Where does the iPhone Simulator store its data?

Question

I have a SQLite DB that I'm using to store app data, and I could do with taking a look inside it to debug a problem I'm having - but where does the iPhone Simulator store its data, typically?

Pathogenic

Answer 1

For Xcode6+/iOS8+

~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/[DeviceID]/data/Containers/Data/Application/[AppID]/

Accepted answer is correct for SDK 3.2 - SDK 4 replaces the /User folder in that path with a number for each of the legacy iPhone OS/iOS versions it can simulate, so the path becomes:

~/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/[OS version]/Applications/[appGUID]/

if you have the previous SDK installed alongside, its 3.1.x simulator will continue saving its data in:

~/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/User/Applications/[appGUID]/

Catricecatrina

cd ~/Library/Application\ Support/iPhone\ Simulator/ – Moten

Rather than searching in the finder for which GUID is yours, note pisca46's answer below: Just type po NSHomeDirectory() in the debugger. Cut and paste into Go>Go To Folder (Cmd-Shift-G). – Caul

I'm a little bit concerned that when I launch the simulator it says 8.2, but when I look in this folder, the only version number I see is 7.1. That makes me worry that I'm looking in the wrong place. – Suttle

@Suttle See this question or answer below – Sakmar

It's hard to emphasis how much simpler, more convenient, less error prone and less frustrating this answer is (as recommended in mackworth's comment above). You can simply add a line to NSLog this in your AppDelegate's didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:, or you can po NSHomeDirectory() from the debugger. In either case, copy the string and open it in the finder with Cmd+Shift+G. This works better because you are asking with a standard command instead of needing to know something that changes. – Tummy

cool tip: the [AppID] changes each time you build the app. But if you drag that [AppID] folder into your dock it will update the folder location whenever it changes. – Issie

@Caul your answer is a lifesaver. I have so many simulators installed on my device and i have no idea where to get started. Most of the answers got me nowhere but your comment did the trick. Thanks a lot! – Bloodline

If you are not running your App, you can find your Device ID from Xcode > "Devices and Simulators", then you can find your AppFolder by run the command find [DeviceFolder] -name [AppName] -maxdepth 3, where the AppName is probably your project name. – Metropolis

Answer 2

Easiest way ever.

1. Catch a Breakpoint somewhere. (or Pause program execution (tap on pause in debug area) as Najdan Tomić mentioned on the comments)

2. Enter po NSHomeDirectory() in console window

Result:

(lldb) po NSHomeDirectory() /Users/usernam/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/4734F8C7-B90F-4566-8E89-5060505E387F/data/Containers/Data/Application/395818BB-6D0F-499F-AAFE-068A783D9753

Junejuneau

If I only knew this earlier. This should have been the correct answer – Fahrenheit

i think all other answers are also correct. But this seems to be easy for me :-] – Junejuneau

You can even make it easier without catching breakpoint. Pause program execution (tap on pause in debug area), then in debug navigator tap on main then execute po NSHomeDirectory() in lldb window. – Winded

And if you drag this folder to the dock, it will automatically update the reference, as every new build will change the App-ID. – Sanatorium

I put this in Debug Console of VSCode during a bp and get Error: Expected one expression, but found additional input. po NSHomeDirectory() ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^. po also doesn't exist as a command on its own. – Colangelo

@Colangelo Not sure about how this works in VSCode. But this should work in Xcode. – Junejuneau

Answer 3

There is another (faster?) way to find where your app data is without Terminal:

1. Launch the app in the simulator
2. Open Activity Monitor
3. Find the name of your app in the CPU tab
4. Double-click it and open the "Open Files and Ports"

Leaving

NSString *uniqueIdentifier = [[[UIDevice currentDevice] identifierForVendor] UUIDString]; gives you the device identifier – Tower

@oabarca the identifier your get has nothing to do with the simulator's deviceID or appFolder; I'm using Xcode 11.2.1 and iOS 13.2.2 – Metropolis

Answer 4

Found it:

~/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/User/

Pathogenic

How to search: In Finder press CMD+SHIFT+G – Deduction

Please see updated response below by dsmudger, it is the correct answer at the moment. – Silverpoint

Outdated- doesn't work anymore – Parsonage

Answer 5

iOS 8 ~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/[Device ID]/data/Applications/[appGUID]/Documents/

Lapierre

Any way to get Device ID ? – Devotion

@Devotion try xcrun instruments -s – Andalusite

How to find the [appGUID] here? – Alkalify

Sort by Date Modified. Your current build will (probably) be the latest one. – Aubarta

There is no "Hardware" menu, either in Xcode or in the simulator. – Johnette

Answer 6

On Lion the Users/[username]/Library is hidden.

