Find out what’s filling your Mac.
MacClearings explains your disk in plain words, System Data included. You choose what goes. It moves only that to the Trash, with Undo, and checks later that the space stayed free.
$12.50 launch price for the first 25 buyers, then $25.
One-time purchase · 30-day refund
macOS 15+ · Apple silicon and Intel
716 GB used on the Mac in the screenshot
Breakdown starts from the numbers System Settings shows, then names what's inside them, System Data included. What it can't see is shown as a number, never hidden.
Today
Why is my disk full? Here's the plain answer.
System Settings shows a colored bar and a large gray “System Data”. MacClearings starts from the same numbers and names what’s inside them: macOS, your apps, your files, app data in your Library, local snapshots, and the part it can’t see, with the reason.
Gray is what you keep
The Overview ring shows kept data in gray and what could go in color, by kind: developer files, caches, logs, old downloads, duplicates and more. Purgeable and free space are drawn apart, because macOS frees purgeable space on its own.
Every number has a reason
Breakdown explains swap, local Time Machine snapshots and purgeable space as things macOS manages, and never offers them as a cleanup.
What is this folder, and will it come back?
Click any folder in the Map and the field guide says what it is, which app made it, whether it regrows and what happens without it. 223 folders are explained, from Xcode’s build data to the containers apps keep in your Library.
~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData
Xcode build data
- Made by
- Xcode
- What it is
- Build products, indexes and logs Xcode makes for each project.
- Does it come back?
- Comes back when it's needed
- Without it
- Xcode rebuilds it the next time you build or open each project, which can take a while.
Then
Make room, and know exactly what moved.
Suggestions come from 28 rules, each with a reason in plain words. A rule only checks items for you when they’re safe to lose and won’t come straight back, so the space you free is space you keep.
Staged
Checked items wait in the Cleanup tray, which remembers them between launches. Nothing has moved yet.
Reviewed by you
Review & Clean Up lists every staged item with its size. Remove anything you want to keep.
Checked again
Right before moving, each item is checked once more. If it changed, is open in an app or is now protected, it's skipped and you're told why.
Undoable
History keeps every cleanup. Undo puts a whole cleanup back; Put Back restores one item.
Duplicates, with one copy always kept
Files are compared by size, then by their first and last 64 KB, then byte for byte with SHA-256. Keep the newest, the oldest, or the copy in a folder you choose. APFS clones and hard links aren’t reported, because they don’t take extra space.
An app’s real size, and a clean uninstall
Applications adds up each app with the support files it keeps elsewhere, charts its CPU and memory while it runs, and stages the app and its leftovers together when you uninstall. Leftovers from apps you already removed are listed too. Compress makes smaller HEVC and HEIC copies of big videos and photos, and never replaces the originals.
What MacClearings never touches
One list in the app decides what may ever be moved. It’s checked when you stage an item and again the moment before it moves.
- macOS itself: /System, /usr, /bin and the rest of the system
- Your Photos library, your Mail store and your Keychains
- iCloud Drive and other cloud folders, where a removal would sync to every device
- Anything inside an app, and every app that comes with macOS
- Your home folder and its standard folders themselves (their contents are judged one by one)
- Locked items, items protected by System Integrity Protection, and anything open in a running app
A developer’s disk fills faster.
17 of the 28 rules know where Xcode, simulators, package managers and build tools keep their data, and which of it rebuilds on its own. Build output in projects you’re still working on is listed but never checked for you.
- project build output
- 32.2 GB
- project build output
- Xcode
- 7.4 GB
- Xcode
- package caches
- 6.3 GB
- package caches
Found on the Mac in these screenshots.
- ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData
- ~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Caches
- ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS DeviceSupport
- node_modules · target · .venv · Pods · .next
- ~/.npm · pnpm store · ~/.bun · Yarn
- ~/Library/Caches/pip · uv · Poetry
- ~/Library/Caches/Homebrew
- ~/.cargo/registry · go-build · ~/.gradle
- Docker’s disk image is reported, never moved: Docker’s own commands manage what’s inside it.
Later
A week later, is the space still free?
