Design Space won’t Open? How to clear Cricut cache (Mac & Win)

Are you staring at the dreaded white sceen when you try to open Cricut Design Space? Is Design Space really slow? Here’s a super quick tutorial showing hot to clear the Cricut cache that works in most cases and will get you back into creative mode in just minutes. We use Mac and Windows machines, so we’ll cover multiple operating systems.

We’ll cover the following steps for Mac and Windows:

• Deleting Design Space cache for Mac
• Steps to delete Design Space Cache for Windows
• How to uninstall and re-install Design Space on Mac
• Uninstall and re-install Design Space on Mac and Windows
• How to clear Cricut Design Space cache on iPad

Bonus: this is the only tutorial out there that doesn’t require you to open the Terminal application on a Mac!

How to fix Cricut Design Space blank screen (Mac)

If you are trying to open Design Space and you run into the white screen, here’s the fix that will work most of the time:

Delete the Design Space app cache and then reload the app.

1. Make sure you quit Design Space before you do anything else. Either hit the close button in the top left corner, or you can press the command key (⌘) + “Q”. If Design Space won’t quit, try using Force Quit. Under the Apple icon in the top left corner of your screen, select Force Quit, and then select Design Space from the options list.
2. View hidden files:
   • After you have quit Design Space, open a Finder window [click the Finder icon (the smiling face) in the dock at the bottom of your screen]
   • Open folder labeled “Users”
   • Open folder labeled “[YourName]” in the finder window, then press the shift key + command key (⌘) + period key. This keyboard shortcut will reveal all of the hidden files in the Finder window.

3. Once you have revealed the hidden folders, you will see a folder named “.cricut-design-space.” Inside, there is another folder named “LocalData”. Delete the contents of “LocalData”, but don’t delete the actual folder.

4. Restart Cricut Design Space. If you are prompted to log in, enter your username and password.
5. After Design Space has opened, navigate to the top menu bar, select View > Force Reload. After this, you should be ready to use Design Space for your crafting projects.

How to clear Design Space cache on Windows 10 or 11

If you can’t get Cricut Design Space to open on your Windows machine, deleting the cache can get you back in business quickly. Just follow these basic steps:

1. On your Windows desktop, open the File Explorer file browser window. Click the folder icon in the taskbar at the bottom of your screen. In the new window, click the “Local Disk (C:)” icon to see the contents of your computer’s hard drive.

2. Next, click the folder named “Users“

3. Open the folder with your username. It is most likely going to be the computer owner’s name, but if you don’t know for sure, it will not be the folder labelled “Public” or “Default”.

4. Inside this folder will be several familiar looking locations: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, etc. There will also be a folder at the top of the list named “.cricut-design-space”. Open that folder.

5. Inside the Design Space data folder, there is another subfolder named “Local Data“. Click this folder to open it.

Related: What is the best vinyl cutter for Mac?

How to delete Cricut Cache on Windows

6. Finally, highlight the contents of the LocalData folder and delete them. You can drag them to the Recycling Bin icon on your Desktop and then empty the Recycling Bin, or you can press the “shift” key + the Delete key to permanently delete the files in one step.

7. After deleting the cache, you should be able to restart Cricut Design Space without any trouble. Once you have opened DS, go to the “View” option in the navigation menu and select Force Reload. You should be able to resume your normal activity on Design Space after completing these steps.

How to UnInstall and Reinstall Design Space on Mac

If clearing the app cache doesn’t help you load Design Space, the next step you can take is uninstalling the app and then reinstalling it. This might sound drastic, but it’s a fairly simple and routine operation.

1. First, open a finder window and click the Applications folder in the sidebar. If you’re not sure how to open a new window, click the Finder icon (the smiling face) in the dock at the bottom of your screen. In the Finder bar at the top of your screen, click the “Go” menu and select “Applications” from the list of shortcuts.

2. After you’ve got the Applications window open, find the Cricut Design Space app icon. The contents of this folder should be listed in alphabetical order, so it should be close to the top of the window. To uninstall Design Space on your Mac, all you have to do is delete it from the Applications folder and then empty the trash.

How to delete Cricut Design Space from a Mac

There are three ways you can delete the app from the Applications folder.

• Simply drag the Design Space icon to the trash can located in the dock at the bottom of your screen
• OR: Right-click on the Design Space icon and select “Move to Trash” from the shortcut menu
• OR: Keyboard shortcut: with the Design Space icon highlighted, press “command” (⌘) + “delete” to send it to the trash

3. The final step to uninstall Design Space is to empty the trash. You can do this two ways:
   • Right-click on the trash icon in the dock and select “Empty Trash” from the shortcut menu.
   • OR: Open the Trash folder in Finder, and empty it by clicking the “more options” icon (•••) and selecting Empty Trash from the listed options. In Macs using OSX10.15 (Catalina) or older, you may see a gear icon (⚙) instead of three dots.

