---
id: mac-storage-basics.how-do-i-remove-old-vagrant-boxes
url: https://storagestudio.us/faq/mac-storage-basics/how-do-i-remove-old-vagrant-boxes
category: "Mac storage basics"
subcategory: "Programming languages and toolchains"
question: "How do I remove old Vagrant boxes to free space?"
alt_questions:
  - "vagrant box remove"
  - "vagrant box prune"
  - "vagrant boxes disk space mac"
  - "list vagrant boxes"
  - "delete vagrant vm"
  - "vagrant cleanup"
short_answer: "List boxes with vagrant box list, drop old versions with vagrant box prune, and delete a box with vagrant box remove; destroy unused machines with vagrant destroy."
tags: ["vagrant", "virtual machine", "developer"]
related: ["https://storagestudio.us/faq/mac-storage-basics/why-are-virtual-machines-so-large", "https://storagestudio.us/faq/mac-storage-basics/do-virtual-machine-snapshots-use-space"]
applies_to: "all"
last_reviewed: 2026-10-01
---

# How do I remove old Vagrant boxes to free space?

Vagrant keeps every base box you've downloaded, and each can be large.

- `vagrant box list` shows them.
- `vagrant box prune` removes older versions of boxes you still have newer ones of.
- `vagrant box remove` followed by a box name deletes one entirely.

Removing a box doesn't delete machines already created from it; destroy those with `vagrant destroy` in each project folder. The virtual machines themselves live in your virtualisation app — see [virtual machine size](https://storagestudio.us/faq/mac-storage-basics/why-are-virtual-machines-so-large).