What Is ~/Library/Application Scripts on Mac?
Your user folderUpdated
- Full path
~/Library/Application Scripts
- Scope
- Your user folderInside your home folder — one copy per user account.
- Freshist & this folder
- Freshist checks this folder when uninstalling an app. When you uninstall an app, Freshist looks here for items that belong to it. Matches on the app's bundle ID can be pre-selected; name-only guesses are labeled “not sure” and never pre-selected. Removed items go to the Trash, so you can undo.
From Freshist's own cleaning rules — the same catalog the app uses.
What this folder is for
When a Mac app runs inside the App Sandbox, it normally can't launch arbitrary scripts. Apple carved out one exception: the app may run scripts that you placed in its own folder under ~/Library/Application Scripts. Developers reach that folder through FileManager's applicationScriptsDirectory and run its contents with NSUserScriptTask and its subclasses for AppleScript, Automator and Unix scripts.
Apple's documentation is explicit about the direction of trust: a sandboxed application may read from this folder but not write to it. Because the user put the script there, macOS treats it as intentional and runs it outside the app's sandbox. That is how Mail rules can call an AppleScript, or how an automation-friendly app offers a "Run script" action.
What you'll find inside
On a typical Mac the folder fills up with names in three styles:
| Folder name looks like | Usually belongs to |
|---|---|
com.developer.AppName | A sandboxed app or one of its extensions, by bundle ID |
ABCDE12345.com.developer.shared | An app group (Team ID prefix) shared by several apps |
1A2B3C4D-5E6F-… (UUID) | An extension or system component macOS registered |
Size is the surprising part. One test Mac had 959 subfolders that together used effectively zero bytes, and none of them contained a file. Each folder exists so it's ready if you ever add a script.
Why leftovers pile up
macOS creates the folder the first time a sandboxed app or extension is registered. Dragging the app to the Trash doesn't remove it, so the list only grows over the years. That's untidy but not costly.
Inspecting it without changing anything
These commands only read:
du -sh ~/Library/Application\ Scripts
find ~/Library/Application\ Scripts -type f | head
The first shows total size; the second lists any actual script files. If find prints nothing, every folder is empty.
Removing leftovers by hand
- Confirm the app is uninstalled, or that you don't rely on any script you added for it.
- In Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder… and enter
~/Library/Application Scripts. - Move only folders whose bundle ID clearly matches the removed app to the Trash.
Leave UUID-named folders alone unless you can tell what they belong to. Folders for com.apple.* components belong to macOS. If you wrote a Mail rule script or an automation, check that it isn't inside the folder you're about to remove; keep a copy elsewhere first.
When uninstalling an app
This folder matters less for disk space than for completeness. Its entries sit alongside the app's sandbox data in ~/Library/Containers and any shared data in ~/Library/Group Containers, which hold far more. For the full picture of what an app leaves behind, see how to uninstall apps on Mac completely.
Sources
- NSUserScriptTask, Apple Developer Documentation
- NSUserAppleScriptTask, Apple Developer Documentation
- FileManager.SearchPathDirectory.applicationScriptsDirectory, Apple Developer Documentation
- Implementing Script Attachment in a Sandboxed App, Apple Developer Forums
Frequently asked questions
Why are there hundreds of folders with long random names in Application Scripts?
Folders named like 1A2B3C4D-… usually belong to app extensions or system components that macOS created a script folder for. Folders that start with a 10-character Team ID belong to app groups shared by several apps from the same developer.
Can a sandboxed app put a script in this folder on its own?
No. Apple's documentation says a sandboxed app may read from its Application Scripts folder but not write to it. Scripts get there because you, or an installer you ran, placed them there.
Will clearing Application Scripts free up space?
Rarely. The folders are typically empty, so a list of several hundred can still total a few kilobytes. Clean it for tidiness after an uninstall, not to reclaim storage.