Free Space is where Crumb finds room you can get back: app and browser caches, developer tools, logs, leftovers from updates, and the Trash. You see everything it found, with sizes and a reason for each, before anything is removed.
Run a scan
Click Find space to free. The scan only reads your disk, so nothing changes until you confirm a cleanup. You can also start a scan from Analyze Disk... in Crumb's menu bar menu.
The Trash row on this screen shows how much is in your Trash. Empty Trash… empties it after asking once.
If more than 90% of your disk is in use, you'll see Your disk is almost full under the bar.
Read the list
The bar at the top shows how much is available now and how much you'll have after cleaning what is ticked. The results come in two sections.
Rebuilds itself
Apps and tools make these again when they need them, so removing them is safe. You'll see groups such as App caches, Browser caches, Developer caches, Xcode, Build folders, AI tools, Logs & temporary files and Old system files. Everything here starts ticked.
The Trash is in this section and starts ticked too, but it's the exception: what's in it is emptied for good and doesn't come back.
Your call
These don't come back once removed, so nothing here is ticked for you. Open the section to look through it. It can include old installers, backups and attachments, old downloads, AI sessions, developer leftovers and old histories. The AI sessions group has its own setting for how old a session must be before it is listed.
Working with the list
- Every row says what it is and why it is there, such as "Xcode rebuilds it on your next build."
- Click the arrow beside a group to see what's in it. Tick or untick a whole group, or single items.
- Type in Filter to find something by name.
- Largest items, at the end of the list, shows the five biggest things the scan found.
- The line at the bottom counts how many items are ticked.
Items you can't tick
Crumb won't remove files an open app is using. They're listed under In use by open apps, one line per app, with how much space quitting it would free. Quit the app, then click Scan again.
"Crumb could not look in some places"
macOS only lets apps with Full Disk Access look in some folders. If the scan skipped any, a note above the list says how many. Click Open settings, turn Crumb on under Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access, then scan again. If macOS asks to reopen Crumb, let it.
Crumb works without Full Disk Access. It just can't count those places.
Clean
When the list looks right, click Get back and the amount at the top. Crumb asks once more, naming how many items and how much space:
Click Clean to go ahead, or Cancel to go back to the list.
Cleaning is permanent. What you clean is deleted for good, not moved to the Trash, and there is no undo. That's why only the Trash and things that rebuild themselves start ticked.
After cleaning
Crumb shows how much space came back and how much you now have. If anything couldn't be removed, it's listed with the reason, usually that its app is open. Done takes you back to whatever is left in the list.
Finder and About This Mac can take a few minutes to show the new free space after a big cleanup. Crumb shows it straight away.
Your receipt
Click View receipt for a card of what this cleanup removed. You can Copy image, Save PNG or Share… it. Untick Show app names to keep the card general.
On the free plan
Scanning is always free, and the free version includes one cleanup. After that, Crumb shows the Crumb Pro screen when you clean. If you activate a key there, the cleanup you started carries on. See Crumb Pro and your license key.
