Remove downloads on apple TV on imac

I have iMac running Sonoma version 14.7.6. I cannot update the OS or download pretty much anything because Apple TV is consuming almost 300GB of my available storage with downloads. It looks like Apple TV is automatically downloading every purchase I make onto the iMac.


I would like to remove the downloads from the iMac. How do I do this without losing access to the content on other devices? (I never use the iMac to watch movies or TV shows.)


I have checked the AppleTV settings, and automatic downloads are not turned on for either movies or TV shows.

iMac 24″, macOS 14.7

Posted on Aug 18, 2025 3:30 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 18, 2025 4:47 PM

If you have downloads from subscription content or Store content,

then you can verify that in:

System Settings﹥General﹥Storage﹥[App list] TV app﹥ⓘ﹥…

then you can select the downloaded items (multiple) to delete easily from there.


Media files from other sources that you have added to your Library will not be listed there, but can be removed from the Library from within the TV app (one at a time). Items may be in the Home Videos section, if those didn’t have tags for other media kinds. Highlight such an item, then Control-click or right-click or use the (⋯) button, then select “Show in Finder”. That will open the parent folder of the file. Move ‘up’ one or two levels more in the path (⌘▲) to see if there are more similar files that you want to trash or move elsewhere.


3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 18, 2025 4:47 PM in response to jmtully

If you have downloads from subscription content or Store content,

then you can verify that in:

System Settings﹥General﹥Storage﹥[App list] TV app﹥ⓘ﹥…

then you can select the downloaded items (multiple) to delete easily from there.


Media files from other sources that you have added to your Library will not be listed there, but can be removed from the Library from within the TV app (one at a time). Items may be in the Home Videos section, if those didn’t have tags for other media kinds. Highlight such an item, then Control-click or right-click or use the (⋯) button, then select “Show in Finder”. That will open the parent folder of the file. Move ‘up’ one or two levels more in the path (⌘▲) to see if there are more similar files that you want to trash or move elsewhere.


Aug 19, 2025 8:10 PM in response to jmtully

Try the other way:

  1. Open the Apple TV app.
  2. Click Downloaded in the sidebar to find the item that you want to delete.
  3. Move your pointer over the item that you want to delete, then click the More button.
  4. Click Delete from Library, then confirm when prompted.

Delete movies and TV shows in the Apple TV app - Apple Support


Removing the movies from your Mac does not remove the purchases elsewhere. For example, any movies you might have also downloaded onto an iPad will remain on the iPad etc. Or you can watch any time without downloading. However having said that, if these titles get removed from the Apple Store you will lose access to them. Downloading to your device is the best way to keep them forever.


Aug 19, 2025 6:23 PM in response to Urquhart1244

Thank you for the help here.


When I follow the steps in the first paragraph I can see the storage being used by TV (292.76GB) but when I hit the (i), the list of shows never populates.


I restarted the machine, no change. Any ideas?


When I go to the Apple TV app, I can see an option to delete the shows from there. If I do that, will I still have access to them elsewhere? Or is the purchase deleted?


thank you.


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Remove downloads on apple TV on imac

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