Aaron Adams’s Blowhard Blog

A few weeks back, this page revealed that you can use a sqlite command from the Terminal to clear some of the database cruft from your Apple Mail envelope index. Most people reported a speed gain while running Mail as a result of this operation, and almost everyone reported a reduction in size of their envelope index database as well.

Safari uses a sqlite database for its RSS feeds. Since I use Safari as my RSS reader, I decided to try the sqlite command from Mail against my Safari database. The command did shrink the database, and it feels faster loading feeds and sorting them, but I have no objective evidence to point to any quantitative speed improvement. It did not damage my RSS feed database or Safari itself.

I’m posting this command hoping that others will try it and let me know their results.

Steps for cleaning up your Safari RSS database:

1. Quit Safari
2. Open Terminal, and enter the following:
   sqlite3 Library/Syndication/DatabaseX vacuum
   where X may be a number

That’s all there is to it. If you find this useful or have something to say, don’t hesitate to comment.