Violet shield surrounding a teal broom

Cleanup and security for your Mac

Clean up your Mac. Check what runs on it.

MacSweep finds the caches, logs and leftovers taking up space, shows where the rest of your disk went, and checks what starts with your Mac against the Apple XProtect rules it can read, showing how many it applied. Nothing is removed until you confirm. Review lists show every item; Overview’s Run shows the categories it will clean first.

Download for Mac
brew install --cask prerakgada/tap/macsweep
  • 0.1.0 alpha
  • Apple Silicon · macOS 26 or newer
  • Nothing removed until you confirm

Everything in one window

Every part of MacSweep works the same way: scan, look at what it found, choose what should go, confirm, then see exactly what happened. The screens below are the app's own renders of a generated test Mac: the junk, the apps and the malware look-alikes in them were planted for testing, not found on anyone's Mac.

Overview

One scan for the whole Mac

Overview runs the Cleanup, Protection, Performance, Applications and Clutter scans together and puts what each found on its own card. Run cleans only the recommended categories, after a sheet that lists them and their sizes.

  • A health score from 0 to 100, built from free space, flagged items, security settings worth changing, memory pressure and the time since your last cleanup, with a sentence that says why.
  • The last ten runs, with how much was freed and what was found.
  • Works without Full Disk Access, and marks the places it could not read.
The Overview after a scan: a health score ring, a sentence on what was found, and cards for Cleanup, Protection, Performance, Applications and Clutter.

Cleanup

Junk, sorted and explained

User caches, logs, Xcode and developer leftovers, old installers, iOS backups, browser caches and the Trash, each in its own category with its size and a sentence on what it is. Only user caches, logs, broken login items and Xcode and developer caches start selected; everything else waits for you to choose.

  • Developer caches it knows by name: Xcode DerivedData, older device support (the newest for each device is kept), Homebrew, npm, pnpm, Gradle, CocoaPods, SwiftPM and more.
  • Large developer data such as Docker images and local AI models is shown with an explanation, never selected for you.
  • Files kept in iCloud but not downloaded are never deleted.
  • After a clean it reports its estimate and the free space macOS actually measured, plus anything it could not remove and why.
Cleanup's review list: categories with sizes on the left, and the items in User Cache Files with their checkboxes and sizes on the right.

Protection

A close look at what starts on its own

MacSweep lists everything set to run without you: launch agents and daemons, login and background items, browser extensions, shell startup files, configuration profiles, plug-ins and more. It checks how each program is signed and notarized, then matches it against the Apple XProtect rules it can read and a sourced list of known Mac malware families. Every result says how many of those rules were applied.

  • It also checks Downloads, Applications and shared folders, because many stealers install nothing that starts at login.
  • Every flagged item says why, with its score and the rules behind it. Items you know can be allowed; a changed program is flagged again.
  • A settings checklist: FileVault, the macOS firewall, Gatekeeper, remote login, screen sharing, apps allowed to see your screen (when macOS lets it read them) and processes watching the keyboard.
  • Quarantine moves a flagged item into a zip archive you can restore from Settings.
  • Results say what was checked and against which rules, for example how many startup items, apps and downloads were matched against XProtect. They never promise more than that.
Protection explaining one launch agent planted on the test Mac: a match against a test XProtect signature, then each rule that added to its score of 120, beside details of the program it runs, how it is signed and when it starts.

Performance

Maintenance, login items and what is running now

Small fixes that still do something on current macOS. Everything that opens with your Mac in one list, with the vendor behind each item, whether it is running, and a switch to turn it off. A live view of memory pressure, CPU and the busiest apps, sampled only while you are looking at it.

  • Maintenance: reset Quick Look, rebuild the “Open With” list, restart Finder and the Dock, flush the DNS cache, restart Bluetooth, and reindex Spotlight with a warning that it takes a while.
  • Tasks marked “Needs your password” ask for it once, together.
  • An item you turn off is moved aside, so you can turn it back on.
Performance: maintenance tasks, each with what it fixes and how long it takes; the two quick ones are recommended and ticked, the ones that need a password say so, and the ones that interrupt something carry a warning. Login Items, Background Items and the Resource Monitor sit beside them.

Applications

Uninstall apps and everything they left

Every app in Applications, your own Applications folder, Setapp and Homebrew, with its size, vendor, where it came from and when it was last used. Uninstall removes the app together with the support files, caches, preferences and launch agents you tick.

  • Apps with no record of use in 90 days, that are not running and do not start at login, are grouped so you can decide.
  • Leftovers from apps you already deleted, found and sized.
  • Unsigned or unnotarized apps are flagged, using the same checks as Protection.
  • Removed apps and their files go to the Trash.
Applications: installed apps with filters by source and vendor, each with its version, last use and size, and flags for unused, suspicious or running apps.

Storage Map and Clutter

See where the space went

Storage Map scans a disk or a folder and draws it to scale: the biggest folders take the most room, and clicking one opens it. Clutter finds large files you have not opened in months, exact duplicates, old downloads and screenshots left on the Desktop.

  • Bubbles or blocks (a treemap), with a list of the same folders beside it.
  • Every volume, with its used, purgeable and free space.
  • Duplicates are matched on their full contents, and the oldest copy is kept unless you choose otherwise.
  • Anything you remove goes to the Trash.
Storage Map inside a home folder: bubbles sized by the space each folder takes, a tooltip on Library, and the same folders listed with their sizes beside it.

