Your Mac keeps a list of everything you've downloaded

The download log

When a browser, Mail, Messages or another app saves a file from the internet, macOS adds an entry to a small database: the date, the app, and usually the web address. It's there so macOS can check new downloads before they open. It's rarely cleared, so it often goes back years.

It lives at ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.QuarantineEventsV2.

See it yourself

Open Terminal and run:

sqlite3 ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.QuarantineEventsV2 "select LSQuarantineDataURLString from LSQuarantineEvent"

Clear it yourself

sqlite3 ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.QuarantineEventsV2 "delete from LSQuarantineEvent"

This removes the entries and leaves the database in place, so macOS carries on using it. Your downloaded files aren't touched.

The address on each file

Downloaded files can also carry the address they came from as part of the file itself. Select one in Finder and choose File > Get Info: it's listed as Where from. Because it travels with the file, clearing history and the download log leave it in place.

To remove it from one file in Terminal:

xattr -d com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhereFroms ~/Downloads/the-file.pdf

Leave the separate quarantine mark alone: that's the one macOS's safety checks rely on.

The easier way

TrailSift's free audit counts the entries in the download log, with their dates, and how many files carry a Where from address. TrailSift Pro clears both, all of them or just those from chosen sites or the last hour, day or week, after showing you exactly what will go. The download log is backed up for a week first.

Updated 13 October 2026. More guides: all TrailSift guides.