# Is it safe to delete the Hugging Face xet cache folder?

- URL: https://moreroom.app/folders/ai-huggingface-xet
- Item: Hugging Face download cache (Xet)
- Location: `~/.cache/huggingface/xet`
- Verdict: Safe to remove — Rebuilt or re-downloaded automatically when needed.
- Comes back on its own: yes
- Typical size: 100 MB–20 GB
- Source: MoreRoom rules catalogue (2026-10-17), by Yando Pte. Ltd.

## What is it?

`hf_xet`, the transfer layer behind recent Hugging Face downloads and uploads, keeps working data in `~/.cache/huggingface/xet`: shard data used to avoid re-uploading content and staging data for resuming interrupted uploads (older versions also kept a chunk cache for downloads). It does not hold your downloaded models, which stay in `~/.cache/huggingface/hub`.

## What happens if you delete it?

The folder is recreated as needed. Transfers may be slightly slower at first, and an interrupted upload may have to restart from the beginning.

## How to remove it properly

Hugging Face documents removing the whole folder to reclaim its space. Move it to the Trash in Finder (Go › Go to Folder… `~/.cache/huggingface/xet`) when no download or upload is running.