Caches refill, and a cleanup that comes straight back isn’t worth much. MacClearings measures each place it cleaned again after a day, a week and a month, and History shows what stayed free and what came back, rule by rule. Suggestions then sort by the space that lasts.
Space that lasts
Example numbers- Moved to the Trash
- 14.5 GB
- Came back in a month
- 1.7 GB
- Stayed free
- 12.8 GB
Stayed freeCame back
| Rule | Freed | Came back | Stayed free |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xcode DerivedData | 7.4 GB | 1.2 GB | 6.2 GB |
| Package manager caches | 6.3 GB | 300 MB | 6.0 GB |
| Editor caches | 600 MB | 200 MB | 400 MB |
| App logs | 200 MB | 0 GB | 200 MB |
Undo, for every cleanup
Undo restores every item of a cleanup that’s still in the Trash. Put Back restores just one. If something now sits where an item came from, it’s restored beside it, so nothing is overwritten.
Snapshots to compare
Save a snapshot of a scan, then compare later to see which folders grew and by how much.
Nine views, three jobs.
Why is my disk full?
Make room
Also: a menu bar extra with free space and a quick scan, drag any folder onto the window to scan it, Full Disk Access detection, light and dark appearance, Reduce Motion, VoiceOver labels on chart segments, and full keyboard control with ⌘1 to ⌘9.
One price, paid once.
No subscription and no tiers. Every update is included.
$12.50instead of $25
$12.50 launch price for the first 25 buyers, then $25.
- Every future update
- One license key
- macOS 15 or later
- Apple silicon and Intel
- Signed and notarized by Apple
- 30-day refund
Questions
Does MacClearings delete files?
No. MacClearings only ever moves things to the Trash, and only after you've seen them in the review list. Every cleanup is kept in History with an Undo button, and Put Back returns a single item, as long as it's still in the Trash.
A check that runs before every build of the app fails if any code that could permanently remove a file appears in it. MacClearings never empties the Trash either; that stays your decision.
What is System Data, and can MacClearings explain mine?
System Data is the part of the storage bar macOS doesn't break down: caches, logs, local Time Machine snapshots, virtual memory files, app support data and more. MacClearings' Breakdown page starts from the same numbers System Settings shows and splits them into named, explained items. What it can't measure, for example without Full Disk Access, is shown as a number with the reason, not hidden.
Will the space I free just fill up again?
Some of it will, and MacClearings tells you which. App and browser caches refill within days, so they're never checked for you. After each cleanup, MacClearings measures every cleaned place again after a day, a week and a month, and History shows how much stayed free and how much came back, rule by rule.
When do I get the space back?
When you empty the Trash. MacClearings moves what you chose to the Trash and leaves emptying it to you, so you can still change your mind. Until then, Undo and Put Back in History return items to where they were.
Is anything I scan sent anywhere?
No. There's no account, no analytics and no crash reporting in the app. Scans, duplicate hashes, snapshots and history are kept in your own Library folder. MacClearings only goes online to check for its own updates, to compare app versions when you open the Updates tab in Applications, and to activate your license.
Does MacClearings need Full Disk Access?
It's optional. Without it, macOS hides some folders, such as Mail, Safari and Messages data and iPhone backups. MacClearings tells you what it couldn't read and never guesses. Onboarding opens the right pane in System Settings and notices when access is granted, without a restart.
Which Macs does it run on?
macOS 15 or later, on Apple silicon and Intel Macs. MacClearings is a native Mac app built with SwiftUI and AppKit.
Is it a subscription?
No. MacClearings is $25, paid once, and every update is included. The first 25 buyers pay $12.50.
Why isn't it on the Mac App Store?
A disk analyzer has to read the whole disk, and Mac App Store apps run in a sandbox that doesn't allow that. MacClearings is sold directly, signed and notarized by Apple, and keeps itself up to date.
Can I get a refund?
Yes. If MacClearings isn't right for you, ask within 30 days of buying for a full refund. Details are on the refund policy page.
Find out what’s filling your Mac.
Then make room, knowing everything can come back.
$12.50 launch price for the first 25 buyers, then $25.