# How to disable CUPS printer job history on macOS [](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAgfeVNKdoo "macOS stores a copy of everything one prints forever") ## Requirements - Computer running macOS Monterey or Ventura ## Setup guide ### Step 1: clear job history > Heads-up: purges `/var/spool/cups`. ```shell $ cancel -a -x ``` ### Step 2: create `/usr/local/sbin` directory ```shell sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/sbin sudo chown ${USER}:admin /usr/local/sbin ``` ### Step 3: create `cups.sh` script (see CUPS [docs](https://www.cups.org/doc/man-cupsd.conf.html)) ```shell cat << "EOF" > /usr/local/sbin/cups.sh #! /bin/sh set -e if cupsctl | grep --quiet PreserveJobHistory=no; then exit 0 fi cupsctl MaxJobTime=5m PreserveJobFiles=no PreserveJobHistory=no EOF ``` ### Step 4: make `cups.sh` executable ```shell chmod +x /usr/local/sbin/cups.sh ``` ### Step 5: create `local.cups.plist` launch daemon > Heads-up: used to make sure user-defined config persists macOS updates. ```shell cat << "EOF" | sudo tee /Library/LaunchDaemons/local.cups.plist Label local.cups ProgramArguments /usr/local/sbin/cups.sh RunAtLoad EOF ``` ### Step 6: reboot 👍 --- ## Want things back the way they were before following this guide? No problem! ### Step 1: delete `cups.sh` script ```shell sudo rm /usr/local/sbin/cups.sh ``` ### Step 2: delete `local.cups.plist` launch daemon ```shell sudo rm /Library/LaunchDaemons/local.cups.plist ``` ### Step 3: revert user-defined config to CUPS defaults ```shell cupsctl MaxJobTime= PreserveJobFiles= PreserveJobHistory= ``` ### Step 4: reboot 👍