Basics

Overview

Trace is a Storage Inspector + Uninstaller for macOS. Unlike classic “cleaners”, Trace shows what's taking up space – and lets you act with preview, rationale, and Undo.

                        What Trace does
                        Make it visible: break down storage usage into transparent categories
Connect the dots: map app data (containers, caches, preferences) to the responsible apps – with evidence
Act safely: remove apps and leftovers with preview and Quarantine – reversible until you permanently delete

                    

Quick start

Dashboard: start with the biggest categories (Apps, System Data, Files).
Details: open the “Top Items” tab to find large folders/files.
Inspectors: use App/Game Inspector for leftovers – with explanations.
Safe by default: Quarantine/Undo first; permanently delete only when you're sure.

Important (so nothing goes wrong)

Backup: before large deletion actions, we recommend a recent Time Machine backup.
Shared data: shared folders (e.g. Office/Adobe) are labeled and never selected by default.
System paths: changes to system/snapshot data are irreversible and require confirmation.

Current behavior highlights

Quarantine: partial success closes the current flow and returns to the dashboard; long-running actions show item+byte progress after ~350 ms.
Files → Free up space: dynamic item+byte progress, upload-readiness checks, cloud-only verification, and auto-close only on error-free runs.
Directory Inspector: fast initial scan, incremental exact-size refinement (Calculating… while pending), and Finder drag & drop support.
System Data: Empty Trash is hardened with two-pass delete, helper fallback, and consistent post-action rescan.
Apps: list remains size-first from the start; direct actions open App Inspector / Uninstall / Move App to Trash.

Storage calculation

Trace calculates file sizes and distinguishes between two values:

Allocated size

The storage physically allocated on disk. It accounts for block sizes and APFS optimizations like cloning. This is what's actually “gone”.

Logical size

The sum of file contents without considering physical storage. Relevant with duplicates and cloned files that share blocks.

Default: allocated size

Trace shows allocated size by default because it reflects the storage physically taken up. Logical size is helpful context (e.g. with APFS cloning or large libraries).

Storage bar in the dashboard

The storage bar shows the storage breakdown at a glance. Hover the segments (or use Tab) to see how Trace explains each area. “Recovered” is a part of free space and is highlighted separately.

Differences vs. macOS

If you compare Trace with macOS System Settings (Storage), you'll notice differences. That's intentional:

Aspect	macOS	Trace
Categories	Internal heuristics, not disclosed	Transparent categories with clear rules
System Data	Large “black box”	Best-effort breakdown into caches, logs, containers, snapshots, etc.
APFS features	Partly hidden	Snapshots, cloning, and sparse files made explicit
Calculation	Fast, but imprecise	Precise at file level (takes longer on large volumes)

Why totals don't match

The sum of all Trace categories won't exactly equal “Used” in System Settings. This is due to:

APFS metadata and reservations
permission gaps (areas Trace can't read)
different categorization

Trace explains the main reasons; a small remainder may be unavoidable and can't always be attributed to individual files.

Apps

All installed apps from /Applications, ~/Applications, and system apps. Trace shows not only the bundle, but also associated app data.

What Trace includes

App bundle (.app)
Container (~/Library/Containers/<bundleID>)
Group Container (~/Library/Group Containers/...)
Caches, Preferences, Logs, Saved State
Application Support folders

Tip: quick wins

Open the largest apps in App Inspector and start with “Cache”. It's usually the safest first step before touching user data.

Typical large items

Application Support: libraries, downloads, assets (e.g. Adobe/Microsoft/media tools)
Caches: browsers, creative tools, messengers
Group Containers: shared data between apps (suites) – handle with care

Apps tab

Lists installed apps by size and lets you jump straight into App Inspector.

Files

User documents and downloads – your own files, including iCloud Drive and cloud drives like Dropbox/OneDrive. Trace shows what's actually stored locally and what lives only in the cloud. Free up space without deleting cloud data.

Included paths

~/Desktop, ~/Documents, ~/Downloads, ~/Public
Other top-level folders in your home directory (except Library, Pictures, Movies, Music)
iCloud Drive (~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs)
Cloud Storage (Dropbox, OneDrive etc. via ~/Library/CloudStorage)

Cloud status

Trace detects whether items are stored locally, cloud-only, or mixed. With “Free up space”, local on-demand copies can be removed without deleting cloud data.

