Glint › Guides

Mac cleanup and privacy guides

Plain, step-by-step guides for keeping a Mac tidy, private and healthy. Each one shows how to do the job with what macOS already gives you, Finder and Terminal included, and where a free tool like Glint can save time.

Disk space

• How to free up disk space on a MacA practical checklist for reclaiming storage on macOS: Trash, Downloads, large files, caches, iPhone backups, Xcode, Docker, Photos and old apps.
• How to find large files on a MacFind the biggest files and folders on macOS with Storage settings, Finder searches, Terminal commands like du and find, or a visual disk map.
• What is “System Data” on a Mac, and how do you shrink it?What counts as System Data in macOS storage, and safe ways to shrink it.
• Is it safe to delete ~/Library/Caches on a Mac?When clearing ~/Library/Caches is safe, and how to do it by hand or with a free cleaner.
• How to find duplicate and similar photos on a MacFind exact duplicates and near-identical shots on a Mac, and keep the best copy.
• How to completely uninstall apps on a Mac, leftovers includedDragging an app to the Trash leaves files behind. Find and remove an app's caches, containers, preferences and launch agents on macOS, safely.
• Free CleanMyMac alternatives for macOSFree tools that cover what Mac cleaner apps do: disk maps, uninstallers, cache cleaning, maintenance and security checks. What each one is good at.

Developers

• How to clear Docker disk space on a MacWhy Docker.raw grows on macOS, how to reclaim space with docker system prune, and why you shouldn't delete Docker files while Docker Desktop runs.
• How to clean Xcode DerivedData, Archives and simulatorsWhere Xcode hides 50+ GB on a Mac, what is safe to delete (DerivedData, DeviceSupport, simulators) and what to keep (Archives with dSYMs).

Health, recovery and privacy

• How to check SSD health on a MacRead your Mac SSD's SMART data: wear level, available spare, terabytes written and errors, with System Information, smartctl or a free app.
• How to recover deleted files from an SD card or USB stick on a MacStep-by-step recovery of deleted photos and videos from FAT32/exFAT SD cards and USB sticks on macOS, and what to avoid so files aren't overwritten.
• How to remove location data from photos on a MacStrip GPS coordinates and camera details from photos on macOS using Photos, Preview, exiftool or a free app, and check what a photo reveals first.
• How to remove login items and launch agents on a MacStop apps and background helpers from starting at login on macOS: Login Items settings, LaunchAgents and LaunchDaemons folders, and launchctl.