To simply view in Finder, click the 'Go' menu at the top of the screen and hold down the 'alt' key to show 'Library'.

Click on 'Library' and you can see your previously hidden library folder.

Previously advised:

Use

chflags nohidden /users/[username]/library

in a terminal to display the folder.

Refectory

then after that you can find it at: ~/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/[OS version]/Applications/[appGUID]/ – Refectory

That's an interesting suggestion for normal users, but it seems to me that iOS / OS X developers need to access library on a pretty regular basis and so wouldn't want it hidden ever again. (Then again, I guess a lot of developers use Terminal instead of Finder?) – Swithbart

Answer 7

If the Simulator is running you can get the path to any app's container:

xcrun simctl get_app_container booted <app bundle identifier>

Example output:

$ xcrun simctl get_app_container booted com.example.app
/Users/jappleseed/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/7FB6CB8F-63CB-4F27-BDAB-884814DA6FE0/data/Containers/Bundle/Application/466AE987-76BC-47CF-A207-266E65E7DE0A/example.app

"booted" can be substituted to most simctl commands anywhere a device UDID is expected.

You can see the list of devices with xcrun simctl list and get help on specific commands with xcrun simctl help.

Update: By popular request in Xcode 8.3 you can now specify the kind of container you want by appending "app", "data", "groups", or an app group identifier.

To get the data container:

$ xcrun simctl get_app_container booted com.example.app data

Itacolumite

excellent one. No need to run command to get device_id and appId. One step to get all – Mesocratic

This one should be accepted, because it the most "stable" way to do such things. – Brade

Highly recommend...this is so much easier than other answers. – Impressible

Answer 8

With Xcode 5 you may use the code below:

#import <Foundation/NSFileManager.h>

and:

NSString *homeDir = NSHomeDirectory();
NSLog(@"%@",homeDir);

The result may look look like:

"/Users/<your user name>/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/7.1/Applications/hhhhhhhh-hhhh-hhhh-hhhh-hhhhhhhhhhhh"

Where hhhhhhhh-hhhh-hhhh-hhhh-hhhhhhhhhhhh is some hex string identifying your iOS app.

Fresno

This also works in debugger: po NSHomeDirectory() – Caul

Answer 9

One of the most easy ways to find where the app is within the simulator. User "NSTemporaryDirectory()"

Steps-

1. Apply breakpoint anywhere within the app and run the app.

2. When the app stops at the breakpoint, type following command in Xcode console.

   po NSTemporaryDirectory()

See the below image for a proper insight

Now you have the exact path upto temporary folder. You can go back and see all app related folders.

Hope this also helps. Happy Coding :)

Isidor

Cool tip, but why not po NSHomeDirectory()? – Breastbeating

Answer 10

Looks like Xcode 6.0 has moved this location once again, at least for iOS 8 simulators.

~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/[DeviceID]/data/Containers/Data/Application/[AppID]

Brocatel

in ~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/[DeviceID]/ there is also a .plist file named "device.plist" if you look inside you can find out device name like iphone-6 or iphone-5s. deviceID is very confusing so i think you should look inside the .plist file. – Mitten

How to get the AppID? – Shoon

I cheated to find the app id, by using 'ls -l' and figuring out which app's files had been created the most recently. Might work for others too. – Lysin

Or in finder sort by "date created" to get the App on top of the list. – Strati

Answer 11

Where Xcode stores simulators & runtimes

Runtimes

$ open ~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Profiles/Runtimes

For example: iOS 13.0, watchOS 6.0 These take the most space, by far. Each one can be up to ~5GB

Devices

$ open ~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices

For example: iPhone Xr, iPhone 11 Pro Max. These are typically <15 mb each.

