New in FavTray 2.0.2.
See where your
disk went
FavTray Space is a read-only disk map for your Mac. It shows every folder as a treemap, names what's inside (Xcode, simulators, node_modules, Docker, caches, models), ranks what's worth clearing, and opens the app that owns it. It never deletes, moves or changes a file.
Watch it in action
Space: see what ate your Mac's disk. A read-only treemap of your disk, with what is worth a look. It never deletes a file. Pro.
More videos →Why doesn't Space delete anything?
Because the app that owns the data knows how to remove it safely, and a disk tool with a delete button can take the wrong folder with it. Space points; you remove things in Xcode, Docker, Steam or Finder. FavTray's build checks the Space code and fails if it contains a delete, trash, move or process-launch call. The actions you get are Reveal in Finder, Copy path, Quick Look, Open, and Show in Terminal (which opens Terminal at that folder and runs nothing).
What's in Space?
Overview
Capacity with used, purgeable and free; the known recoverable total; cards for Worth a look, stale projects (untouched for over 90 days), unclassified folders of 5 GB or more, and a search of the last scan.
Treemap
Every folder as a tile, coloured by category. Switch between Size, Files, Age and Tier, set the depth from 1 to 8, filter by name, and show hidden files or apparent size. An inspector shows size, share of the parent, file and folder counts, on-disk and logical size, dates and kind.
Folders
The same scan as a sortable folder list.
Worth a look
Up to six items ranked by size and by how easily they come back.
Big files
The largest files in the scan.
Duplicates
Copies of files over 50 MB in your home folder, and a Big & untouched view of files over 1 GB not opened in six months.
History
What grew this week, a compare of any two scans, and a forecast of when the disk fills.
Scopes
This Mac, every mounted volume, volumes you've unplugged (remembered until you forget them), or any folder you choose. Network shares are scanned only when you ask.
How does Space decide what's worth clearing?
Rules name about 115 kinds of folder that grow on a Mac, and each one gets a recovery tier. Worth a look ranks items by size times how easily they come back, so 20 GB of DerivedData ranks above 20 GB of conda environments, and your own work is never offered. Folders of 5 GB or more that no rule knows are listed as unclassified and treated as protected.
Comes back by itself
Caches and build output that tools rebuild on their own, like Xcode DerivedData or a project's .next and dist folders.
Downloads again
Things you can fetch again, like node_modules, simulator runtimes, Ollama models, or a Steam game you uninstall through Steam.
Costs you hours
Things you could get back, slowly: conda environments, Lightroom Smart Previews, the Trash, your Downloads folder.
Can't be replaced
Your own work, like Xcode Archives, the Docker disk image that holds your volumes, virtual machines and Final Cut libraries. Worth a look never offers these.
| Area | What the rules name |
|---|---|
| Xcode and simulators | DerivedData, Archives, Previews, device support for iOS, watchOS, tvOS and visionOS, simulator devices, runtimes and caches |
| Project build output | node_modules, Cargo target, .next, dist and build, Pods, .gradle, .venv, git worktrees |
| Package caches and toolchains | npm, yarn, pnpm, bun, deno, pip, pyenv, conda, cargo, rustup, Go, Maven, Gradle, Homebrew, CocoaPods, SwiftPM, JetBrains, VS Code, Cursor, Playwright, Puppeteer, Android emulators and system images |
| Containers and VMs | Docker, OrbStack, Colima, Podman, Parallels, UTM |
| Local AI | Ollama (per model), LM Studio, Hugging Face, PyTorch |
| Creative apps | Adobe media cache, After Effects, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut libraries, Lightroom previews, Logic sound library, Figma, Sketch |
| Games | Steam (per title, shader cache, workshop), Epic, Minecraft, Whisky, CrossOver |
| Apps and macOS | Chrome, Slack, Discord, Teams, Zoom, Spotify, system caches and logs, the Trash, old installers in Downloads, Mail and Messages attachments, iPhone backups, Music and TV |
Where do I clear it?
Select an item and "Where to clear it" names the app that owns it, with an Open button and the menu path to the right screen. Space has hand-offs for Xcode, Docker Desktop, OrbStack, Steam, Epic, Photos, Finder (device backups), Messages, Mail, System Settings › Storage, Time Machine, Disk Utility, Ollama, LM Studio, Spotify, Slack, Chrome and Music. For Steam, Storage, Time Machine and Chrome it opens the exact screen. It never copies or runs a shell command.