What “Free up space” does

Trace removes only local on-demand copies and keeps data in iCloud/cloud drives. Depending on size, preparation may take a few minutes.

Practical tips

For large folders: use Directory Inspector to drill down step by step.
For quick wins: start with Downloads and large archive/installer files.

Media

Photo, video, and audio libraries can quickly reach double-digit GB – often packaged as bundles (e.g. Photos Library, Final Cut Pro, Logic). Trace detects these libraries and shows their footprint transparently, so you can clean up without accidentally deleting an entire library.

Included paths

~/Pictures, ~/Movies, ~/Music
Libraries/Packages: .photoslibrary, .fcpbundle, .imovielibrary, .logicx, .band
System-wide libraries (GarageBand, Logic)

Be careful with libraries

Photo/video libraries are often “bundles” (they look like a file, but are actually a folder). Deleting can remove entire libraries. Trace helps you find and understand them – delete only what you truly no longer need.

Games

Game libraries from launchers (e.g. Steam) including assets, mods, and save games.

How Trace detects games

Manifests/marker files: Trace uses launcher manifests (e.g. Steam steamapps/appmanifest_*.acf) to reliably detect installed games.
Library folders: the actual data usually lives in launcher library directories (e.g. ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps) or on other volumes.
Dedicated Game Inspector: detected games show up as separate entries – apart from regular app bundles.

Note: games installed only as regular apps (without a launcher library) may show up under Apps depending on your setup.

Typical large items

Installation assets: game data in launcher libraries (often double-digit GB)
Mods/workshop: extra content that accumulates over time
Caches: shader/download caches (usually rebuildable, but may take time to rebuild)

Games tab

Shows detected games and their size. For each title, open Game Inspector to manage assets, mods, caches, and saves.

Files tab

Lists large folders/files from game libraries. Risk hints help you tell apart caches/downloads vs. save games/mods.

Communication

Mail and chat apps often store attachments, media, and databases locally, even when content looks “online” in the app. Trace makes these storage hogs visible and shows what they belong to. Be especially careful here, because some apps use local databases directly.

Included paths

~/Library/Mail (Apple Mail)
~/Library/Messages (iMessage)
Third-party apps via containers and group containers

What this is about

Attachments: large attachments (mail/chats) can take up a lot of space.
Offline caches: messengers often store media locally, even if it feels “in the cloud”.
Be careful: deleting may remove data inside the app (e.g. local copies or databases).

Development

Build artifacts, simulators, toolchains, and package caches can take up a lot of space – not just in Xcode. Much of it is rebuildable and may reappear after cleanup. Trace helps you tell apart “safe to remove” vs. “better keep it”.

Included paths (selection)

~/Library/Developer (Xcode, simulators)
~/Library/Caches/org.swift.swiftpm
~/Library/Application Support/Code (VS Code)
~/.vscode/extensions
~/Library/Application Support/JetBrains

~/.android (Android SDK)
/opt/homebrew, /usr/local
~/.gradle, ~/.m2, ~/.npm
~/.cargo, ~/.rustup
~/.pub-cache, ~/.composer

Typical space hogs

Xcode: DerivedData, simulators, device support
Toolchains: Homebrew, Docker images, package caches (npm, Gradle, Maven, Cargo, …)
IDEs: VS Code/JetBrains caches and indexes

Many of these are rebuildable – but rebuilding can take time. Trace helps you find large items and make informed decisions.

Homebrew

In the Development category details, the Homebrew tab lists installed formulae and casks and lets you uninstall individual packages via brew uninstall with live output.

Detection: Looks for /opt/homebrew/bin/brew and /usr/local/bin/brew (best effort).
Uninstall: Select a package and click Uninstall ….

System Data

macOS lumps many things into “System Data”: caches, logs, containers, metadata, snapshots, and more. Trace tries to break this black box down best effort and explains the main causes. Depending on permissions and system state, some areas may only be partially visible.

Files tab

Shows the first level of large system areas (best effort) – with hints about type/risk.

~/Library (with carve-outs for other categories)
/Library
/System
/private/var
/usr
/Users/Shared

How to use System Data effectively

Start in the Files tab, use filters (e.g. caches/containers/backups), and work your way to the biggest culprits. Don't delete blindly – follow the rationale/type.

