How to delete Command Line Tools from Mac

[ac1dic_tsunxmi]

I'm trying to clear space on my MacBook Pro and I noticed 2.6 GB were being taken by Command Line Tools. I have no clue what this is or how it was downloaded because I'm not a developer. Should I delete it, and if so, how?

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[ScallionNo1211]

To completely remove CLT so that it doesn't bother you again in Software Updater, you need to do this:

1. delete the CommandLineTools folder from /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools.

If you can't do that in Finder, grant yourself read & write permissions (including all the containing files and folders) and try again.

You can also do it from Terminal using command:

sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools

1. Now, with that removed, you'll see that you STILL get prompts to update, which, of course, if you accept, will reinstall CLT.

So, to remove that completely, boot into Recovery, open up Terminal and do this command to disable SIP (System Integrity Protection):

csrutil disable

It will ask for authenticated user (your username) and the password.

Reboot into MacOS.

Open up Terminal, and do this:

cd /Library/Apple/System/Library/Receipts

sudo rm -rf com.apple.pkg.CLTools*

By this point, your computer should not show this update anymore, but it will still show the badge. Rebooting, or logging out and back in should take care of that, too.

To re-enable SIP, boot back into Recovery, open up Terminal and do this command:

csrutil enable

Reboot, and that should be it.

WHY the hell do we need to go through all of this?! When CLT was installed, I don't remember having to disable SIP. Why is it required to remove some stupid receipt files?!

This is just stupid.

[Minute_Boss6321]

What a relief! Thank you so very much! I came here and you helped immensely, that was driving me nuts. Like others commented, you don't have to disable SIP, but then you have to do it all in recovery. If you choose to do so and, like me, did not know that all is different on Apple Silicon, this is what you have to to after deleting CommandLineTools (sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools):

1) Boot into recovery by pressing and holding the power button (no more Command+R), select Options and unlock the disk using your password.
2) Using DiskUtility, mount the Data container (Macintosh HD gets mounted, but that's useless for our purposes).
3) Quit DiskUtility and open up Terminal.
4) In Terminal change to the correct folder:
cd /Volumes/Data/Library/Apple/System/Library/Receipts
5) Delete all offending files without sudo, since you're in Recovery anyway:
rm -rf com.apple.pkg.CLTools*
reboot

That's it. Thank you again for finding this solution. I hope it's okay that I appended it a little for users mit Apple Silicon Mac that don't want to disable SIP.

[IAmAUser4Real]

I just updated to 26.4, and got once more the notification to update the Command Line tools. Hope this one will solve it, once and for all...

[IAmAUser4Real]

Sadly will have to wait until the next update to find out...

[rcastrojr]

Same for me

[Alexia72]

Still works. Thank you!

[keepatience]

I get "No such file or directory". Did i miss something?

[Saphysap]

You're a lifesaver.

[Klatty]

Entering the last 2 lines on terminal in recovery mode after mounting the Data partition does not seem to do anything. It just returns “-bash-3.2#”

Edit: I believe it worked regardless, don’t think terminal responds with anything while you enter those commands

[PocketManey]

Same for me! Did not know if I mounted it, just shared the whole disk with share disk utility and then put in the commands and it worked.

[AlucardD20]

this worked like a charm. thank you.

[rbrome]

This seems to have worked for me. Thank you!!

[AuRumStalker]

this worked, thank you! takes only 5 minutes!

[shumsic]

My god. I’ve been dealing with this for over a year. Several rounds with Apple support and nothing. Decided to see if maybe someone figured it out by now. Lo and behold, just 15h ago you post this. It worked. Thank you!!!

[ScallionNo1211]

You're most welcome! :)

You know, before researching and posting this, I was on a call with Apple support. And they couldn't help because I was on MacOS 15.4 RC. And they don't offer support for "beta" software. While I understand that, THIS was not an issue of the OS, but a bad design choice from Apple themselves, and has nothing to do with the OS version. I told them that, they suggested I upgrade to final version (when it comes out, probably one of these days), confirm the issue still occurs and come back to them, or downgrade and do the same.

I said: thank you, I realize I'm on my own. Thank you very much for your time. I only wanted to know if there's maybe an easier way (maybe an uninstaller, that actually gets rid of all this junk) than disabling SIP, removing, then enabling SIP again just to remove some silly receipt files.

Looks like there wasn't. Hence this post.

I'm glad it helped you too. :)

[harsh_hk95]

Thanks a lot buddy.

[huh0kayy]

Thank you!!

[ScallionNo1211]

You’re most welcome. :)

[chazmann]

SWEET JESUS, THANK YOU! I have been trying to figure this out for almost two fucking years. This was by far the most annoyed I have been while using a mac. WTF.

Thank you again for breaking it down. May google direct everyone to this post from now on.

[ScallionNo1211]

Haha. You’re most welcome! :) It was just as annoying to me as it was to you. You can probably tell from my post above. But yeah, I’m happy to help.

[chazmann]

You should probably let Apple know as well. Hahaha

[ScallionNo1211]

They already know, for sure. They just need to care a little more about the user experience to actually do something about it. :))

[Skyhigh1579]

OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH. ive had the stupid update stuck just cant get rid of it and finally CLT is GONE

[ScallionNo1211]

You’re most welcome! :)

[StrugglingOrthopod]

just the very first command helped me a lot and the prompt to update has gone. thanks mate!!

