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Install the desktop app

The desktop app is one disk image for Apple silicon and Intel Macs, on macOS 11 or later. It shipped with macleanup 5.2.0 on 30 October 2026. Get it from the download page or the GitHub release.

RequiresmacOS 11 or later
ChipsApple silicon and Intel
UpdatesChecked in the app; update packages are signed and verified by the app
Command lineNot required. npx macleanup keeps working beside the app

Install​

  1. Open the disk image.
  2. Drag macleanup into Applications.
  3. Open macleanup from Applications.

The first time macOS refuses to open it​

macleanup is not signed with an Apple developer certificate yet, so the first launch may be refused. You allow it once:

  1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security.
  2. Scroll to Security.
  3. Choose Open Anyway next to macleanup.

After that it opens normally.

Full Disk Access is optional​

Without Full Disk Access, macOS hides Mail, Messages and some Library folders from the app. Sections still run; they skip what they cannot see and the receipt says so.

To grant it:

  1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access.
  2. Turn on macleanup.
  3. Return to the app.

Updates​

The app checks for updates itself when it starts and every 6 hours. With Install updates automatically on, it downloads the signed update and relaunches at a quiet moment — never during a run. The check contacts GitHub Releases, which receives normal request details such as an IP address. See Privacy in the app.

Required updates​

Sometimes an update must be installed before you continue, for example when it fixes a safety rule. The app checks for a release notice when it starts, every 15 minutes and when you come back to it:

  • Urgent: the app stops and shows the reason with one Update now button. It installs the update and relaunches; your receipts and settings stay.
  • Normal: the app tells you a new version is out and that it is required from the next start. From the next start it asks you to update first.

If the notice cannot be read, for example offline, the app keeps working. This website and the documentation use the same notices; there Update now reloads the page.

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