What Is the .codeium Folder on Mac, and Is It Safe to Delete?

Yes, but read this firstDiskmack safety tier: Caution

~/.codeium

The .codeium folder in your home directory belongs to Codeium, the AI code completion assistant. Yes, you can delete it, but know what happens next: Codeium re-downloads its language server the next time you use the extension, and you will likely need to sign in again. If you use the Windsurf editor from the same company, some of its settings live inside this folder too, so check before you throw the whole thing out.

What it is

Codeium is an AI autocomplete tool that plugs into editors like VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Neovim, and Vim. The editor extension itself is small. The heavy lifting happens in a separate program called a language server, a native binary that the extension downloads to ~/.codeium the first time you use it. That binary runs in the background, talks to the editor, and caches data locally so completions stay fast.

The folder grows for a simple reason: each extension update can pull down a new version of the language server, and old versions are not always cleaned up. Each one is a sizeable binary, often a few hundred megabytes, so a machine that has run Codeium for a year can quietly accumulate several gigabytes of outdated copies. The folder also holds a config file with your login token and, if you use the Windsurf editor, a windsurf subfolder with its user data.

Is it safe to delete?

Mostly yes, which is why this earns a caution rather than a green light. Everything Codeium needs to function gets re-downloaded on next use: open your editor, the extension notices its language server is gone, and it fetches a fresh copy. Your source code is never stored here, so no project is at risk. The costs are a few hundred megabytes of download and, because the config file with your login token lives in this folder, a sign-in prompt the next time the extension starts.

The real caveat is Windsurf. That editor keeps some user-level data inside ~/.codeium, typically under a windsurf subfolder, including things like MCP configuration. If you use Windsurf and want to keep that setup, delete around the windsurf subfolder instead of removing everything. If you only ever used the Codeium extension in another editor, or you uninstalled Codeium entirely, the whole folder can go. Diskmack identifies this folder automatically and cleans it the safe way.

How to check its size

In Finder: In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder (Shift-Command-G), type ~/.codeium and press Return. Press Command-A to select everything, then Command-I to see sizes, or select the folder itself in your home directory (Command-Shift-Period shows hidden files) and press Command-I.

In Terminal:

du -sh ~/.codeium

How to clean it

Quit any editor that runs Codeium: VS Code, a JetBrains IDE, Neovim, or Windsurf. A running language server can hold files open and repopulate the folder while you delete it.
In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder (Shift-Command-G) and enter ~/.codeium.
If you use the Windsurf editor, keep the windsurf subfolder and delete the other contents. If you don't, you can take the whole folder.
Move the selection to the Trash, then empty the Trash to actually reclaim the space.
Reopen your editor. The Codeium extension re-downloads its language server on first use and may ask you to sign in again. That is expected.

There is no official cleanup command. The extension manages its own downloads but does not reliably remove old language server versions, which is exactly why this folder gets big.

Will it come back?

Yes, as long as Codeium is still installed in any editor. The language server re-downloads on next use, so the folder immediately returns at a few hundred megabytes. It then creeps upward again with each extension update that ships a new binary, since old versions tend to linger. If you have uninstalled Codeium from all your editors, the folder stays gone and deleting it is genuinely permanent cleanup.

Common questions

Why is the .codeium folder so large?

Old language server binaries. Each version is a standalone native program, often a few hundred megabytes, and updates do not always remove the previous one. After many extension updates the leftovers add up to several gigabytes on some machines. Run du -sh ~/.codeium to see what yours holds.

Will I lose my Codeium settings or have to sign in again?

Expect to sign in again, yes. The folder contains a config file with your authentication token, so deleting it logs the extension out. Editor-side preferences, like keybindings or whether completions are enabled per language, live in your editor's own settings and survive untouched.

I use Windsurf. Is this the same folder?

Partly. Windsurf comes from the same company and stores some of its user data inside ~/.codeium, usually in a windsurf subfolder, alongside the shared language server files. Windsurf keeps its main application data elsewhere in ~/Library, but if you want to preserve things like MCP configuration, leave the windsurf subfolder alone and delete the rest.

I uninstalled Codeium. Can I delete .codeium for good?

Yes. Uninstalling the extension from your editor does not remove this folder, which is why it is still sitting in your home directory. With the extension gone from every editor, nothing recreates it. Move it to the Trash and empty it.