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MacSpace

A System Data and Apple Intelligence cleaner for macOS.

!macOS 27+

MacSpace shows what fills System Data and frees what is safe to delete. It switches Apple Intelligence off and deletes the models macOS keeps on disk afterwards. It frees the files apps marked purgeable, and it can turn off the analytics and background data collection that macOS lets you control. It is free and open source, and it collects no data about you.

Download MacSpace · Privacy Policy · Security · Changelog

What it does

MacSpace has four modules. You can switch them on or off in Settings.

System Data. System Data is the part of the disk that System Settings does not explain. MacSpace works it out the way System Settings does (used space, less macOS and every other category), so the figure is close to the one you see there. Then it breaks it down: caches, logs, reports, system assets, app data, document version history.

The main button, Free, deletes what is safe. Items that need more care have their own buttons. For everything that belongs to macOS or to other apps, MacSpace says what it is and what to do by hand. App caches can be chosen too: Free asks before it quits an open app. Or choose another installed cleaner to handle app caches instead of MacSpace in the app settings.

Siri & Apple Intelligence. Switched off, MacSpace sets Siri to a language other than your Mac's. That is how macOS decides that Apple Intelligence is unavailable. MacSpace then deletes the models macOS keeps on disk, which can be about 12 GB. Switch it on again and MacSpace puts your Siri language and voice back.

Three more switches turn off the following features and delete the models left on disk: Siri, Spatial Photos and Call transcription.

Other System Files. Space outside System Data that macOS counts as purgeable. macOS frees it when the disk is nearly full. Free up to forces macOS to do the cleaning. Copies of cloud files kept on this Mac (OneDrive, iCloud Drive and other cloud folders) have a row and a button of their own, Remove Downloads. The files stay in the cloud and download again when you open them. This module also cleans stale macOS updates and old Time Machine snapshots.

Debloat. Twelve switches for analytics, advertising and background data collection. If the toggle is on, it means MacSpace switched that feature off. While MacSpace runs, it checks every 15 minutes and switches off again anything macOS turned back on.

| Switch | What it does | Takes effect after | |---|---|---| | Share analytics with Apple | Stops sending usage and crash data to Apple and app developers. | Toggle | | Improve Siri & Dictation | Stops sharing Siri and Dictation recordings with Apple. | Toggle | | Dictation and translation on Apple servers | Dictation and translation stay on this Mac. Languages without an on-device model stop working. | Reopening apps | | Personalized ads | Apple stops picking ads based on what you do. | Reopening apps | | Advertising identifier | Apps can't track you with the advertising identifier or ask to. | Reopening apps | | Siri AI search | Stops the Siri AI search app. Spotlight goes back to classic search. Siri itself is on the Siri & Apple Intelligence page. | A restart | | Visual Intelligence | Turns off Visual Intelligence. Visual Look Up may stop working too. | A restart | | Spotlight internet results | Spotlight stops sending your searches to Apple. No more web results in Spotlight. | Reopening apps | | Hang tracing (tailspin) | Stops macOS from constantly recording activity for hang reports. Frees about 100 MB of memory. | Toggle | | Crash report dialog | No more "quit unexpectedly" dialogs. | A restart | | Game Center | Turns off Game Center. | Logging out | | Apple News | Hides Apple News and its widgets. | Logging out |

Five of these are policies. Disabling one asks you to approve a profile in System Settings once (see Permissions). On macOS beta, the analytics switch is a policy too.

Also in MacSpace. Clean automatically frees what the modules can free without asking, while MacSpace is running. Recent cleanups offer a history of what was cleaned. When the window closes, MacSpace can quit, keep running in the menu bar (the default) or keep running unseen in the background. Right-click the menu bar icon for easy access to each module.

Install

Homebrew

brew install --cask 1architect/macspace/macspace

Direct download (DMG)

Download the latest MacSpace-x.y.z.dmg from Releases, open it, and drag MacSpace to your Applications folder.

Each release also has MacSpace-x.y.z.dmg.sha256. To check your download, put both files in one folder and run:

shasum -a 256 -c MacSpace-x.y.z.dmg.sha256

It prints MacSpace-x.y.z.dmg: OK. MacSpace is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple. Check Security for more information.

Requirements

macOS 27 or later, on Apple Silicon.

Updates and settings

MacSpace updates with Sparkle. Choose Check for Updates… in the MacSpace menu, or Check Now under Settings > Updates. **Check for updates automatically**, in the same place, lets MacSpace look about once a day while it runs. Every update is signed, and Sparkle checks the signature before installing anything.

