: work saved locally but not yet uploaded |
Only the F and Q meanings come from Autodesk; anything else you see there is undocumented. To match a cached file to a design, Autodesk's article says to look at the start of the .f3d file name for the design's name, although forum users report that Mac file names do not always resemble it.
Files in Q are waiting to be uploaded, and if a save has not reached the cloud yet, they may be the only copy. Autodesk's offline help says work you save offline goes into a queue that is not subject to the cache time limit, and that an interrupted upload continues once you are back online. So open Fusion while online, let the Job Status indicator in the Application bar finish, and check in the Data Panel that your latest version is there before you clear anything.
Fusion caches designs you open, and you can cache more: in the Data Panel, right-click a design, folder or project and choose Add to Offline Cache (or Cache This Project). To see what is cached, click the Data Panel's settings icon and tick View Offline Cache; anything not cached shows greyed out. How long items stay cached is the Offline cache time period (days) setting, under your avatar, Preferences, General. Autodesk says offline mode lasts two weeks at a time before Fusion needs to reconnect to validate the licence.
Clearing the cache removes those offline copies, so you cannot open them without a connection until Fusion downloads them again.
Autodesk's guidance is to use the app. Its support article says the Clear Cache Data option appears only when Fusion is online, so go online first if it is missing. An Autodesk reseller's guide places it under the ? (Help) menu, in Support and Diagnostics. An Autodesk Support reply on the forum says it seems to clear only the account you are signed in as.
Autodesk's article on the Reset Fusion command in the Fusion Service Utility recommends it mainly when Fusion fails to start. The reset offers two checkboxes. Keep offline user cache keeps the locally cached data and design files, which Autodesk lists as local storage, the upload queue and recovery files, so leaving it unticked deletes unsent work along with the cache. Keep user credentials keeps your sign-in; unticked, it signs you out of Autodesk products. Autodesk also advises against running it during a service outage.
Before any reset, get online and let uploads finish.
If you must, quit Fusion fully first. An Autodesk Support reply on the forum, marked as the accepted solution, said deleting the cache folder of a former account should be fine. Move only that account's alphanumeric folder, never the whole Autodesk folder, which can hold other Autodesk products' data. Move it to the Trash rather than deleting it permanently, check that nothing in its Q folder was still unsent (ask the person if it is not your account), and confirm afterwards that your own projects open.
One forum user reported that the older Mac App Store build of Fusion kept the same structure inside its sandbox, under ~/Library/Containers/com.autodesk.mas.fusion360/. A direct download uses Application Support. If you cannot find the folder, this lists matching container names:
ls ~/Library/Containers | grep -i autodeskThe cache is not a backup. Autodesk's help says to open the design and choose File > Export, then pick a type: .f3d for a single design, or .f3z for one with external references, and a local folder. Autodesk's support site also has an article on making a local backup of Fusion data without exporting every file by hand. Copying an .f3d out of F is a last resort, and Autodesk's article says to copy it, not move it.
Spotlight and Finder searches leave out ~/Library, including Application Support. The account folders are named by ID, and the cached file names may not match what Fusion shows.
To see what is cached and for which account, type .f3d into Everywhere to list cached designs with their folders, or W.Login to find every account's cache at once. Application Support is not protected, so those are covered by a normal scan, while an App Store sandbox copy in ~/Library/Containers is indexed once Everywhere has Full Disk Access. It reads names only, not the designs.
Autodesk forum posts and Autodesk Support replies give ~/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/Autodesk Fusion 360/, with an alphanumeric account folder and a W.Login subfolder. Autodesk's article says F there holds cached designs and Q the upload queue.
Use Fusion's Clear Cache Data option, which Autodesk says only shows when Fusion is online. The Reset Fusion command in the Fusion Service Utility is the heavier fix, and unticking Keep offline user cache there also deletes the upload queue.
Only after Fusion has finished uploading and is quit, because the Q folder holds work waiting to upload, which may be the only copy. Clearing the cache also removes your offline copies until Fusion downloads them again.
Autodesk's article says F holds the locally cached files from your cloud designs, while Q holds files waiting to be uploaded, the upload queue.
Everywhere keeps track of every file on your Mac — including the folders Spotlight hides and drives you have unplugged. Free for a day, then $19 once.
Version 2.20.3 · macOS 13+ · 4.7 MB · notarised