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Know Your Meme is taking up storage space?

Last posted Sep 10, 2020 at 01:35PM EDT. Added Sep 09, 2020 at 05:28PM EDT
6 posts from 4 users

Today I have been getting messages that say:

"Do you want to allow “https://knowyourmeme.com” to use up to X GB of storage on your Mac?"

And the GB number is getting slightly bigger each time.

I look at manage storage and don't see anything relating to Know Your Meme. What exactly is happening?

I would guess that you have a virus or some form a malware on your system, as websites and browsers shouldn't be asking for that sort of permission, absolutely period. And of course, after I say that, there's going to be some pundit going "Macs can't get viruses." Yes, they can. They're uncommon but it's not because Mac OS is more secure but rather because all the high profile targets that a hacker or malware developer actually cares about are mostly on windows. I'm not too familiar with Mac OS's options for malware detection and virus scanning, though I would assume that there's something out there.

In that case, try looking at your cookies and figure out how big that file is. If it's as big as it realistically should be, try running a few more scans as virus programs don't always catch the culprit on the first run through. I don't know if Mac OS has safe mode, but if it does, run one or two on that. If problem persists, I would recommend google/a tech forum; most of the IT world uses those methods for diagnosing a problem. Worst case scenario, if it is malware, it might be so entrenched in your system that the only way to get rid of it is to reinstall. That is worst case scenario, though, so only do it if all other avenues have been exhausted.

You're experiencing the fallout of a known bug in WebKit which causes Safari to misjudge the required space for site data storage, increasing it each time. You're virus-free!

I'd honestly recommend just wiping all your site data, given how inflated those files must be. As long as you know your logins and don't have a starving Neopet this won't affect your browsing data or sensitive information – sites will just forget that you were logged in. Barring this, Ryuguy is correct in that wiping the browser storage for KYM is the easiest fix.

If you cannot find the site in question on the Preferences pane, try manually navigating to the source:

Users/(((You)))/Library/Safari/LocalStorage

If you need help finding your hidden directories, this thread can help.

I used a fresh install of Safari for this and the number of trackers on KnowYourMeme is disgusting. Uninstall CleanMyMacX and install an adblocker while you're at it.

Last edited Sep 10, 2020 at 02:02PM EDT
Skeletor-sm

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