How to reinstall Design Space on Mac

After you have uninstalled DS, installing a fresh copy is a simple operation. I have prepared a short video that will take you through each step, or if you prefer a step by step pictorial guide, that is available below.

1. Start by opening your internet browser and navigating to design.cricut.com. The Cricut website will automatically detect what platform you are on and will show you the download option for Mac. You have to check the box to accept Terms of Use and Privacy Policy before you can download Design Space.

2. After you’ve clicked the button to start the download, the file will usually be saved directly to your “Downloads” folder. You are downloading a .dmg file (short for disk image file) which is basically a container that stores the app for download. When it’s finished downloading, you can open the .dmg file from your downloads folder, and you’ll open a special Finder window, prompting you to drag the Cricut Design Space icon into the Application folder.

3. After you drag the Cricut icon into the Applications folder, you can click the Applications folder icon to open it in the Finder. From there, click the Cricut Design Space app icon to open it and it will start installing a fresh version of the app on your Mac.

How to install the Rosetta App

If you are running an M1 Mac, you may be prompted to download the Rosetta utility app. This is an app released by Apple so that their M1 computers can communicate and run apps designed to run on older Intel processor Macs. If you are prompted to install Rosetta, you may get an error saying it is not available in your location. In the event that you get this error message, simply restart your computer and then re-open the Applications folder in the Finder window.

4. After you’ve restarted, try opening the Design Space app again. When you are prompted to install Rosetta, it should install itself normally. Then you can finish installing Design Space. The first thing that will happen when you launch DS is probably an update, so be prepared to wait a minute or two. When the update is finished, you will get a prompt to install a new machine or login. Enter your Cricut username and password and you will be able to enter Design Space and resume designing and making projects.

After you have installed Design Space and successfully logged in, there’s no need to keep the .dmg file on your computer. You can delete it from the Downloads folder to save space on your Mac.

How to Uninstall and Reinstall Design Space on Windows

Uninstalling Design Space on Windows 10 or 11 is a straight forward, 3 step operation.

1. Begin by clicking the START button in the lower left hand corner of your desktop. Then, click the Settings link from the menu.

2. When the Settings window opens, scroll down the window until you get to the Apps option and click to open. Inside the Apps and features window, scroll down the list until you get to Cricut Design Space, click the icon once to highlight it, and that will open a small submenu.
3. You have the option to modify or uninstall the app. Choose uninstall. You will be prompted to confirm, but your Windows computer will proceed with the operation.

How to reinstall Design Space on Windows

1. To reinstall a fresh version of Design Space on your Windows 10 or 11 machine, first navigate to design.cricut.com. Before you can download the install file, you need to check the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy agreement box before the download button is active. When you click “download” the .exe file will be saved to your Downloads folder. (Unless you specify a different folder)

2. Switch over the the Downloads folder in your file browser window, and open the Cricut installer file you just downloaded. The file will install itself on your Windows computer.

3. After the app has been installed on your computer, you will see a window with 2 options: one link for product registration, and one link for account sign in. Click the sign in link and enter your Cricut ID and password to login. After you login, you should be able to resume designing and making projects with your Cricut.

Will I lose my projects if I uninstall Design Space?

No, your projects are safely stored in the Cricut server cloud under your user name. If you uninstall the app on your Mac or Windows computer, your projects, images and fonts will be waiting for you when you reinstall and login.

How do I clear Cricut Design Space cache on iPad or iPhone?

If your Cricut app starts slowing down on your iPad or iPhone, there are steps you can take to help clear the cache and improve performance. This is called “offloading” and it is different than clearing the cache on a desktop computer, but it should help you.

1. On your Apple iOS device (iPhone or iPad), go into the Settings menu
2. In the Settings Menu, scroll down to General, then scroll until you find iPhone/iPad storage
3. Scroll down until you find Cricut Design Space. Select it and then press the “Offload App” option. This will delete the app and stored data off your device. After you complete the Offload function, you will be given the option to reinstall the app with your information.
4. After this, you should be able to reopen Cricut Design Space on your Apple device and resume your projects.

Final Thoughts

For situations when Design Space won’t open or it only runs very slow, these steps will solve most of your problems. As part of my regular use of Design Space, I make it a habit to delete the app cache after every session. That way Design Space is ready to go the next time I need it without any hassle.

Image credits

Keyboard Image by Tanya Ferrera from Pixabay