Where apps hide your files

Finding Notion's cache on your Mac

Updated 2026-10-28 · 5 min read

Notion for Mac is an Electron app, so its local cache is a mix of a SQLite file and browser-style cache folders inside Application Support. You can find it, measure it and clear the safe parts.

Where the cache is

~/Library/Application Support/Notion

This folder holds the desktop app's local data, and Notion's own reset instructions name it. A developer write-up names a SQLite file called notion.db inside it, and Notion's engineering blog says the app keeps records in SQLite on the device. Open the folder with Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G), or from Terminal:

open ~/Library/Application\ Support/Notion

If the folder is missing, the app has not been run under your user account. Check what exists:

ls ~/Library/Application\ Support | grep -i notion
ls ~/Library/Caches | grep -i notion

Notion was not installed on the Mac used for this guide, so the layout below comes from the published write-ups and from how Electron apps work. Names may shift between app versions.

What you will see inside

Item	What it is
notion.db	The SQLite cache of pages and records you have opened. It is a database, so do not open it in a text editor.
Cache, Code Cache, GPUCache	Chromium-style caches for web content and compiled code. These are rebuilt.
Local Storage, IndexedDB, Session Storage	Browser storage used by the app's web layer.
Cookies (or Network/Cookies)	Your sign-in state for the app.

A few things live outside Application Support. The app's bundle ID is notion.id, so look for ~/Library/Caches/notion.id, the settings file ~/Library/Preferences/notion.id.plist, and logs in ~/Library/Logs/Notion. Use the ls commands above to confirm on your Mac.

What the cache means for offline use

Notion says its older SQLite cache was best-effort, with no promise about which records stayed or for how long, so it built Offline Mode on top of that store. To keep a page usable offline, open its ••• menu and turn on Available offline. Settings > Offline lists the pages downloaded by you (or automatically, on Business and Enterprise plans) and lets you remove them. Edits made offline save locally and sync when you reconnect.

So treat notion.db as a working copy that Notion can download again, not as a backup. Your notes live in your Notion workspace online, and nothing in this folder is a file you can open to read your pages.

Measuring it

du -sh ~/Library/Application\ Support/Notion
du -sh ~/Library/Application\ Support/Notion/*

The second command lists each item's size so you can see whether the database or the Chromium caches are the heavy part. Sizes vary with the workspace and with how many pages are kept for offline use.

Clearing it safely

Make sure everything has synced first: edits made without a connection exist only in the local data until the app reconnects. Open Notion with internet access and give it a moment.

Notion's own reset steps, from its help page, go in this order:

1. View > Force reload.
2. If that does not help, Help > Troubleshooting > Reset & Erase All Local Data. This signs you out of every Notion account and removes pages downloaded for offline use, so have your login ready.
3. As a last resort, quit Notion, delete the Notion folder in ~/Library/Application Support, and download the app again.

A lighter, unofficial option for space: quit Notion with ⌘Q and move only the Cache, Code Cache and GPUCache folders to the Trash. Electron apps rebuild these, and your sign-in and offline pages stay. Use the Trash rather than rm, so you can put things back if the app behaves oddly.

Different builds

The desktop app, Notion Calendar and Notion Mail are separate apps with their own folders, so a search for "notion" can return several. The web version in Safari or Chrome keeps its cache in the browser, not here. Notion's Web Clipper extension is stored inside the browser too.

Why the folder keeps growing

The local data grows as you read. Each workspace you open, each page with images and each database view adds records to the local copy, and Chromium's caches add web content on top. Nothing prunes it on a schedule that Notion documents, so a heavy user can see the folder climb over months. If you are short of space, du -sh on the subfolders tells you whether trimming Cache is worth the bother or whether the database is the big one. If it is the database, remove pages you no longer need from Settings > Offline, or leave it alone, because it speeds up opening pages you use often.

If Notion will not open after clearing

Quit the app fully (check the Dock for a dot, or Activity Monitor), reopen it, and sign in again if asked. If it still fails, move the whole Notion folder to the Desktop instead of deleting it, launch the app to let it create a fresh one, and keep the old one until you are sure nothing was needed.

Why search misses it

Spotlight and Finder searches leave ~/Library results out, and the cache files carry machine-made names rather than anything about your pages.

Finding it next time

Everywhere indexes file names inside ~/Library/Application Support and ~/Library/Caches, so typing notion.db finds the database straight away, and typing Notion lists every folder with that name. Press ⌘↵ to reveal one in Finder. It matches file names, not page titles, so it cannot find a Notion page for you.

Common questions

Where is the Notion cache on Mac?

In ~/Library/Application Support/Notion, where the app keeps a SQLite file named notion.db plus Chromium-style cache folders. Some Electron data can also sit in ~/Library/Caches.

Can I delete the Notion cache on Mac?

Yes. Notion's supported route is Help > Troubleshooting > Reset & Erase All Local Data, which signs you out. For a lighter clear, let edits sync, quit Notion and trash only the Cache, Code Cache and GPUCache folders.

Are my Notion pages stored as files on my Mac?

No. Your pages live in your Notion workspace online. The local folder holds a cache and browser-style data, which you cannot open as documents.

Does clearing the Notion cache delete my notes?

No, your notes are stored online. Let offline edits sync first, since unsynced changes could be lost, and expect to mark pages Available offline again after a full reset.