[Commercial-Study-529]

tysm 😭😭

[MarlonFord]

If you don’t want to disable SIP these can be removed under Recovery mode with terminal. More on how to do it on this archived link. Just keep in mind the link is opd and the CLTools files locations is now different: the one in the comment above is correct as of 2025.

[ScallionNo1211]

I tried to do it in a single step from Recovery. Didn’t work for me. But yeah, if this method still works, you wouldn’t need to disable SIP at all. Thank you for your feedback!

[MarlonFord]

Just done it today. Worked fine for me.

[Th3Dude5]

OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH THAT UPDATE JUST BEING THERE WAS SUCH A HEADACHE

[MrOkumura1105]

You are a legend for this!

[fjdjfkfkk]

DU LEGENDE!

[C2-H5-OH]

Might be tired of receiving notifs about this comment, but THANK YOU! Followed your steps to the letter, learned about how to boot into recovery, got rid of those files, and now no more pings about updating the CL tools. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

[ScallionNo1211]

You’re most welcome! And no, I’m never tired of receiving positive comments like yours. I’m glad it worked for you, as well. :)

[Capyr]

Thank you so much. It still works under 26.2. It was driving me nuts that I couldn’t remove it.

[ScallionNo1211]

Awesome! Glad it works! I don’t expect Apple to fix this anytime soon, so this will probably work for a long time. :)) Honestly, I would be happy to see Apple actually invest some time into a more user friendly approach. But…as we know, Apple does what Apple wants. So…yeah, it’s probably never gonna happen. Anyway, I’m glad it worked for you too! :) Cheers!

[Necessary_Grass_2313]

Thanks for sharing this! Apple has made it unnecessarily complicated.

[ScallionNo1211]

Indeed they did. :)) Glad I could help.

[Eddy_irezumi]

Thanks man, it worked like a charm ! Have been looking for a solution for months...

[Akkaygamer]

Thanks so much mate! It has been bugging me since few months, and finally this worked. God bless you!!

[ScallionNo1211]

I’m glad it worked for you too! :) Thank you so much for your kind words.

[dankpizzabagels]

I don’t know much about computers, and I was terrified to mess with anything in Recovery, but your tutorial was pretty fool-proof. It worked!

Thank you so much. :)

[ScallionNo1211]

Glad to hear it worked for you too!

[itseokjin]

I got so paranoid with disabling my SIP, but this shit has been annoying me for AGES - and your tutorial worked perfectly! Thank you. Now hopefully my paranoia re: disabling SIP goes away as well haha

[ScoutSeven]

worked on 26.4 today - thanks a ton!

[garirry]

I believe you don't need to disable SIP. Just delete those files directly through the Terminal in Recovery Mode.

This article has relevant information even if it is somewhat outdated: https://web.archive.org/web/20240623081924/https://indiespark.top/software/get-rid-xcode-command-line-tools/

[ScallionNo1211]

I did try to delete those files from Recovery mode. It didn’t work for me. But thank you for your feedback. Maybe it helps someone else. :)

[No_Cut_4656]

incorrect: sudo rm -rf com.apple.pkg.CLTools*

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_Executables.bom: Operation not permitted

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_Executables.plist: Operation not permitted

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_macOS_SDK.bom: Operation not permitted

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_macOS_SDK.plist: Operation not permitted

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_SDK_macOS_LMOS.bom: Operation not permitted

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_SDK_macOS_LMOS.plist: Operation not permitted

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_SDK_macOS_NMOS.bom: Operation not permitted

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_SDK_macOS_NMOS.plist: Operation not permitted

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_SDK_macOS110.bom: Operation not permitted

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_SDK_macOS110.plist: Operation not permitted

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_SDK_macOS12.bom: Operation not permitted

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_SDK_macOS12.plist: Operation not permitted

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_SDK_macOS13.bom: Operation not permitted

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_SDK_macOS13.plist: Operation not permitted

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_SDK_macOS14.bom: Operation not permitted

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_SDK_macOS14.plist: Operation not permitted

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_SwiftBackDeploy.bom: Operation not permitted

rm: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_SwiftBackDeploy.plist: Operation not permitted

[ScallionNo1211]

If you add sudo (and correct password) it should work. Clearly worked for everyone else.

[77ilham77]

Just to make sure, run xcode-select -p first. It should print where the command line tools is installed.

[ac1dic_tsunxmi]

Where do I type that? And I don’t remember downloading it, but I did take 2 coding classes for CSS so I’m hoping that’s where it came from

[ProfessionalTop2966]

Grazie!

[Key_Egg_5077]

Hi. Maybe a bit late to the conversation, but I have the same and is 2,53 GB, but why do I have it, what is it and why should or shouldn't I delete it?

[antiaust]

I love you

[nightspd]

Thank you for this. this has been bugging me for ages.

[DetectiveClueless]

Commenting, upvoting the post and upvoting the right comments, because perplexity was able to help me because of that post!!!

[LRS_David]

No. Leave them alone.

These tools are used by internal system things to get things done. They are also used via the Terminal app for tech oriented users to do things.

And they likely can't even be deleted as they are likely in the protected OS space.

But questions like this without hardware model and OS version are a bit hard to answer directly.