The macleanup desktop app
The macleanup desktop app runs the same macleanup script on your Mac, in a window. Every section, profile and safety rule is the one the command line uses. The app makes each step visible: what a run would touch before it starts, and what it did after it ends.
Release status
The desktop app shipped with macleanup 5.2.0 on 30 October 2026. Get it from the download page. The command line works with or without it.
What the window adds
| Screen | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Disk gauge | Used, purgeable, snapshot-held and free space, so you can see why deleting files does not always free space |
| Dry-run ledger | Every path and size before a run. Rows that may be the only copy of some data get a choice: keep, archive or delete |
| Run receipt | Attempted, completed, skipped and failed sections, counted separately, with free space before and after |
| Apps and leftovers | App bundles, support folders, containers and helpers, with protected items explained |
| Launch items | Your account's agents beside the system's daemons and root Homebrew services — both launchd domains |
The ledger and the receipt come from the JSON event stream
the script writes. A row marked as possibly unique is an item event with
unique: true. Archives are written to ~/.macleanup/archives/, the same
folder --archive-path uses.
Same script, same safety
- Preview first. A preview changes no files. Read the ledger, then decide.
- The same recovery limits. Trash moves can be undone until you empty the Trash; permanent sections need your own backup. The full inventory is on What gets deleted.
- The same password handling. Sections that need an administrator
password ask for it through
MACLEANUP_ASKPASS, the helper the app supplies. - One history. The app and
npx macleanupshare~/.macleanup/, so logs, reports and receipts from both sit in one place.
Prefer the command line? Nothing changes for npx macleanup. It stays MIT
licensed and has no run limits.
In this section
- Install and first launch — Gatekeeper, Full Disk Access, updates.
- Plans and allowance — what Free, Pro and Team include.
- Privacy in the app — what stays on your Mac and what syncs.
- Keyboard shortcuts — the defaults, all rebindable.