How To Delete The Hidden Download Log On Your Mac OS X Computer.
Did you know that every time you download something to your Mac, it writes it to a handy log file? Yes thanks for that Apple. I can hear a crowd of illegal downloads screaming in panic as they desperately clean their hard drives.
The good news is that you don’t need to clean up your hard drive. You just need to erase the log file and remember to keep doing it. The next step is to stop illegal downloads, but it’s up to you.
So where is this nefarious file?
You are probably now asking yourself where this file is located and why Apple stores it at all. It is probably generated for troubleshooting purposes if you download something that you shouldn’t have (just a guess), but there is no way to disable the registration feature. You are stuck with this.
Instead, all you can do is delete the log file and make a mental note to delete it about once a week.
To view the file, open a terminal window and type:
sqlite3 ~ / Library / Preferences / com.apple.LaunchServices.QuarantineEventsV * ‘select LSQuarantineDataURLString from LSQuarantineEvent’
This will give you your download log in all its glory since the last time you wiped it out. If you’ve never viewed it before, it will return the day you received your computer.
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In my case, the magazine returned for almost a year.
In a way, it can be interesting to take a look back and see what you downloaded last year. But if an inquisitive spouse / flatmate / record company discovers that you are not downloading innocent Bible passages, it can put you in a quandary.
Luckily, you can destroy the list right away, and it only includes one command. Enter:
sqlite3 ~ / Library / Preferences / com.apple.LaunchServices.QuarantineEventsV * ‘remove from LSQuarantineEvent’
This removes the lot. You can verify that everything went by by running the first command again and the list should be empty.
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