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Download 2.34 for macOS

macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon11.9 MB

How to install

G12GuidesFiles & Apps

Free up space without regrets

Choose what to remove from caches, logs and build folders, read the exact paths, and send them to the Trash.

Time
4 minutes
Steps
9

What you need

Start at step 1
Movies148.2 GB
Pictures86.4 GB
Disk3.2 MB/sRead 2.1 · Write 1.1 MB/s

Steps

  1. Step 1. Open Cleanup

    In Storage (⇧⌘D), click Cleanup in the title bar. The left column lists places that are usually safe to clear, with the size each held in your last scan: user caches, logs, temporary files, Xcode and package manager caches, project build folders and more.

    Step 01

  2. Step 2. Pick a category and read its caution

    Click a category. A line at the top of the list says what clearing it costs you. Caches are rebuilt by their apps. Build folders mean a slower next build. A few categories, such as Mail downloads and Xcode archives, carry a warning because they can hold things you cannot get back.

    Step 02

  3. Step 3. Tick what you want gone

    Nothing is ticked for you. Tick rows one by one, or use Select Shown. Each row gives the name, the full path and the size. Your choices are kept in the basket bar at the bottom while you move between categories.

    Step 03

  4. Step 4. Open the review

    Click Review Cleanup… in the basket bar. It lights up as soon as something is selected.

    Step 04

  5. Step 5. Read the exact paths

    The review lists every path that will be touched, in full, with its size. A folder means everything inside it. If you selected something l/Activity will not remove, such as your Documents folder, it is shown with a lock and the reason, and left out.

    Step 05

  6. Step 6. Move them to the Trash

    Click Move to Trash. The items go to the Trash through Finder, so you can put them back. macOS may ask once whether l/Activity may control Finder, and for a password if an item needs one.

    Delete Permanently sits in its own red frame. It skips the Trash and cannot be undone. It is never the default and never remembered.

    Step 06

  7. Step 7. Check the result

    Just before each item is moved, l/Activity checks that it has not changed since you reviewed it. Then it reports what was confirmed, item by item. Show in Trash opens Finder on any of them.

    Step 07

  8. Step 8. Find the receipt later

    Every cleanup, from any tool, leaves a receipt. Storage → History lists them with the date, the method and the outcome for each path, including attempts that failed.

    Step 08

  9. Step 9. Protect a folder from cleanup for good

    Right-click any file or folder in Storage and choose Always Exclude from Cleanup. From then on no cleanup tool will offer it or anything inside it. Exclusions are listed in Settings → Storage & Cache.

    Step 09

02Good to know

The small print, in plain words

  • Note1 / 4

    Free space does not rise straight away

    Items in the Trash still take space. l/Activity never empties the Trash. Empty it yourself in Finder when you are sure.

  • Note2 / 4

    What can never be removed

    System folders, your home folder, the main folders inside it (Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music, Movies), running apps, anything you excluded, and l/Activity itself. No permission overrides this.

  • Note3 / 4

    Sizes are from the scan

    The sizes shown are what the last scan measured. They are a guide, not a promise of how much space you get back.

  • Note4 / 4

    See what grew back

    The category Grew back in Cleanup compares your receipts with newer scans and shows which cleared locations have filled up again.

03Keep going

Related guides

Version 2.3411.9 MB

Get l/Activity

A native app for Apple silicon Macs. No account, nothing to set up.

Download 2.34 for macOSInstalling and updating

macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon11.9 MB

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