CleanMac

Safe, local-first cleanup for macOS with review-first scanning,
Safe Mode, reviewed app removal, system maintenance, and an isolated Smart Shredder.

CleanMac is a native SwiftUI utility that scans selected macOS locations, explains every cleanup candidate, and moves confirmed cleanup items to Trash. Application removal can stay Trash-based or, after an explicit mode switch, directly delete the app plus exact bundle-ID leftovers. Manual system maintenance can ask macOS to free inactive memory or flush DNS cache. An isolated Smart Shredder is available only for files the user selects explicitly. Everything runs locally: the code contains no scan-result uploads, analytics, or cloud accounts.

Important

The current public build is ad-hoc signed and is not notarized by Apple. macOS Gatekeeper may block the downloaded app. You can build CleanMac from source for development; do not disable system security to run an unsigned file.

Interface

Scan area selection	Application review

Smart Shredder

Features

• Storage overview. A live capacity breakdown distinguishes occupied space, immediately free space, and space macOS may reclaim. Available capacity already includes the reclaimable estimate, so it is never counted twice.

• Quick tools. Open disk analysis, duplicates, applications, system maintenance, scan areas, and settings directly from the overview.

• Considerate motion. Scan indicators and interactive cards respect Reduce Motion; decorative scan loops stop when the scene becomes inactive.

• Safe scanning. User and browser caches, logs, temporary files, Xcode Derived Data, Node/SwiftPM caches, Downloads, installers, and Trash.

• Explainable review. Categories, sizes, risk levels, recommendation reasons, exact paths, and locations that could not be read.

• Safe Mode. Enabled by default and prevents selection of items that require manual review.

• Trash-based cleanup. Normal cleanup and duplicate removal validate accepted paths again and move them to Trash.

• Smart Shredder. A separate hacker-style workspace performs best-effort overwrite and direct deletion only after file review, acknowledgement, and an exact typed phrase. It rejects folders, links, packages, protected roots, and changed files.

• Session restore. Items moved during the current session can be restored when their original path is available.

• Application removal. Finds third-party apps in /Applications and ~/Applications, supports multi-selection, offers exact bundle-ID leftovers, and provides separate Trash and permanent modes.

• System maintenance. Manual buttons can ask macOS for administrator authorization, then run purge for inactive memory or flush local DNS caches. The memory action shows live usage and a before/after result.

• Menu bar and scheduled scans. Disk status, the latest scan summary, safe scan scheduling, and local notifications while CleanMac is running.

• Permission visibility. Live Full Disk Access and Finder Automation status without automatic permission prompts.

• English and Russian UI. Switch language and light/dark appearance directly inside the app.

Safety Model

1. Scanning is read-only.
2. Every candidate belongs to a known category and an allowlisted root path.
3. Cleanup requires explicit selection and a separate confirmation.
4. Paths are validated again immediately before execution.
5. Normal cleanup files and duplicate copies are moved to Trash instead of being permanently deleted.
6. Application removal defaults to Trash mode. Permanent mode must be selected explicitly and includes every shown exact bundle-ID leftover.
7. During application removal, the .app bundle is removed first. Its leftovers remain untouched if that step fails.
8. Smart Shredder is isolated from scans, recommendations, scheduling, Trash history, and restore. Its direct deletion is intentionally irreversible at the filesystem level, but physical erasure cannot be guaranteed on SSD/APFS.
9. System maintenance actions run only from explicit buttons, use fixed absolute macOS command paths, and do not run through scheduled scans. macOS owns the administrator password prompt; CleanMac does not store credentials.
10. CleanMac does not install a privileged helper and never stores administrator credentials.

Installation

Version 0.5.2 (8) fixes a launch where clicking the CleanMac icon starts the process but leaves the main window hidden. Normal launches now show the window explicitly; macOS login/service launches retain background behavior. Settings and scan selections are preserved. See the 0.5.2 release notes.

Download a package from GitHub Releases. Packages produced from the current source include CleanMac.dmg: open it and drag CleanMac.app onto the included Applications shortcut. Older releases may provide only the fallback ZIP. Each generated archive has its own .sha256 file:

shasum -a 256 CleanMac.dmg

Compare the resulting hash with the first value in CleanMac.dmg.sha256.

Current prebuilt release limitations:

• macOS 14 or later;
• Apple Silicon (arm64);
• ad-hoc signed and not notarized by Apple.

macOS Permissions

CleanMac requests access only after a user action:

• Files and Folders — for selected user locations;
• Full Disk Access — optional, for deeper checks of protected metadata;
• Finder Automation — optional, only for revealing a selected item in Finder.

Scanning and cleanup do not require Finder Automation. Permission status is available on the Permissions screen and can be changed in macOS System Settings.

Build from Source

Requires macOS 14+ and Xcode 26+.

git clone https://github.com/Dezoff-max/CleanMac.git
cd CleanMac
./script/build_and_run.sh --verify

The launch script checks that the process starts. Also confirm the window responds to navigation and menu actions; a running process alone does not establish UI responsiveness.

Run the core test suite:

swift test --package-path CleanMacCore

After building the app, run ./script/test_preferences.sh to check preference migrations without touching user settings.

Create a local Release app, drag-to-Applications DMG, fallback ZIP, and SHA-256 files:

./script/package_release.sh

Developer ID signing and notarization are documented in docs/signing-notarization.md.

Project Structure

CleanMac/             SwiftUI macOS application
CleanMacCore/         Testable scanning and cleanup core
script/               Build, launch, and release packaging
docs/                 Documentation and screenshots
.github/workflows/    CI and GitHub Release automation

Contributing

1. Create a focused branch from main.
2. Preserve the standard safety flow: scan → review → confirm → Trash. Keep irreversible actions isolated inside Smart Shredder.
3. Add tests for changes to scanning, path validation, or removal behavior.
4. Before opening a pull request, run swift test --package-path CleanMacCore and ./script/build_and_run.sh --verify.

Bug reports and feature ideas are welcome in GitHub Issues.

License

CleanMac is available under the MIT License.