Set up content caching on Mac
On your Mac, you can turn content caching on or off, choose a volume for the content cache, set the cache size, share cached content with iOS or iPadOS devices, or delete all cached content.
To learn more about how content caching works, and best practices, see Change content caching preferences.
For more information about the kinds of files you can use with content caching, see the Apple Support article Content types supported by content caching in macOS.
If you provide content caching for clients with custom public IP addresses, you need to add or edit a DNS TXT record for your content cache. See Use multiple content caches for Apple devices in the Apple Platform Deployment guide.
Turn on content caching
On your Mac, choose Apple menu
, then select Content Caching.In the service list on the left, select the Content Caching checkbox, then wait for the content caching indicator to turn green.
Click the Cache pop-up menu, then choose the content you want cached.
All Content: Store software updates and apps downloaded from Apple, and iCloud content on this Mac.
Only Shared Content: Store only software updates and apps downloaded from Apple on this Mac.
Only iCloud Content: Store only iCloud content, such as photos and documents, on this Mac.
Restart the client devices that use the content cache.
Restarting the client devices ensures that they discover the content cache immediately. If the client devices aren’t restarted, it takes some time before they discover the content cache.
Turn off content caching
On your Mac, choose Apple menu
In the service list on the left, deselect the Content Caching checkbox.
Select a volume for caching
By default, the cached content is stored on the startup volume. If you have additional volumes available on your Mac, you can choose where to store the cached content.
On your Mac, choose Apple menu
Click Options.
Click the Edit button next to Cache Location.
Select a storage volume, then click Move.
Content caching stops temporarily while the existing cache is moved to the new location.
Set the cache size
You can choose the amount of storage your Mac uses for cached content.
On your Mac, choose Apple menu
Click Options.
Use the slider to set the cache size, or enter a value in the text field and use the pop-up menu to choose the units (MB, GB, TB, or PB).
Turn iCloud content caching on or off
iCloud content caching stores the files users have in iCloud, such as Pages or Numbers documents.
All cached iCloud content is received, stored, and transmitted encrypted, and the content cache doesn’t have the ability to decrypt it.
On your Mac, choose Apple menu
Do one of the following:
Turn on iCloud content caching: Click the Cache pop-up menu, then choose All Content or Only iCloud Content.
Turn off iCloud content caching: Click the Cache pop-up menu, then choose Only Shared Content.
If you turn off iCloud content caching, all cached iCloud data is immediately removed from the content cache.
If you turn iCloud content caching on or off, you might want to restart the client devices. Client devices automatically discover changes, but it takes some time. However, if you restart the client devices, they discover the changes immediately.
Share cached content with iOS devices
You can share the internet connection and cached content of your Mac with iOS devices that are connected using USB. This feature is also called tethered caching.
With tethered caching:
iOS devices can be connected and disconnected at any time, as long as the Mac is awake.
iOS devices connected to a Mac using USB have an internet connection even when their Wi-Fi and cellular connections are disabled.
Tethered managed iOS devices automatically check in with their mobile device management (MDM) solution.
On your iOS device, go to Settings > Personal Hotspot, then turn off Personal Hotspot.
On your Mac, choose Apple menu
Select the internet Connection checkbox.
The first time you connect an iOS device to the Mac using USB, you need to tap Trust on the device.
Delete all cached content
On your Mac, choose Apple menu
Click Options.
Click Reset, then click Reset again to verify the request.