What is dirhelper?

dirhelper (shown as bsd.dirhelper) is a housekeeping process that runs in the background.

What is dirhelper?

dirhelper cleans up temporary folders on your Mac. It removes old temporary files that apps and the system create during normal use. Without this cleanup, /tmp and per-user temporary folders would fill up with stale files.

What does it clean?

dirhelper manages:

• /tmp, the system temporary folder
• Per-user temporary folders ($TMPDIR)
• Temporary files left behind by apps that crashed or closed badly
• Old temporary files past their keep-by date

When does it run?

dirhelper runs at set times (usually at boot and on a schedule) to clear out files that are no longer needed. It checks how old each file is and removes those that are old enough.

Does it delete important files?

No. It only removes files in designated temporary folders. Your documents, app data, and other files are safe. Apps are meant to clean up their own temporary files, but dirhelper catches what they miss.

Should you worry?

No. It is a standard Unix housekeeping process that stops temporary files from wasting disc space.

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