Getting Started

WashBear helps you find space you can free up on your Mac, apps you no longer need, and privacy traces. Every feature works in the same order: scan, review, then confirm.

#Scan, review, confirm

1. Scan: choose a scope or scan type where the page offers one, then start the scan. Scanning only reads file information. You can cancel at any time, and cancelling changes nothing.
2. Review: results show names, locations, and sizes, and some features also show risk or impact labels. If you don't recognize an item, use Show in File Manager to check it in Finder first.
3. Confirm: select what you want to remove and use the action button at the bottom of the page. Before anything runs, WashBear lists your selection and the estimated space once more.

Anything that was changed, moved, or is in use after the scan is skipped automatically, so the wrong item is never removed.

#Sidebar features

Storage

• Deep Cleanup: system and app caches, developer data, and leftovers from apps you have removed.
• Large File Cleanup: find your biggest files.
• Duplicate Cleanup: find copies with identical content and keep only the one you need.
• Disk Space Analysis: see which folders use your space in a list and charts.

Privacy & Security

• Privacy Cleanup: activity traces left by browsers, apps, and the system.

System Tools

• App Uninstaller: remove apps together with their caches and data.
• Startup Items: see what starts automatically and turn items on or off.
• System Optimization: adjust a set of supported system settings, with a way to restore them later.
• System Maintenance: check and fix common problems with search, icons, sound, networking, and more.

Operation History and Settings are at the bottom of the sidebar. WashBear opens on Deep Cleanup and never starts a scan on its own. To free space quickly, run Deep Cleanup first; to find out what is taking up space, use Disk Space Analysis.

#Disk access permissions

WashBear does not ask for permissions at launch. If macOS asks during a scan whether WashBear may access certain folders or app data, allow or deny the request as you prefer; the scan continues after you respond.

macOS remembers permission to access data from other apps only while WashBear keeps running, so it asks again after every launch. To avoid repeated prompts, Disk Analysis, Large File Cleanup and Duplicate Cleanup skip other apps' data (such as WeChat or Docker files) when WashBear doesn't have Full Disk Access, and the results show Other apps' data not scanned; click it to open the setting. With Full Disk Access, that data is scanned too and macOS stops asking. Since 1.3.1, WashBear has a stable code signature, so this permission survives updates; after updating from an earlier version, turn it on once more (if WashBear is already listed, switch it off and on).

If some protected data could not be read, Deep Cleanup, Privacy Cleanup, and Startup Items open Check Full Disk Access. You can reopen it later with Check disk access in the results. Choose Open Full Disk Access settings, turn on access for WashBear in System Settings, then come back and scan again. You can also open this setting at any time from Settings → Scanning & analysis → Full Disk Access.

macOS asks for administrator approval when you uninstall some apps. See App Uninstaller.

#Scan exclusions

In Settings → Scanning & analysis → Scan exclusions, use the By path and By name tabs to add folders or names to skip, and tick the features each entry applies to: Deep Cleanup, Large File Cleanup, Duplicate Cleanup, and Disk Space Analysis. You can add up to 50 folders and 50 name rules.

When exclusions were applied to a result, Exclusions on appears; click it to review or change them. Scan again after making changes. Exclusions only affect scan results; they never delete or move files.

#Operation History

Operation History at the bottom of the sidebar records completed Deep Cleanup, Large File Cleanup, Duplicate File Cleanup, Privacy Cleanup, App Uninstaller, Startup Management, and System Optimization operations. Open a record to see the items, space changes, and results in Operation details.

• History is for reference only. It cannot undo an operation or bring back deleted files.
• Items deleted directly in Disk Space Analysis are not recorded.
• Only the latest 100 records are kept. Clear History removes the records, not your files.

#Get help

If something goes wrong or you have a suggestion, let us know on the Feedback page. You can also open Settings → Support → Feedback in the app, click Submit Feedback, and turn on Include diagnostic logs if you wish. To look at the logs yourself, open Settings → Support → Diagnostic Logs.