Command line and AI

Ask from Terminal, or let your assistant ask

The macsweep command runs every scan MacSweep can do and prints the results as text or JSON. macsweep mcp connects it to an AI assistant such as Claude Code, so you can ask what is using your disk or what starts at login and get the real answer.

  • Talks only to the MacSweep app on the same Mac, which has to be open.
  • Commands that would remove something only print the plan unless you add --yes. The assistant's tools default to a dry run.
macsweep scan cleanup
macsweep protect scan --json
macsweep lens top ~/Library --depth 2
claude mcp add macsweep -- macsweep mcp

What it does not do

A cleanup and security app is only useful if you know where it stops. Here is where MacSweep does.

  • It is not an antivirus

    It checks your Mac when you ask, against the Apple XProtect rules it can read and a list of known Mac malware families. It cannot promise to catch new or unknown malware, and it does not replace the protection built into macOS.

  • No real-time protection

    Nothing runs in the background watching your files or downloads. A check happens when you start one.

  • It is not a firewall

    It does not filter network traffic. It tells you whether the macOS firewall is on and opens the setting for you.

  • Purgeable space is explained, not promised

    macOS frees purgeable space by itself when it needs room. MacSweep shows how much there is and what is holding it. It has no button that pretends to free it all.

  • No memory “boost”

    macOS manages memory well on its own. MacSweep shows memory pressure and the busiest apps, but there is no button that claims to free RAM.

  • It does not delete files that are only in iCloud

    Removing a file that lives only in iCloud would free nothing on this Mac and delete it from your other devices, so MacSweep leaves those alone.

What stays on your Mac

Scan results stay on your Mac. The app goes online for feedback you send and for update checks if you turn them on. Signing and notarization checks use only information already available on your Mac.

  • Scans stay on your Mac

    What it finds is kept in its own folder on your Mac and never uploaded. There is no analytics or telemetry in the app.

  • What goes online

    Only feedback you send, and update checks if you turn them on. Feedback carries what you wrote plus the app version, macOS version and Mac model. Update checks are off until you turn them on in Settings; then they read each app's update feed and ask Homebrew which apps have newer versions.

  • Offline signing checks

    MacSweep checks signing and notarization without network access. A program without a stapled ticket or a cached result can appear as not notarized; that is a limit of the offline check, not proof that the program is harmful.

  • An assistant reads what you ask it to

    The command line and the AI connector talk to the app on your Mac only. An assistant sees the results it asks for; what it does with them is up to that assistant and its provider.

  • This website

    This site counts page views and downloads with its own cookieless counter: no cookies, and nothing shared.

  • The download form is optional

    Before a download this site may ask for your name, email, what you do and a referral code. Every field is optional and Skip and download is always there. Only used to understand who uses MacSweep. Never shared or sold.

Install

  1. Download it

    Get the disk image, or install it with Homebrew in Terminal.

    Download MacSweep
    brew install --cask prerakgada/tap/macsweep

    MacSweep-0.1.0.dmg · Needs a Mac with Apple Silicon and macOS 26 or newer.

  2. Move it to Applications

    Open the disk image and drag MacSweep into your Applications folder, then open it. Homebrew does the moving for you. Nothing is scanned until you press Scan.

  3. Allow Full Disk Access, if you want

    MacSweep explains what Full Disk Access unlocks and opens the right pane in System Settings. You can continue without it; it marks the places it could not read.

Update with brew upgrade --cask macsweep. Remove it with brew uninstall --cask macsweep, or drag it to the Trash.

Questions

Is MacSweep an antivirus?

No. It checks your Mac when you ask it to: what starts on its own, how each program is signed, the Apple XProtect rules it can read (it shows how many it applied) and a list of known Mac malware families. It does not watch your Mac in the background and does not replace the protection built into macOS.

Will it delete anything without asking?

No. Nothing is removed until you confirm. Review lists show every item; Overview’s Run shows the categories it will clean first; the command line removes nothing without --yes, and the assistant’s tools default to a dry run. Only user caches, logs, broken login items and Xcode and developer caches start selected, your own files go to the Trash, and every removal is written to a history you can export from Settings.

Why does it ask for Full Disk Access?

macOS keeps some folders closed to every app, such as Mail and Safari data. With Full Disk Access MacSweep can check those too. It works without it and tells you which places it could not read.

Can it free my purgeable space?

Not directly. Purgeable space is held by macOS, for example local Time Machine snapshots and iCloud files that can be downloaded again, and released when the space is needed. Local Time Machine snapshots can be thinned on request: when they exist, MacSweep can ask Time Machine to remove the ones it no longer needs, after you confirm. It shows the real numbers either way.

Can I use it from Terminal or with an AI assistant?

Yes. macsweep runs every scan and prints text or JSON, and macsweep mcp lets an assistant such as Claude Code use the same tools. The app has to be open. Anything that would remove files only shows its plan until you confirm.

Does the app send anything over the internet?

Only feedback you send, and update checks if you turn them on. Feedback is a problem report or message you write and press Send on; an update check reads apps' update feeds and asks Homebrew for newer versions. Signing and notarization checks are offline. Scan results stay in the app's folder on your Mac, and there is no analytics or telemetry in the app.

Which Macs does it run on?

Macs with Apple Silicon running macOS 26 or newer.