TidyMeasure
For every place worth looking at, Tidy runs du to get the real size on disk. Large single files come from find -size +300M. App usage dates come from Spotlight's kMDItemLastUsedDate.
Find what is really
filling your Mac.
Tidy is a free, open-source Mac disk cleaner. It shows what is really using your storage, including hidden app data Finder never shows, and what is safe to remove.
Free and open source · macOS 11 or later · Apple silicon
Overview
Storage
0 GBfree of 460 GB
- Hidden Files47 GB
- Applications22 GB
- Developer18 GB
- App Data13 GB
Safe to clean
0 GB
Caches, logs and leftovers that apps rebuild by themselves.
Review safe itemsmacOS says Documents is 80 GB. Finder shows 4.
The rest is hidden. Apps store chats, backups and caches in folders whose names start with a dot, or deep inside Library. Finder skips them. Storage settings counts them, and gives you no way in.
Read the guide: why Documents is so big and how to find what is inside →
What Finder shows in your home folder
- Desktop34 GB
- Documents4 GB
- Downloads0.2 GB
- Music0.2 GB
Hidden items are off by default. Library is hidden too.
What Tidy finds as well
Example from a developer's Mac. Your list will be different.
Thirteen places.
One overview.
Tidy sorts everything into sections you already understand, then lets you open any folder and look inside, hidden files included.
- Applications
- Size and last-used date for every app
- Documents, Desktop, Downloads
- Your folders, including large files buried deep
- Pictures, Music, Movies
- Libraries, treated as one precious item
- App Data
- Chats, containers and Application Support, named by app
- Hidden Files
- Everything starting with a dot in your home folder
- Developer
- Gradle, NDK, simulators, Docker, build folders
- Caches and Logs
- Rebuilt by apps on their own
- Leftovers
- Data from apps you uninstalled
- Large Files
- Anything over 300 MB, anywhere
How the numbers
are worked out.
No estimates. Sizes come from the same disk-usage tool Terminal uses, rolled up per folder, and nothing is counted twice.
Count once
A folder and a file inside it can both be listed. If you select both, the inner one is dropped from every total, so the figure you see is what you actually free.
total = Σ size(selected)
− Σ size(item inside
another selected item)Remember
A measurement is reused while the folder is unchanged and under a day old. Deleting something updates its parents instead of re-scanning.
reuse = mtime unchanged
AND age < 24 h46 sfirst scan on a developer Mac
0.7 severy scan after that, unchanged
13sections
Every item gets a risk level.
Only the risky ones warn you.
Safe
Caches, logs, rebuildable folders, data of apps you removed. Apps rebuild these on their own. Pre-selected, and reviewed in one calm line.
Review
SDKs, build outputs, Docker, old downloads, unfamiliar hidden folders. Not selected for you. The review sheet groups them and says what happens if you delete them.
Critical
Documents, photo libraries, chat backups, git projects, emulator disks. Each one is listed on its own with the exact consequence, and real deletion needs an extra confirmation.
Never touched
Your ~/.ssh folder, anything inside a .git folder, your home folder itself, the Documents, Pictures, Music, Movies, Desktop, Downloads and Library folders as a whole, and anything outside your home folder and Applications. Tidy refuses these even if asked.
Smart scan uses the Claude
you already have.
No API key. Tidy runs the Claude Code command-line tool on your Mac, signed in with your own account, with every tool switched off. Claude can only read the summary Tidy writes for it.
Measure
Folder sizes and large files, on your Mac.
LocalChoose
Claude picks which places deserve a closer look.
ClaudeInspect
Age, git state, project type, contents and file types.
LocalDecide
For each place: what it is, delete or keep, and why.
ClaudeLook closer
Only where Claude said it was unsure.
ClaudeGuard
Tidy overrides anything risky before you see it.
Local
What Claude returns
[ 3, "d", 3,
"Flutter build cache",
"Regenerable; the next build
recreates it." ]A verdict (delete, review or keep), a confidence from 1 to 3, what the item is, and the reason, shown on the item's card.
What it costs
Only new or changed places are sent. Anything Claude judged before is remembered, so a repeat run spends nothing.
17ktokens in, first run
~$0.01on the small Haiku model
Guard rails that do not depend on the model
- A git project with uncommitted changes is never recommended for deletion.
- Personal documents, photos and chats always need your review, whatever Claude says.
- Personal files edited in the last two weeks always stay in review.
- File and folder names in personal areas can be hidden from Claude. Only the kind and size are sent.
- Names are treated as data, never as instructions.
Nothing happens until you say so.
Scanning only reads. Every deletion goes through a review sheet first.
- Dry run is the default. See exactly what would happen, with no changes.
- Your files go to the Trash. Restore them until you empty it.
- Running apps are quit first, so their data is never pulled out from under them.
- Every action is logged with its path and size in
~/Library/Logs. - Nothing is uploaded. The only outside call is the optional Claude step you start yourself.
Built with plain,
boring parts.
No framework, no database, no server. Small enough to read in an afternoon.
Install in a minute.
- Download the DMG and drag Tidy into Applications.
- Open it. If macOS says it cannot verify the developer, right-click Tidy, choose Open, then Open again. This build is not notarized yet.
- Turn on Full Disk Access when Tidy asks. It walks you through it.
Claude Code is optional
Only Smart scan needs it. Everything else works without it. Tidy tells you at first launch and checks for it for you. To add it later:
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
claudeOr build it yourself
git clone https://github.com/rparit-stacks/tidy
cd tidy && npm install
npm start # run it
npm run dmg # build the installer (needs Python 3)Questions people ask.
Is Tidy really free?
Yes. Tidy is free and open source under the MIT license. There is no subscription, no ads and no account. The full source code is on GitHub.
Why does macOS say my Documents are huge when Finder shows very little?
Storage settings group space by kind of file, not by folder, so hidden folders and app data can count toward Documents. Finder hides folders that start with a dot and your Library folder by default. Tidy lists those places one by one so you can see what is using the space.
Is it safe? Will it delete things on its own?
No. Scanning only reads. Every deletion goes through a review sheet, dry run is the default, your own files go to the Trash so you can restore them, and your .ssh folder, git internals and system folders are never touched. Each item is rated Safe, Review or Critical.
Does Tidy upload my files or need an internet connection?
Scanning is fully local and nothing is uploaded. The only outside step is the optional Smart scan, which you start yourself. It sends a short summary to the Claude Code app on your own Mac, and names of personal items can be hidden.
Do I need Claude or an API key?
No. Claude Code is optional and only adds Smart scan, where Claude explains what each large item is and whether it can go. It uses your own Claude login. No API key is needed, and everything else works without it.
Which Macs does Tidy support?
macOS 11 or later on Apple silicon (M-series) in version 1.0. An Intel build is not available yet. The app is not notarized yet, so on first launch right-click it, choose Open, then Open again.
How is Tidy different from other Mac cleaners?
Tidy is a disk-space finder first and a cleaner second. It focuses on explaining where space went: it shows hidden app data and folders Finder does not show, rates each item by risk, and lets you open any folder to look inside. It is free and open source, so you can read exactly what it does.
Made by one person.
I'm Rohit Parit, a backend engineer in New Delhi. I made Tidy after macOS said my Documents were 80 GB and Finder showed 4.
Rohit Parit
Backend engineer. Java, Spring Boot, microservices.
“Backend engineering, crafted with care.”
Open source,
start to finish.
Read the code, change it, send a fix. If it saves you a few gigabytes, a star on GitHub helps others find it.