mac-cleanup-go

Preview-first TUI for cleaning macOS caches, logs, and temporary files.

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Overview

Select items that take up space and delete them yourself.
By default, items go to Trash; only the Trash category empties it permanently.
Risky categories are unselected by default; even when selected, items are auto-excluded. (Include them in Preview to delete.)
Manual categories show guides only.
Scope: caches/logs/temp and selected app data (no system optimization or uninstaller).

demo

Quick Start

1) Install

brew install mac-cleanup-go

Or download the archive from GitHub Releases.

2) Optional: Full Disk Access (needed for Trash/restricted locations) System Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Full Disk Access -> add Terminal

3) Run

mac-cleanup

Tip: Use Enter to preview, then y to proceed with deletion. Press ? to see key bindings.

demo

Update: brew upgrade mac-cleanup-go or mac-cleanup --update.
Uninstall: brew uninstall mac-cleanup-go.
Debug: mac-cleanup --debug saves log to ~/.config/mac-cleanup-go/debug.log.

Key bindings

List view:

Up/Down or k/j: move
Space: select category
a: select all, d: deselect all
Enter or p: preview selection
?: help, q: quit

Preview view:

Up/Down or k/j: move
h/l: previous/next category
Space: toggle exclude
Enter: drill into directory
/: search, s: sort, o: open in Finder
a: include all, d: exclude all
y: delete (confirm), esc: back

Confirm view:

y or Enter: confirm
n or esc: cancel

CLI mode

Configure targets and clean from the command line.

mac-cleanup --select                   # Configure cleanup targets
mac-cleanup --clean --dry-run          # Preview cleanup report
mac-cleanup --clean                    # Execute cleanup

For command-line cleanup, see the examples below.

Example output

1) Select targets

$ mac-cleanup --select

Select cleanup targets ● safe ○ moderate ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Name Size [ ] ● Trash 0 B [✓] ○ App Caches 3.2 GB [✓] ○ System Logs 259.7 MB ▸ [✓] ● Go Build Cache 845.0 MB [✓] ○ Docker 2.8 GB [✓] ● Homebrew Cache 1.5 GB [ ] ● Chrome Cache 0 B ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Selected: 5 ↑/↓ Move space Select s Save ? Help q Cancel

2) Preview / Clean

$ mac-cleanup --clean --dry-run Dry Run Report Mode: Dry Run Summary Highlights Freed (dry-run): 8.6 GB 1. App Caches - 3.2 GB (523 items) 2. Docker - 2.8 GB (12 items) 3. Homebrew Cache - 1.5 GB (34 items)

Details STATUS CATEGORY ITEMS SIZE OK App Caches 523 3.2 GB OK Docker 12 2.8 GB OK Homebrew Cache 34 1.5 GB OK Go Build Cache 89 845.0 MB OK System Logs 67 259.7 MB

How it works & safety

Scans known cache/log/temp paths across apps and tools in parallel.
Lets you preview items and exclude what you want to keep.
Labels targets by impact level (safe, moderate, risky, manual).
SIP-protected paths are excluded from scan/cleanup.
Built-in scans for Homebrew, Docker, and old downloads (brew/docker output or last-modified time filtering).

Impact levels

safe: auto-regenerated caches/logs.
moderate: may require re-download or re-login.
risky: user data possible; items start excluded.
manual: no automatic deletion; shows an app guide only.

Targets (as of v1.3.6)

Total targets: 107.
Groups: System 7, Browsers 10, Development 35, Applications 52, Storage 3.
Cleanup methods: trash 101, permanent 1, builtin 3, manual 2.
Builtins: homebrew, docker, old-downloads (built-in scanners using brew/docker output or last-modified time filtering).
Manual: telegram, kakaotalk (no automatic deletion; surfaces large data like chat caches).
Counts are release-based and may change over time.

Alternatives

mac-cleanup-py - Python cleanup script for macOS
Mole - Deep clean and optimize your Mac

License

MIT

NAME

SYNOPSIS

INFO

DESCRIPTION

README