Bytes, bygone.
A free, open-source macOS disk cleaner built with SwiftUI. Bytegone safely scans your Mac for reclaimable cache files, build artifacts, logs, and downloads — then moves them to Trash with your confirmation. It never touches system files or your work.
Bytegone is a lightweight macOS menu-bar app that helps you reclaim disk space by cleaning up 13 well-known reclaimable locations on your Mac. Built specifically for developers, it targets Xcode DerivedData, iOS Simulator caches, npm/yarn/pnpm caches, Docker artifacts, Homebrew, VS Code storage, JetBrains caches, and more.
Unlike command-line tools that use rm, Bytegone only moves items to Trash — everything is recoverable. It also includes a built-in SafetyGuard that blocks system directories, your work folders, and any path containing secrets like .git, .env, .ssh, or credentials.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| 13 Cleanup Categories | User caches, Xcode DerivedData, simulator caches, app containers, logs, trash, old downloads, CocoaPods, pip, Hugging Face, Ollama, VS Code, JetBrains |
| Developer Tools | One-click Docker prune, Homebrew cleanup, plus recommended commands for npkill and cargo-sweep |
| Scheduled Cleanup | Daily or weekly auto-cleanup with native macOS notifications |
| Full Disk Access | Detects missing permissions and deep-links to System Settings |
| Menu Bar Integration | Live gauge, top categories, schedule strip, and quick scan from the menu bar |
| Safety First | Hard-coded blocklist for system paths, work directories, and sensitive files |
Get the latest release:
- Bytegone.dmg — Recommended, double-click to open
- Bytegone.zip — Lightweight alternative
Or build from source:
./build.sh
open dist/Bytegone.appInstall to Applications:
cp -R dist/Bytegone.app /Applications/Package for distribution (DMG + zip):
./package.shRequirements: macOS 14+ (Sonoma), Xcode Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install).
- Free & Open Source — No subscriptions, no ads, no data collection.
- Trash-Only Cleanup — Everything goes to Trash. Nothing is permanently deleted.
- Developer-Focused — Knows about Xcode, npm, Docker, Homebrew, and more.
- Privacy-First — No network connections. No analytics. Your data never leaves your Mac.
- Menu Bar Native — Lives in your menu bar, ready when you need it.
- docs/ARCHITECTURE.md — Code layout, data flow, view hierarchy
- docs/CATEGORIES.md — Every cleanup category, paths scanned, accent colors
- docs/SAFETY.md — Safety guard rules, what's protected, how to audit
- docs/FEATURES.md — Schedule, Permissions, Developer Tools details
- docs/DEVELOPMENT.md — Building, debugging, regenerating the icon
Items are moved to Trash, never deleted directly — and the
SafetyGuardrejects anything under/System,/Library,/usr,/Applications, your work directories, and any path containing.git,.env,.ssh, credentials, ornode_modules.
If Bytegone saved you some disk space, consider buying me a coffee.
Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
MIT License — see LICENSE for details.