Snapshots tab

Shows APFS snapshots (system + data volume) with best-effort sizes. Snapshots can be deleted with admin privileges and confirmation.

Kexts tab

Lists kernel extensions from /Library/Extensions and /Library/StagedExtensions (optionally also macOS kexts). Shows origin, security status, and attribution. Only third-party kexts can be moved to Quarantine or deleted.

Other

Catch-all category for paths that can't be clearly attributed to another category – especially unassigned folders in your home directory (including dotfiles) and library leftovers outside known scanners. Trace lists the largest fragments and helps you classify them.

Contains

Home dotfiles/dotfolders not recognized as dev dots
Library leftovers outside known scanners (best effort)

Fragments tab

View: mixed / folders / files
Sorted by size (largest first)
For details, use Directory Inspector (drill-down)

Clear tool caches

Trace can clear typical tool cache folders in your home directory (e.g. ~/.cache, ~/.npm, ~/.gradle). These folders are detected heuristically.

Recommendation: move to Quarantine first (Undo possible)
Space is freed only once the quarantine session is permanently deleted

What to do with a large “Other”?

First check if Full Disk Access is missing (scans are intentionally incomplete without it).
Use the view menu to find large folders or individual files faster.
Volume bytes that can't be cleanly attributed (APFS/snapshots/overhead/permission gaps) are shown under “System Data” – not under “Other”.

Cleanup & uninstall

App Inspector

App Inspector shows all paths belonging to an app – along with the rationale (evidence).

Mapping methods

Deterministic

Bundle ID-based paths with high confidence:

Containers, Application Scripts
Caches, Logs, Preferences
Saved Application State
HTTP Storages

Heuristic

Name/path matches with lower confidence:

Application Support (by app name)
Deep search in whitelisted roots
Vendor-specific rules

Each entry shows confidence (percent), risk level (safe/caution/danger), and a “Why?” explanation.

How to read confidence

High confidence is based on hard evidence (e.g. containers/bundle ID). Low confidence is intentionally conservative: verify first, then act.

Cleanup & uninstall

The four cleanup modes

Trace offers four presets that only control the default selection. You can always select/deselect individual paths manually.

Cache

Neu aufbaubare Artefakte: Caches, Logs, Saved State, HTTP Storages.

Safe

Associations

Cache plus data that can often be restored automatically (e.g. re-downloadable content or sync data) – depending on the app.

Safe

App

App bundle + cache. Preferences and user data remain.

Caution

Everything

App + cache + preferences + app data. Potentially irreversible.

Danger

Shared data

Data shared by multiple apps (e.g. Microsoft Office, Adobe) is marked as “Shared/Danger” and is never selected by default in any preset.

If you're unsure

Start with “Cache” or “Associations”. “Everything” can remove user data and may be irreversible.

Cleanup & uninstall

Quarantine & Undo

Trace does not permanently delete data by default. Instead, files are moved to Quarantine.

How it works

User-scope paths are moved to ~/Library/Application Support/Trace/Quarantine/... (same-volume move)
System-wide paths go to the Trash (reversible)
Only explicit “Delete” removes files directly
Empty directories are cleaned up after moves up to a safe root

In the dashboard you can see the quarantine size and restore or delete permanently.

Tools

Directory Inspector

Directory Inspector lets you analyze any folder or drive – independent of predefined categories.

Features

Stacked storage bars: each level shows the size distribution as color-coded bars (folders by size, files gray)
Drill-down: click a folder to navigate deeper
Size legend: shows allocated and logical size
Cloud status: icons show whether items are local, cloud-only, or mixed
Context menus: right-click to open in Finder, delete, and more
Filter: checkbox to show/hide hidden files

Access

You can open Directory Inspector from the dashboard (“Open Directory Inspector …”) or via the context menu in category views.

Default apps

Manage all default apps in one place – without digging through different System Settings screens.

Supported categories

Web: default browser
Mail: email client
PDF: PDF viewer
Documents: word processor
Spreadsheets: spreadsheet app
Presentations: presentation app

Developer files: code editor
Images: image viewer
Video: video player
Audio: music player
Text: plain text editor
Archives: archive manager

How it works

Trace uses the macOS Launch Services API to set default apps for UTI types (Uniform Type Identifiers). Changes apply system-wide.

