DiskSense Support

macOS hides some folders — like Mail, Messages and Safari data — from every app unless you allow it. Without Full Disk Access those folders are skipped, and their space shows up as “Not visible to a scan.” DiskSense only reads names and sizes; it never opens, uploads or changes your files without asking.

1. Open System Settings and choose Privacy & Security.
2. Choose Full Disk Access.
3. Turn on DiskSense. If it isn’t listed, click + and choose DiskSense in Applications.
4. Quit and reopen DiskSense, then scan again.

DiskSense’s Overview has an Open Settings button that takes you straight there.

macOS 26 Tahoe or later, on a Mac with Apple silicon or Intel. The Advisor uses Apple Intelligence, which requires a supported Mac with Apple Intelligence turned on in System Settings. Everything else works without it.

DiskSense shows the space a file actually uses on disk. Finder’s “Size” is the size a file reports, which can be much larger for sparse files (such as virtual machine disks), files kept in iCloud but not downloaded, and compressed files. When the two differ, the details panel shows both and explains why.

Space on your data volume that no app can measure file by file: local snapshots, space macOS reserves for itself, and folders macOS didn’t let DiskSense read — usually other users’ folders or protected system folders. Granting Full Disk Access makes this smaller.

On APFS, copies of a file can share the same storage (“clones”). DiskSense marks these, but each copy still shows its full size, so removing one copy can free little or nothing until every copy is gone.

• Safe to delete — caches and build output that are rebuilt automatically.
• Clean with its own tool — owned by an app or developer tool; use the command or setting DiskSense shows, not the Trash.
• Review first — your data or hard to recreate; check what’s inside first.
• Leave alone — managed by macOS or a sync service such as iCloud. DiskSense won’t move these to the Trash.

No. Moving something to the Trash always asks first, and you can put items back from the Trash until you empty it. The space is freed when you empty the Trash.

Items rated Leave alone are managed by macOS or a sync service, and removing them by hand can break things or lose data. The details panel explains the right way to reduce them instead, such as turning on Optimize Mac Storage for iCloud Drive.

Chrome and other apps built on Chromium or Electron copy themselves into a temporary folder when they start, and normally clean up when they quit. If they’re force-quit — often by automation tools — copies pile up. They share space with each other, so they free much less than they appear to. Quit the app and move them to the Trash, or restart your Mac.

After a scan, DiskSense gives Apple’s on-device model a short summary of what it found and asks what to clean up first. It runs entirely on your Mac. Every suggestion is checked against your scan before it’s shown — sizes, safety ratings and instructions come from DiskSense, not the model — and nothing rated Leave alone is ever suggested.

Try “Scan my Mac with DiskSense,” “How much space can DiskSense free?” or “Ask DiskSense for cleanup advice.” The same actions are available in the Shortcuts app.

After a scan, choose File › Copy Report for AI Chat and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or Codex. You can also save the report as Markdown or JSON. Reports include folder and file names from your disk, so share them only where you’re comfortable.