DiskCleaner Help

What Gets Cleaned — and What's Safe

DiskCleaner targets only files that macOS generates automatically and regenerates on demand. Your documents, photos, and personal data are never touched.

Files DiskCleaner removes

• User caches — Temporary data stored by apps in ~/Library/Caches. Apps rebuild these automatically; removing them is always safe.
• System caches — macOS-level caches in /Library/Caches that accumulate over time. Removing them may prompt a brief rebuild on next boot.
• Log files — Diagnostic logs written by apps and the OS (~/Library/Logs, /var/log). Logs are for diagnostics only and can safely be discarded.
• Temporary files — Files in /var/folders and system temp directories that were never cleaned up by their parent process.
• Trash contents — Files you've already moved to the Trash that are still consuming disk space.
• Download quarantine metadata — Small .DS_Store and __MACOSX files created by macOS Finder.

What DiskCleaner never touches

• Documents, spreadsheets, or any file in your home folder outside of Library/
• Photos, videos, or music libraries
• App preferences and settings (~/Library/Preferences)
• Keychain data or passwords
• iCloud Drive files

Tip: Before cleaning, use the Preview mode to see exactly which files will be removed and their sizes — no surprises.

How to Use DiskCleaner

Running your first clean

1. Open DiskCleaner from your Applications folder or the menu bar icon.
2. Click Scan. DiskCleaner will analyse your Mac and display a categorised breakdown of junk files and their total size.
3. Review each category. Toggle off any category you'd prefer to skip — your choices are remembered for next time.
4. Click Clean. macOS may ask for your password to remove system-level files.
5. A summary shows how much space was freed.

Menu Bar mode

Enable Menu Bar mode in Preferences (⌘,) to keep DiskCleaner in your menu bar. A small disk-usage indicator updates in real time. Click the icon to run a quick clean without opening the main window.

Scheduled cleaning

In Preferences, turn on Auto-Clean and choose a schedule — daily, weekly, or monthly. DiskCleaner will clean silently in the background and show a notification when it's done.

Using the Uninstaller

Switch to the Uninstaller tab to see every app on your Mac with its total footprint (app bundle + leftover support files). Select one or more apps, then click Uninstall to remove them completely — no orphaned files left behind.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

DiskCleaner shows 0 MB found

This is normal on a freshly cleaned or new Mac. macOS caches rebuild as you use your apps — try scanning again after a day of normal use.

macOS asks for my password — is that normal?

Yes. Removing files outside your user folder (system caches, certain logs) requires administrator permission. DiskCleaner uses macOS's standard authorisation dialog and does not store your password.

An app is slow after cleaning

Apps may feel slightly slower the first time they launch after their cache is removed — this is expected. Performance returns to normal within a minute as the cache rebuilds. If an app continues to behave oddly, restarting it or your Mac usually resolves it.

Disk space didn't change much after cleaning

macOS reports "available" storage differently from raw free space. Some reclaimed space may show as purgeable rather than immediately available. Restarting your Mac flushes purgeable space into the available pool.

DiskCleaner can't be opened (Gatekeeper warning)

If macOS shows "DiskCleaner cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer," go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click Open Anyway next to the DiskCleaner entry.

The Uninstaller doesn't show all my apps

Apps distributed exclusively through the Mac App Store are sandboxed and cannot be uninstalled by third-party tools — use the App Store's built-in purchase management to remove them. All other apps should appear in the list.

Still need help?

Reach out via the Support link in the footer — we typically respond within one business day.

Keyboard Shortcuts

DiskCleaner supports standard macOS shortcuts throughout the app.

Main window

Menu Bar mode

Pro tip: Most standard macOS text-editing shortcuts (⌘A, ⌘C, ⌘V, ⌘Z) work in any text field inside DiskCleaner.