Can DaisyDisk find what's filling my disk and safely remove app leftovers?
4 apps · 9 factors
Scored for the goal: Find what fills my disk and remove app leftovers safely
Quick answer
From the sourced cells below · nobody pays for a position
Buy once, no subscription
DaisyDisk
$9.99 one-time
Free to use
Pearcleaner
Free
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One judgement per cell. Click a row to read every app’s answer; click a cell to open that answer’s sources.
50%Misses App leftover removal | 100%App leftover removal unknown | 79%Browsable disk usage unknown |  100%Browsable disk usage unknown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Features | ||||
| App leftover removalYes★ | No | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Browsable disk usageYes★ | ✓ | ✓ | – | – |
| Review before removalYes★ | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Deletion BehaviorHas Moving files to Trash★ | Permanent deletion · Purgeable-space… | Delete files & folders | Move to Trash | – |
| Previously removed appsYes★ | – | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cleanup Exclusions | – | NameAbsolute pathFile type+3 | FilesFoldersKeywords | FilesFoldersApps+5 |
| Large File Discovery | Interactive sunburst map sizes… | Treemap rectangles scale with… | File results sort alphabetically,… | Large/old file discovery |
| Purchase | ||||
| Current price | $9.99 once +1 | $2.99 once | Free | $39.95/yr +7 |
| Product | ||||
| What it does | Get a visual breakdown… | Graphically shows disk usage… | Utility to uninstall apps… | CleanMyMac Clean & protect… |
Head to head
Two apps side by side, full answers, nothing truncated. Swap either side.
No — no automatic association-based app leftover removal. Users can manually inspect large caches/libraries in ~/Library/Application Support and delete selected files with the paid version; the official guide recommends AppDelete for removing an application with all settings and data.
Checked the available sources and found no traceable answer. That is not a “no”.
Yes — interactive sunburst map and sidebar show file/folder sizes, sorted by size, with folder drill-down and expandable smaller-object groups. Scans disks or selected folders across internal, external, network and virtual storage; paid cloud scanning supports Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and Box. Basic browsing works in the trial. Restricted areas may remain hidden; administrator scanning/revealing hidden space requires paid standalone, and Full Disk Access may be necessary.
Yes — browsable folder/file size treemap; no stated tier restrictions
Yes — expand the Collector to preview queued files and exclude individual items by dragging them out or clicking × before Delete. A 5-second cancellation window follows; deletion is permanent. Preview works in the trial, but deletion requires the paid version. Protected folders cannot be queued; grouped items must be expanded. The Mac App Store edition also lacks deletion of “stuck” files.
Checked the available sources and found no traceable answer. That is not a “no”.
Permanently deletes selected files/folders through the Collector, bypassing Trash; selections remain intact until Delete, followed by a 5-second cancellation window. Deletion requires purchase. Standalone edition also deletes stuck files and reclaims purgeable space/local snapshots; Mac App Store edition only detects purgeable space. System-critical folders and Time Machine backup-volume files are protected; consolidated groups must be expanded first. Local snapshots can delay actual space reuse
Delete files and folders from the view; Trash vs. permanent deletion and conditions unspecified
Checked the available sources and found no traceable answer. That is not a “no”.
Checked the available sources and found no traceable answer. That is not a “no”.
Checked the available sources and found no traceable answer. That is not a “no”.
Exclude by name, absolute path, file type/conformance, hard-link status, package status, or file-size threshold; a built-in “No cloud files” filter skips cloud folders. Apply to files, folders, or both; save a default scan filter or use view filters/masks. File-only tests cannot target folders; folder tests always exclude. Packages are filtered as folders with contents shown, otherwise as whole files. Deleting a parent folder also trashes excluded contents. Same features in both channels.
Interactive sunburst map sizes segments by file/folder usage and automatically sorts them by size; hover for sidebar contents, click folders to drill down, and expand “smaller objects” to inspect grouped files. Quick Look previews help identify candidates; packages can be expanded. No configurable size threshold, age filter or alternate sorting is documented. Basic scanning, browsing and previews work in the trial; cloud scanning and administrator scanning require the paid standalone version.
Treemap rectangles scale with file size; navigate folders, zoom, inspect names/sizes, search by name, and mask/filter files above or below a user-set size limit. Color by size, creation time, modification time, or last access time to spot large/old files. Placement is otherwise arbitrary; numeric age filters and list-sorting options are not documented. No fixed size threshold or tier restriction is stated.
Website: USD $9.99 one-time lifetime license for up to 5 personal Macs; corporate, volume, site and portable IT licenses available through support, prices unpublished; student discounts available, with developer-linked partner advertising 50% off (final price unverified; partner membership USD $20/year after 7 free days). Mac App Store (US): USD $9.99 one-time app purchase, Family Sharing for up to 6 members. Business licensing covers one person's computers or one shared computer; otherwise buy
Website: Free, full app via SourceForge; Mac App Store (US): USD $2.99 one-time purchase, same app with automatic updates.
Get a visual breakdown of your disk space in form of an interactive map, reveal the biggest space wasters, and remove them with a simple drag and drop.
Graphically shows disk usage within a file system
Cost over time
Plays from month 1 to year 10 when you scroll here. Each bar is split by year; a one-time purchase stays one block.
Releases
Each dot is a release. The hatched bar runs from the last release to today; its color says whether that gap is normal for the app.
Every app with a dated changelog is shipping at its usual pace.
Score
A reference score weighted by the priorities set for this research. Nobody pays for placement.
Reference score
Priority-weighted · 65% evidence · 2 must-have · 3 important
| App | Score | Payment | Price | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11pts | Free | Free | 8 / 9 | |
| 11pts | One-time · Subscription | $9.95/mo · $15.95/mo | 7 / 9 |
| 8pts | One-time · Subscription | Free · $9.99 | 7 / 9 |
| 5pts | Free · One-time | Site: Free App Store: $2.99 once | 6 / 9 |
Sources
Where every claim comes from, when it was checked, and how to report an error.
How this report was made
Every cell links to the page it came from. Nobody pays to change a score.
- Report ID
- TMA-0TBARNK
- Sources
- 43
- Verified cells
- 28/36 (78%)
- Last checked
- Oct 18, 2026
- Reading saved
- ≈ 3 h
Scoring
Must-have factors weigh 5 and important ones 3; only these are scored, or the first five factors if none are marked. An app earns a factor's weight only when a cited source confirms it, and unknown cells count for no one. A pick is named only when the lead is larger than everything still unresolved could swing. Reading time assumes about 4 minutes per source. Full methodology
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