First launch and permissions

On a new install, MacSpace starts with what it needs, one screen at a time: **Allow Full Disk Access, Approve the helper, Get notified, then You're all set**. Each step can wait (Later), and steps you have already done are skipped. You can come back to them in Settings > Permissions.

| Permission | Where you give it | Why MacSpace needs it | Modules | |---|---|---|---| | Full Disk Access | System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access | To measure everything on the disk, and to read the state of Apple Intelligence. | System Data, Siri & Apple Intelligence | | Privileged helper | System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions, under Allow in the Background | A small program that does the few things that need an administrator (see below). | System Data, Siri & Apple Intelligence, Debloat | | Notifications | macOS asks the first time | To tell you when something finished or needs you. | All | | Configuration profile | System Settings > General > Device Management | Applies the Debloat policies you turn on. Needed only for the policies (five; six on a macOS beta). | Debloat |

Other System Files needs no permission of its own. macOS handles every authorization, so MacSpace never sees your password.

The helper is a launch daemon, com.macspace.helper. It runs only named operations that are built into it, a caller cannot send it commands, and it accepts only clients signed by the same developer team as MacSpace. See Security for more info.

Safety

Items MacSpace deletes

• Caches that apps rebuild: the caches in the per-user system cache folder (/var/folders/…/C)

• The copies macOS makes of an app when it checks it (/var/folders/…/X), for the space they hold

• Diagnostic and crash reports older than 7 days, in /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports and

• Unused system assets, Apple Intelligence models that macOS has released, and files apps marked

• Only when you press its own button: the document version history, the leftover files of an

• Only when you press its own button: the system log, with Apple's own log erase; the symbols

• Only the caches you choose under App caches: folders in ~/Library/Caches and, with Full Disk

• Only from the Homebrew row: Homebrew's own brew cleanup, run as you, without uninstalling

Untouched items. MacSpace only measures how much space your documents, Photos, Mail and Messages take. It lists large items such as unfinished downloads, macOS restore images and virtual machines. It leaves other apps' data alone and says how to clean it from inside the app. It does not read or delete your personal files. It does not turn off System Integrity Protection and does not change the sealed system volume.

Permissions during use. Every button that deletes more than one app's caches asks for confirmation. Free on the document version history, the system log, the Trash and Time Machine's snapshots and backups carries a Cannot be undone badge. The **Apple Intelligence** switch and the single Debloat switches act at once, and go back by themselves if the change fails.

Reversible actions. Debloat: switch a feature back on, or press Enable all. MacSpace restores the settings it saved before it changed them. Apple Intelligence and Siri related options: switch it on again. MacSpace restores your Siri language and voice, and macOS may download the models again. Deleted caches rebuild. Deleted reports, version history, logs, items in the Trash, snapshots and backups do not come back.

How macOS behaves, with measurements, is in Docs/Research.md.

Privacy

MacSpace has no analytics, no telemetry, no crash reporting and no account. What it measures, your cleanup history and your settings stay on your Mac, under ~/Library/Application Support/MacSpace/. The network is used for one thing: updates. MacSpace reads a small update feed on GitHub and, if you accept an update, downloads it from GitHub. It sends no system profile and no identifier. Every file it writes, and everything it reads, is in the Privacy Policy and the Security Policy.

Uninstall

To uninstall please use MacSpace uninstaller. In the menu bar press MacSpace then About MacSpace then click Uninstall. The uninstaller automates the process below.

If you prefer to do it manually please follow the order below:

1. Undo what MacSpace changed. In Debloat, press Enable all. This also removes the

1. Remove the profile, if one is still installed: in System Settings > General > Device

1. Quit MacSpace (Quit MacSpace in the MacSpace menu, or in the menu of its menu bar

/Applications/MacSpace.app/Contents/MacOS/MacSpaceCli helper --unregister

1. Remove the app: brew uninstall --cask macspace (add --zap to remove its data and

1. Remove its data and preferences:

rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/MacSpace ~/Library/Logs/MacSpace ~/Library/Caches/com.macspace.app
   defaults delete com.macspace.app
   sudo rm -rf /Library/Application\ Support/MacSpace

1. Remove Full Disk Access: in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access, select

Build from source

The source is this repository. Docs/Handoff.md explains how it is put together. You need macOS 27 and Xcode 27.

export DEVELOPER_DIR=/Applications/Xcode-beta.app/Contents/Developer
swift test
INSTALL=1 Scripts/Assemble.sh

The last command builds Build/MacSpace.app and copies it to /Applications. Without a Developer ID certificate, the build is signed ad hoc and not notarized, and macOS asks for Full Disk Access again after each build. A build you make yourself has no update key, so it never checks for updates.

Support and contributing

[email protected]

Bugs, ideas and wrong translations: GitHub Issues. Security problems: never a public issue, see SECURITY.md. To contribute, read CONTRIBUTING.md. Everyone who takes part follows the Code of Conduct. Changes are listed in the Changelog.

License

MacSpace is free software under the MIT License. Copyright (c) 2026 1architect. See LICENSE. The English text is the binding one. The translations in LICENSE..md are for convenience. Third-party notices are in NOTICE.

MacSpace is not affiliated with Apple. Apple Intelligence, Siri and macOS are trademarks of Apple Inc.