Vendor Inspector

Vendor Inspector includes curated profiles for well-known apps – with specific rules for paths, shared data, and cleanup behavior.

Why vendor profiles?

Many large software vendors don't follow Apple conventions for app data. They store files in unexpected locations, share data between apps, or use proprietary folder structures. Vendor Inspector knows these patterns.

Supported vendors (selection)

Adobe: Creative Cloud, Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere, etc.
Microsoft: Office 365, Teams, OneDrive, VS Code
JetBrains: IntelliJ, WebStorm, PyCharm, etc.
Google: Chrome, Drive, Backup & Sync

Browsers: Firefox, Safari, Arc, Brave, Edge
Development: Xcode, Docker, Homebrew
Communication: Slack, Discord, Zoom, Telegram
Media: Spotify, VLC, DaVinci Resolve

More precise than heuristics

Vendor profiles override the generic heuristic with app-specific knowledge. This prevents false attributions and finds hidden data paths.

Shared data warnings

Vendor Inspector detects shared data between apps (e.g. Adobe Creative Cloud Shared, Microsoft Office Shared) and marks it as “Shared/Danger” – it is never selected automatically in any cleanup mode.

Reference

TraceHelper & TraceAgent

Trace consists of the app itself and optional components that macOS manages separately. You can use Trace without them – but some features will be limited.

TraceHelper (Admin)

TraceHelper is a privileged helper for actions that require admin privileges. It is used only when you start a feature that needs it.

System-wide actions: e.g. delete APFS snapshots
Clean up system paths: e.g. remove kernel extensions (if offered)
More robust calculations: e.g. “Other Users & Shared Data”

TraceAgent (Background)

TraceAgent can optionally run in the background and detects when apps are moved to the Trash. Trace can then show appropriate removal suggestions.

No auto-delete: TraceAgent doesn't delete anything by itself
Transparent: suggestions are based on Trace's attributions and vendor profiles
Optional: you can enable/disable TraceAgent in Trace
Demo: TraceAgent is fully usable for free in the demo version of Trace

Important: background activity

If “Allow in the background” is disabled, TraceHelper/TraceAgent may be blocked or not respond. See Allow background activity.

Reference

Permissions

Trace requires several permissions for full functionality:

Permission	Used for	Without it
Full Disk Access	Full storage analysis, all categories	Results marked as “incomplete”
Admin (Helper)	System-wide actions, delete snapshots	Only user-scope actions possible
Background activity	TraceHelper & TraceAgent can start/run in the background	Helper/agent may be blocked (timeouts/errors)

Enable Full Disk Access

Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access.
If Trace isn't listed: click + and add it from /Applications.
Enable Trace in the list.
Restart Trace to complete the analysis.

Install the helper

In Trace: Settings → Permissions → Install helper.
Confirm the macOS dialog (admin password/Touch ID).
After that, system-wide actions (e.g. snapshots) are available.

Enable TraceAgent

In Trace: Settings → Permissions → enable TraceAgent.
If macOS asks for confirmation: open Login Items and enable Trace under Allow in the background.
After that, TraceAgent can run in the background and show suggestions.

Allow background activity

Open System Settings → General → Login Items.
Enable Trace under Allow in the background.
If disabled, TraceHelper/TraceAgent may not start or may not respond (e.g. “Operation not permitted” / timeouts).
This does not automatically enable TraceAgent; you can enable/disable it in Trace.

Allow background activity for Trace

If background activity for Trace is disabled in System Settings, TraceHelper/TraceAgent may not start or may not respond.

APFS Snapshots

APFS automatically creates snapshots for Time Machine, updates, and other system operations. These can take up significant space.

What Trace shows

Snapshots on system and data volumes
Best-effort sizes (exact sizing is complex on APFS)
Timestamp and source (Time Machine, OS update, etc.)

Deleting snapshots

Not reversible

Deleting snapshots is irreversible. Trace warns about OS/update-related snapshots and requires admin confirmation. The Remove snapshots … action skips OS/update snapshots (for example, macOS update snapshots) and only removes reclaimable local snapshots.