"What is this?" explains a folder from local rules and marker files. If you want more, Ask Flow AI sends paths, sizes, counts and child names (never file contents) to your own AI provider, and shows you what it will send first.
What grew, and when will the disk fill?
- This week: the top 5 categories and top 5 folders by change.
- Compare: pick any two scans for a list of what changed by 500 MB or more.
- Forecast: "At the rate of the last two weeks, the disk is full in about N days", once there are 3 scans over 2 days.
- Snapshots stay on your Mac for 90 days. On Pro, a daily rules-only refresh runs on AC power when the Mac isn't hot.
- Alerts: low disk (10% free by default, checked hourly; Pro names the top 3 items), a folder that grew by 10 GB in a week, and a new folder of 10 GB or more.
- Export: a CSV of findings (paths off by default), a one-page HTML report, and a treemap PNG with names hidden.
What does Free show?
Space is Pro ($4.99 once, Lifetime, one Mac), and the 7-day trial includes all of it. After the trial, Free keeps a teaser:
- Your real capacity, and used, purgeable and free space
- The known recoverable total, and how much of it comes back by itself or downloads again
- The top 3 categories with their sizes, and their names hidden
- The treemap, drawn blurred
- If nothing was scanned during your trial: one scan of the places FavTray knows by name, stopped at 20 seconds, after you agree to it once
- Totals exported as CSV
- The low-disk alert
Unlock the full map and nothing rescans: the map from your last scan is already there.
Full Disk Access, explained
Space works without Full Disk Access. Without it, macOS hides the size of Mail, Messages, iPhone backups and a few other places, so totals read "at least" and a strip lists what's hidden. Grant access opens System Settings › Privacy & Security › Full Disk Access with a guide docked beside it: find FavTray, turn the switch on, or drag FavTray's icon into the list if it isn't there. macOS applies Full Disk Access when an app launches, so the guide offers Quit & Reopen. Space scans again once access is on. More in why macOS asks for permissions again.
Frequently asked questions
Does FavTray Space delete files?
No. Space is read-only: it never deletes, moves or changes a file, and FavTray's build fails if the Space code contains a delete, trash, move or process-launch call. It shows you what takes space and where to clear it; you do the removing in the app that owns the data, or in Finder.
What is taking up space on my Mac?
For developers it's usually Xcode DerivedData and simulators, node_modules and other build output, package caches, Docker or OrbStack disk images and local AI models. Space's treemap shows it by folder and category, and Worth a look ranks what you can clear by size and by how easily it comes back.
Is Space free?
Space is part of Pro, a one-time $4.99 Lifetime license, and every install gets it free for 7 days. Free shows a teaser: your capacity, the known recoverable total, the top 3 categories with names hidden, a blurred treemap and a totals CSV.
Does Space need Full Disk Access?
No. Without it, protected places like Mail, Messages and iPhone backups can't be sized, so totals read "at least". A strip offers Grant access, which opens a guide beside System Settings, and Space scans again once access is on.
How does Space find duplicate files?
It reads files over 50 MB in your home folder (not ~/Library). Files that match in size are compared on their first and last 64 KB, and only then hashed in full with SHA-256. APFS clones and hard links are marked as already shared, because removing one frees nothing. The scan is throttled and pauses on battery.
What does "Where to clear it" do?
It opens the app that owns the data, such as Xcode, Docker Desktop, Steam or System Settings › Storage, and shows the menu path to the right screen. It never copies or runs a shell command.
Does Space send my file list anywhere?
No FavTray server receives your scan. Scans and 90 days of snapshots stay on your Mac. "What is this?" answers from local rules first; only if you click Ask Flow AI are paths, sizes, counts and child names sent to the AI provider you set up, never file contents, and you see a preview first.
Can Space scan external drives?
Yes. Scopes lists every mounted volume with its format and capacity, remembers volumes you unplug, and lets you choose any folder. Network shares are scanned only when you ask.
The long version, with the Terminal commands: What's eating your Mac's disk? A developer's read-only guide. Live disk usage, CPU and memory are in System.
Find the space, keep the files
Space comes with every FavTray Pro license, next to AI Usage, Ports, GitHub and the rest.