Bytesweep How Bytesweep works
What it is, how it decides what is safe to remove, and what it sends anywhere: nothing about your files.
Updated
What is Bytesweep?
Bytesweep is a desktop app for macOS and Windows that finds what is filling your disk, removes it safely, and explains what your computer has been doing. It combines a disk space analyzer, a junk and cache cleaner, a duplicate finder, an app uninstaller, a startup manager, an app updater, a system monitor and a file recovery tool in one window. Every cleanup can be undone for seven days. It works offline and sends nothing about your files anywhere.
It is built for people who have run out of space and want to know why before they delete anything. Each module answers one plain question, such as Where did my space go?
, What runs automatically?
or What's out of date?
, and shows its evidence.
| Platforms | macOS 14 Sonoma or later (Apple silicon and Intel) · Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit), on the Microsoft Store |
|---|---|
| Price | $29.99 once, no subscription |
| Licence | One computer per key, Mac or Windows; move it any time |
| Free trial | Scanning and every analysis, for 3 days |
| Account | None. A licence key by email |
| Undo | Every cleanup, for 7 days |
| Network | Licence activation, and the update sources you switch on |
How does Bytesweep decide what is safe to delete?
A cleaner's job is to free space. Its duty is to not destroy anything you cannot get back. Every item Bytesweep offers passes through one set of rules first.
Safe to clear
Caches, logs, temp files and build outputs that the system or the app recreates on its own. Pre-selected.
Review first
Things that are probably unwanted but might not be: old installers, large downloads, update leftovers. Shown, never pre-selected.
Keep
SSH keys, unpushed git work, virtual machine disks, photo libraries, open databases, and anything inside the system folders. Named, and blocked.
Every item answers four questions before you remove it
- What is this? In plain words, not a folder path.
- Is it safe to remove? And why, or why not.
- What happens if I remove it? A slower first launch, a re-download, or nothing at all.
- Can I undo it? For almost everything, yes, for seven days.
- Nothing is cleaned by default. You see the list and press the button.
- 7-day undo. Cleanups move to a restore point on the same disk first; Undo puts them back where they were.
- Your folders are off-limits to rules. Documents, Desktop, Pictures and cloud folders are only touched by files you pick by hand.
- Exclusions win. Anything you exclude in Settings is never offered again.
- Permissions are asked for one at a time, only when a module needs one, never all at launch.
- Recovery never writes to the drive it is recovering from.
Does Bytesweep send my data anywhere?
No. There is no Bytesweep server for it to send anything to. File names, sizes and history stay in a database on your own disk.
No account
You get a licence key by email and paste it in. Activating it contacts Dodo Payments, our payment provider; nothing about your files is sent.
No telemetry
No analytics, no crash upload, no usage counts. The app does not know how you use it and neither do we.
Updates name their hosts first
Apart from licence activation, the Updates module is the only part that goes online by itself. It contacts your apps' own update feeds, lists every host before it does, and each source can be switched off. From 3.1 the Library can also fetch one file, the picture-search download, from bytesweep.app, and only when you press Download.
Ask stays local
Ask Bytesweep searches your own history on your own machine. No question is sent to an AI service.
Mac, Windows and iPhone.
One licence works on a Mac or a Windows PC. The iPhone app is a separate App Store app.
Bytesweep for Mac
Native Swift and SwiftUI for Apple silicon and Intel Macs, macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Adds Sleep and dark-wake history, Dev Servers, ShareSafe, the notch panel and Time Machine snapshot cleanup.
Bytesweep for Windows
Native C# and .NET 8 for Windows 10 and 11. Adds the privacy cleaner, games, component-store cleanup, Recycle Bin and NTFS recovery, and Scan with Bytesweep in Explorer.
Bytesweep Storage Cleaner
Swipe through your photos a month at a time: left to let one go, right to keep it. It also finds similar and duplicate photos, large videos, screenshots and duplicate contacts, all on the iPhone.
Download Bytesweep free.
Scan your disk and see every verdict for free, with no card and no account. Activate a licence when you want to clean.
See the walkthrough, from scan to clean, on the Mac page.