DiskPrune · Guides
Docker.raw is huge on Mac — and DiskPrune will not delete it
Docker Desktop stores a sparse APFS disk image. DiskPrune marks Docker.raw as protected. Compact it with Docker, not with a cleaner.
Why Finder lies about the size
Docker Desktop on Mac keeps a virtual disk, often named Docker.raw (or a .img in ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker). It is a sparse image. Logical size can read as 64 GB while size on disk is smaller — or the reverse after layers pile up. Either way, a generic “delete large files” pass is the wrong tool.
Protected on purpose
DiskPrune’s Docker probe can see the image. It cannot select it. There is no checkbox. Cleanup plans reject it. That is not a missing feature. Deleting Docker.raw from a storage app is how images, volumes, and a working Docker install disappear.
How to actually shrink it
Use Docker for the unused layers: docker system prune (and docker builder prune if you use BuildKit). In Docker Desktop, Troubleshoot includes a disk-image / clean path. After unused layers are gone, Docker can compact the image. Then DiskPrune’s next scan will show a smaller Developer / other contribution — it will still not offer to trash the image.
If you do not use Docker, uninstall Docker Desktop from Docker’s own uninstaller, not by trashing a random raw file.
Scan is free. Cleanup is $12 lifetime with code FOUNDING — $19 after the first 100.
DiskPrune moves only what you approve to Trash. It does not empty Trash, delete snapshots, or delete Docker.raw.