Tools and comparisons
Tools and comparisons
How VolumeLens compares to the built-in Storage screen, and to the other Mac storage tools.
Five Tests You Can Run on Any Mac Storage Tool to Check Its Honesty
Five hands-on tests — hard-link double-counting, sparse files, package interiors, and a network monitor check — you can run on any Mac storage tool to verify its claims yourself.
September 3, 2026·Read →
Mac Storage Tools and iCloud: Why Scans Undercount Optimised Macs
How iCloud placeholder files, dataless files, and Optimise Mac Storage affect what a storage tool can see, and why scans on iCloud-heavy Macs often undercount real usage.
August 25, 2026·Read →
What the Built-In Mac Storage Screen Does and Doesn't Show You
A clear-eyed look at what System Settings Storage and Reduce Clutter actually do on macOS, and the specific things — folder view, System Data detail — they were never built to show.
August 21, 2026·Read →
Mac Storage Tools for Non-Technical Users: Why Simplicity Is the Feature
What actually matters in a Mac storage tool for non-technical users, why jargon-free design beats a long feature list, and why one-click clean claims deserve caution.
August 16, 2026·Read →
Mac Storage Tools for Creative Professionals: Project Bundles and Large Media
What matters in a Mac storage tool for video editors, motion designers, and photographers: package-style project files, Adobe caches, and support for scanning external drives.
August 11, 2026·Read →
Mac Storage Tools for Developers: Caches, Snapshots, and Exclusions
What a Mac storage tool should get right for developer workflows: recognising node_modules and DerivedData, comparing scans over time, exclusion patterns, and CSV export.
August 3, 2026·Read →
Treemap Layouts Compared: Squarified, Slice-and-Dice, and How Tools Colour Them
How different treemap layout algorithms — squarified versus slice-and-dice — and colouring and zoom choices affect how readable a Mac storage tool's visual map actually is.
July 24, 2026·Read →
Visual Map vs List View for Mac Storage: When Each One Wins
A practical comparison of visual treemap views and sortable list views for Mac storage tools, including keyboard versus mouse workflows and accessibility considerations.
July 21, 2026·Read →
Mac Storage Tool Pricing: Subscription, One-Time, and Freemium Compared
How subscription, one-time purchase, and freemium pricing models work for Mac storage tools, and the honest tradeoffs behind each from both the buyer's and the maker's side.
July 15, 2026·Read →
Mac Storage Tools That Explain What a Folder Is, Not Just Its Size
Why a folder's size alone doesn't tell you whether it's safe to delete, and what it means for a Mac storage tool to recognise and explain dev caches, Xcode data, and similar folders.
July 11, 2026·Read →
Open Source vs Paid Mac Storage Tools: What the Money Actually Buys
Comparing open-source Mac storage tools like Grand Perspective and Disk Inventory X against paid alternatives, and what the price difference typically buys in practice.
July 8, 2026·Read →
Cleanup Safety in Mac Storage Tools: Trash, Re-validation, and Blocked Paths
How to evaluate the safety of a Mac storage tool's cleanup feature, covering Trash-only deletion, re-validation before acting, and which paths a careful tool should refuse to touch.
July 2, 2026·Read →
Full Disk Access and Mac Storage Tools: What It Unlocks and What It Doesn't
What the macOS App Sandbox blocks a storage tool from seeing, what granting Full Disk Access actually unlocks, and how to decide whether a specific tool needs it.
July 1, 2026·Read →
How Mac Storage Tools Count Hard Links (and Why Totals Disagree)
Why hard links make disk-usage totals disagree between tools, how du's heuristics handle the double-counting problem, and how to check a tool's behaviour yourself.
June 24, 2026·Read →
du, ncdu, dust, and gdu on Mac: When the Terminal Beats a GUI
How to install and use du, ncdu, dust, and gdu on macOS via Homebrew, and a practical guide to when a command-line storage tool is faster than a graphical one.
June 19, 2026·Read →
Mac Storage Tools and Privacy: What to Check Before You Trust One
How to verify whether a Mac storage tool has network code, telemetry, or upload behaviour yourself, using Little Snitch and the macOS firewall, instead of taking a privacy claim on faith.
June 16, 2026·Read →
The Landscape of Mac Storage Analysers in 2026: A Category Map
A survey of the four categories of Mac storage tool — visual maps, list-only browsers, one-click cleaners, and command-line utilities — and the design tradeoff behind each.
June 10, 2026·Read →
Choosing a Mac Storage Tool: An Honest Buyer's Guide for 2026
A decision framework for picking a Mac storage analyser, including the red flags to check before you install anything and how to match a tool to how you actually use your Mac.
June 7, 2026·Read →
Why Mac Storage Scans Take as Long as They Do (and What Makes Them Feel Fast)
What actually determines Mac storage scan speed on APFS, the difference between a full scan and an incremental rescan, and what makes a scan feel fast rather than just be fast.
June 1, 2026·Read →