I Wanted a Disk Cleaner That Shows Exactly What It Will Delete—So I Built MangoDisk

Harry — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 06:35:07 +0000

Most disk cleaners turn cleanup into a single number and one big button. That never felt comfortable to me. A folder can be large without being disposable, and even a cache may take time to rebuild.

I wanted a tool that would show me what it found before asking me to delete anything. So I built MangoDisk, a free and open-source disk cleaner and storage analyzer for macOS and Windows.

The part I wanted to fix

My disk kept filling up with application caches, old installers, build artifacts, AI models, logs, and files left behind by uninstalled apps. I first used cleanup scripts, but maintaining them became another job. Paths changed, rules became outdated, and one careless command could remove the wrong folder.

Finding large files was not the hardest part. Deciding what was actually safe to remove was.

A cleaner should show its work

MangoDisk follows a simple workflow: scan, review, select, and confirm.

Before cleanup, it shows the file or folder name, location, measured size, category, and risk information. Scanning does not delete anything. Files and scan results stay on the current device, and no account is required.

The cleanup rules are also public. I would rather exclude an uncertain path than label it as junk just to report a larger number.

Five ways to understand where the space went

1. Deep Cleanup

Deep Cleanup groups system and application caches, developer data, project build artifacts, app leftovers, and local AI model data in one review screen. Lower-risk rebuildable content is separated from items that need a closer look.

2. Large Files

Large File Cleanup finds videos, archives, installers, documents, and other space-heavy files. You can sort by size and open a file in Finder or File Explorer before deciding what to do with it.

3. Exact Duplicates

Duplicate File Cleanup compares file contents instead of trusting matching names. Identical copies are grouped together, and smart selection keeps at least one file in every group.

4. Application Uninstall

The uninstaller shows the application together with related caches, preferences, and local data. Items that may contain user data are called out for review instead of being silently removed.

5. Disk Space Analysis

The treemap is for understanding storage, not guessing what is safe. It makes large folders easy to spot, while the list view provides the exact path, size, and file count.

Large files, duplicate copies, and items removed from Disk Space Analysis are deleted permanently. A confirmation screen helps, but it is not a replacement for checking the selection and keeping backups of important files.

Why Rust and open source

The cleanup core is written in Rust, but the programming language is not the main point. The important part is that the rules and safety boundaries can be inspected. MangoDisk's cleanup engine and rule library are available in the public repository.

MangoDisk is available now for macOS and Windows:

If you try it, I would especially like to know whether the risk labels and review flow make cleanup decisions clearer. That feedback is more useful to me than another feature checklist.

DEV Community: Harry