Did you know that every time you download something on your Mac, a record of that downloaded file is added to a log file and kept on your system? It could be anything from an image from Google, a PDF document from your boss, or a pirated movie. If you download it to your Mac laptop's hard drive, it will be recorded in the log file.
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Apple is n't advertising that anything is happening, and we have no idea what exactly is happening. Maybe for troubleshooting purposes, who knows? But from a privacy perspective, this is quite annoying, especially if someone is monitoring your computer and knows where to find the log. If you have a habit of downloading a lot, having a log of everything you've downloaded is obviously not safe.
To learn how to delete the hidden download log on your Mac, read the instructions below.
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First, locate the log file
It's very easy to find the log file. Open a Terminal window and type:
sqlite3 ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.QuarantineEventsV* 'select LSQuarantineDataURLString from LSQuarantineEvent'
This will then create a complete list of your downloads, since the last time you deleted them. If this is the first time you're seeing the list, the list may start from the first day you bought your Mac!
Now, delete the log file
Deleting it is not difficult. Just type in Terminal:
sqlite3 ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.QuarantineEventsV* 'delete from LSQuarantineEvent'
The download list will be deleted. If you run the first command again, you will get an empty list.
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You should ideally do this once a week or once a month, depending on the amount of downloads you do and who else has access to your Mac laptop. To make the task easier, you can run an Automator script with the command so that it can be done with a single click of the mouse or trackpad.
Information source: xda-developers.com