Explanation

Simulators are split between runtimes and devices. If you run $ xcrun simctl list you can see an overview, but if you want to find the physical location of these simulators, look in these directories I've shown.

It's totally safe to delete runtimes you don't support. You can reinstall these later if you want.

Jegger

Answer 12

Simply do this:

NSString *docDirPath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES)objectAtIndex:0];
NSLog(@"%@", docDirPath);

And you will get somethink like this:

/Users/admin/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/58B5B431-D2BB-46F1-AFF3-DFC789D189E8/data/Containers/Data/Application/6F3B985F-351E-468F-9CFD-BCBE217A25FB/Documents

Go there and you will see the document folder of your app regardless of the version of XCode. (Use "Go to Folder..." command in Finder and specify a path "~/library").

Swift version for string path:

let docDirPath =
NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.documentDirectory,
                                    .userDomainMask, true).first
print(docDirPath)

and folder URL:

let docDirUrl =
    FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory,
                             in: .userDomainMask).first
print(docDirUrl)

Unman

Was about to post almost the same answer. This method has the advantage to always give the correct path, on any version of iOS simulator. By the way, you can also copy the value of the url variable in the debugger, if you don't want to log it ;) – Gynecoid

Answer 13

In iOS 5 :

/Users/[User Name]/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/5.0/Applications/[AppGUID]/

Schroeder

Answer 14

For Xcode 4.6 it gets stored in the following path...

/Users/[currentuser]/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/6.1/Applications/

To know it programmatically use the following code

  NSLog(@"path:%@",[[NSBundle mainBundle]bundlePath]);

Cookstove

Swift: print("path: \(NSBundle.mainBundle().bundlePath)") – Schargel

Answer 15

For iOS 8

To locate the Documents folder, you can write a file in the Documents folder:

NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *fileName = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"Words.txt"];
NSString *content = @"Apple";
[content writeToFile:fileName atomically:NO encoding:NSStringEncodingConversionAllowLossy error:nil];

say, in didFinishLaunchingWithOptions.

Then you can open a Terminal and find the folder:

$ find ~/Library -name Words.txt

Tapley

Answer 16

For macOS Catalina, I found my db in:

~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/{deviceId}/data/Containers/Data/Application/{applicationId}/Documents/my.db

To get the applicationId, I just sorted the folders by date modified, though I'm sure there's a better way to do that.

Organon

Answer 17

if anyone is still experiencing this problem in lion, there is a great article with 19 different tips to view your ~/Library dir. find the article by Dan Frakes here http://www.macworld.com/article/161156/2011/07/view_library_folder_in_lion.html

Remember the directory to the simulator is given below

~/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/User/

Indoor

Answer 18

I have no affiliation with this program, but if you are looking to open any of this in the finder SimPholders makes it incredibly easy.

Ultraviolet

Answer 19

For react-native users who don't use Xcode often, you can just use find. Open a terminal and search by with the database name.

$ find ~/Library/Developer -name 'myname.db'

If you don't know the exact name you can use wildcards:

$ find ~/Library/Developer -name 'myname.*'

Indifference

Answer 20

You can try using the below code

NSString *fileName = @"Demo.pdf";
    NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
    NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
    NSString *pdfFileName = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:fileName];
    NSLog(@"File path%@",pdfFileName);

Eads

Answer 21

To Open the dictories where you App are that you build in xCode on the simulators, do the following:

1. open a Finder windor ( smiley face icon )
2. then click GO -> Go to Folder
3. type: ~/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator
4. The Directories are the iOS version of the different Simulators
5. The Sub Directories are the Apps install on the simulator
6. The Documents folder is where the user generated content which gets backup up onto iCloud

Stiegler

Answer 22

The easiest way I found is to generate a file with a special name and search for it in /Users/[USERNAME]/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator

Ex. Create file named report_2023-12-23_23-49-15 >> Go to the path above in Finder and search for the file name >> right click on the file and click Get Info it will give you the path for your simulator

Celadon