MacCleaner

A free, open-source Mac cleaner with system monitoring. No subscriptions, no telemetry — scan, review, and clean. Built with Swift and SwiftUI.

Download

• MacCleaner-v1.0.dmg — drag to Applications
• MacCleaner-v1.0.zip — extract and run

Requires macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or later.

How to Use

Cleaner Tab

1. Scan — click the Scan button to analyze your Mac for junk files
2. Review — expand each category to see individual files with sizes
3. Select/Deselect — uncheck anything you want to keep
4. Clean — click Clean to free disk space

System Tab

Switch to the System tab (top-left) to see live hardware stats:

• CPU usage (user/system/idle breakdown, updates every 2s)
• Memory pressure (active, wired, compressed, free)
• GPU info (name + VRAM via Metal)
• Storage usage
• Battery status (if applicable)
• System uptime

Stats

Click the chart icon (top-right) to view lifetime cleaning stats — total freed, items removed, number of cleans.

What It Cleans

Category	What	How	Size Range
App Caches	~/Library/Caches/*, ~/.cache/*	Permanent delete	5–20 GB
Logs	~/Library/Logs/*, crash reports	Permanent delete	500 MB–2 GB
Xcode	DerivedData, simulators, device support, archives	Permanent delete	5–50 GB
Dev Tools	Homebrew, npm, yarn, pnpm, CocoaPods, Cargo, Gem, Gradle, Maven, pip, Go, NuGet	Permanent delete	1–10 GB
Docker	Dangling images, stopped containers, build cache	Docker CLI	1–20 GB
Project Leftovers	node_modules, .venv, vendor, Pods, .build, target in old projects	Permanent delete	1–50 GB
Browser Cache	Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Brave, Edge, Opera	Permanent delete	500 MB–5 GB
Large Files	Files > 100 MB in Downloads/Desktop/Documents	Move to Trash	Varies
Trash	Files already in ~/.Trash	Empty Trash	Varies

Permanent delete is used for files that regenerate automatically (caches, logs, build artifacts). Large files go to Trash so you can recover them.

Safety

Protected paths (never touched)

• iCloud: ~/Library/Mobile Documents/, ~/Library/CloudStorage/
• User data: Photos, Mail, Messages, Calendars, Contacts, Safari
• Credentials: Keychains, Cookies, .ssh, .gnupg, .aws, .kube
• App settings: Preferences, Application Support, Containers
• System: /System/, /usr/, /bin/, /sbin/, /etc/
• Media: Music, Pictures, Movies

Safety features

• Path comparison is case-insensitive with symlink resolution
• Running apps are detected via NSWorkspace — their caches are skipped
• Docker Desktop data is never auto-selected
• Large files are never auto-selected
• Every operation is logged to ~/Library/Logs/MacCleaner/

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/almokhtarbr/mac-cleaner.git
cd mac-cleaner
open MacCleaner.xcodeproj
# Cmd+R to build and run

Create DMG

xcodebuild -scheme MacCleaner -configuration Release build \
  CONFIGURATION_BUILD_DIR=./build

mkdir -p /tmp/dmg && cp -R build/MacCleaner.app /tmp/dmg/ && \
  ln -sf /Applications /tmp/dmg/Applications

hdiutil create -volname "MacCleaner" -srcfolder /tmp/dmg \
  -ov -format UDZO dist/MacCleaner-v1.0.dmg

rm -rf /tmp/dmg

Create ZIP

ditto -c -k --keepParent build/MacCleaner.app dist/MacCleaner-v1.0.zip

Project Structure

MacCleaner/
├── MacCleanerApp.swift                 # App entry — single window
├── Views/
│   ├── DashboardView.swift             # Main screen: tabs, cleaner flow, stats
│   ├── CategoryRow.swift               # Expandable category with item checkboxes
│   └── SystemStatsView.swift           # Live CPU/memory/GPU/disk/battery dashboard
├── Models/
│   ├── CleanableItem.swift             # File model: path, size, category, selected
│   ├── CleanerViewModel.swift          # Scan/clean state machine
│   ├── CleanStats.swift                # Lifetime stats (UserDefaults)
│   ├── DiskInfo.swift                  # Disk space model
│   └── SystemMonitor.swift             # Live CPU/memory/GPU/battery via mach/Metal/IOKit
├── Scanners/
│   ├── Scanner.swift                   # Protocol + shared helpers
│   ├── CacheScanner.swift              # ~/Library/Caches/
│   ├── LogScanner.swift                # ~/Library/Logs/
│   ├── XcodeScanner.swift              # DerivedData, simulators, device support
│   ├── DevToolsScanner.swift           # Homebrew, npm, yarn, Cargo, Gem, etc.
│   ├── DockerScanner.swift             # Docker CLI: images, containers, build cache
│   ├── ProjectLeftoversScanner.swift   # node_modules, .venv, vendor in projects
│   ├── BrowserCacheScanner.swift       # Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Brave, Edge, Opera
│   ├── LargeFileScanner.swift          # Files > 100 MB
│   └── TrashScanner.swift              # ~/.Trash
├── Services/
│   ├── SafeDeleter.swift               # Delete logic: permanent vs trash vs docker CLI
│   ├── RunningAppChecker.swift         # Detect running apps before cleaning
│   ├── OperationLogger.swift           # Thread-safe daily log files
│   └── DiskAnalyzer.swift              # Disk space queries
└── Utilities/
    ├── FileSize.swift                  # ByteCountFormatter + directory size calculation
    ├── ProtectedPaths.swift            # 30+ hardcoded forbidden paths
    └── AppIdentifier.swift             # Resolve cache folders → app name + icon

Tech Stack

• Swift 5 + SwiftUI — native macOS app, no Electron
• FileManager — file scanning, directory enumeration, deletion
• Mach kernel APIs — host_statistics64() for CPU and memory
• Metal — GPU detection via MTLCreateSystemDefaultDevice()
• IOKit — battery status via IOPSCopyPowerSourcesInfo()
• NSWorkspace — running app detection, trash operations
• async/await — non-blocking scans with cancellation support

Roadmap

• Duplicate file finder (SHA256)
• App uninstaller (remove app + Library leftovers)
• iOS backup cleaner (~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/)
• Startup items manager
• Visual disk map (treemap)
• Scheduled cleaning with notifications

License

MIT