Mac Keeps A Record Of Everything Youve Ever Downloaded You Can Disable It

By admin ·

Most Apple users don’t know that the Mac keeps a record of every file that you’ve ever downloaded. Here’s how to view the record, delete it, and disable the feature entirely. Note: files downloaded when using Google Chrome’s Incognito Mode are not added to this list.

1

Open Terminal

Navigate to Applications > Utilities > Terminal.

2

To output the list for viewing

Paste the below command into Terminal and press Enter.

sqlite3 ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.QuarantineEventsV* 'select LSQuarantineDataURLString from LSQuarantineEvent' > ~/Downloads/downloadhistory.txt

This places a text file called downloadhistory.txt in your Downloads folder. Open it to view its contents.

3

Clear the list

Paste the below command into Terminal and press Enter.

sqlite3 ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.QuarantineEventsV* 'delete from LSQuarantineEvent'
4

Disable the tracking function entirely

To prevent your Mac from tracking your downloads in the future, paste the below command into Terminal and press Enter.

defaults write com.apple.LaunchServices LSQuarantine -bool NO