Blog
Notes on disk space and dev bloat.
Where storage actually goes, why it’s invisible, and how Reclaim thinks about cleaning it up safely.
What Happens to App Data When You Uninstall on Mac (Spoiler: It Doesn't Leave)
Dragging an app to Trash only removes the .app bundle. Here's where the rest of it lives, and how to find and clean up true app leftovers.
ReadDuplicate Photos and Files: The Silent Space Eater Most Cleaners Miss
How duplicate files quietly pile up on a Mac, why filename-based duplicate detection is unreliable, and how hash-based finding actually works.
ReadWhy Most Mac Cleaner Apps Are a Privacy Risk (And How to Check Before You Install One)
A general, even-handed checklist for vetting any Mac cleanup app before you grant it disk access — what to check and how to check it yourself.
ReadCleanMyMac Alternatives in 2026: What Actually Works (and What's Just Bloatware)
A fair, feature-by-feature look at the real categories of Mac cleanup tools in 2026 — built-in, free, paid, and where each one actually helps.
ReadClaude, ChatGPT Desktop, and Local AI Apps: A Storage Comparison
Cloud chat apps and local model runners get blamed for the same problem, but their disk footprints aren't remotely similar. Here's the honest comparison.
ReadHow Much Disk Space Do AI Coding Assistants Actually Use? We Checked.
Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Continue, Windsurf, Tabnine, and more — a fair comparison of what each one actually stores locally, and what doesn't.
ReadThe New Mac Storage Problem: AI Chat History, Model Caches, and Embeddings
Local AI apps don't just store model weights. Chat logs, vector databases, and embedding caches quietly add up alongside them — here's where to look.
ReadWhy Switching Between Llama, Mistral, and Qwen Models Wrecks Your Disk Space
Comparing open local LLMs means downloading the same weights three or four times over in different quantizations. Here's exactly how much that costs you.
ReadRunning Local LLMs on Your Mac? Here's the Storage Bill Nobody Warns You About
Local AI is genuinely useful, but every model you try leaves a multi-gigabyte trail behind. Here's the real storage math and how to keep it under control.
ReadGitHub Copilot and VS Code AI Extensions: The Hidden Storage Cost
AI extensions in VS Code cache more than you'd expect — completions data, extension binaries, and per-workspace state. Here's where it all goes.
ReadCursor's Cache Is Bigger Than You Think — Here's How to Check
Cursor's AI features leave behind indexing data, extension caches, and workspace storage that grows quietly. Here's where it lives and how to check it.
ReadLM Studio Storage Explained: Where Your Downloaded Models Actually Live
LM Studio's model browser makes downloading GGUF models effortless — and just as easy to forget about. Here's where they're stored and how to clean up.
ReadOllama Is Quietly Filling Your Mac With Hundreds of GB of Model Weights
Every model you've ever pulled with Ollama is still on disk. Here's exactly where, how to check, and how to clean it up safely.
ReadI Audited Every Dev Tool on My Mac — Here's What Was Actually Taking Up Space
A real, first-person breakdown of exactly where 96GB went across node_modules, Xcode, Docker, Rust, Homebrew, and npm caches on one developer's Mac.
ReadWhy Your Mac Gets Slower the Longer You Code on It (It's Not RAM, It's Disk)
Builds getting slower, fans spinning up more, everything laggier — the usual suspect is RAM, but for developers it's almost always free disk space.
Readnpm, yarn, and pnpm Caches: How Much Space Are They Really Using?
npm, yarn, and pnpm each cache packages differently on disk. Here's where each cache lives, how big it gets, and how to clear it safely.
ReadThe Developer's Guide to Reclaiming 50GB+ Without Deleting a Single Project File
A complete walkthrough of every cache category eating your disk as a developer — node_modules, Xcode, Docker, Rust, AI models — with exact commands.
ReadRust's target/ Folder: Why Your Cargo Projects Are Silently Massive
Rust's target/ directory grows faster than most developers expect. Here's exactly what's inside it, why it gets so big, and how to clean it safely.
ReadPython __pycache__, venv, and conda: The Hidden Storage Cost of Every Project
Every Python project leaves behind virtual environments and bytecode caches. Here's exactly where they live and how to clean them up.
ReadDocker Desktop Is Eating Your Mac's Storage — Here's Why and What to Do
Docker Desktop's virtual disk can silently dominate your Mac's storage. Here's how it works, how to check it, and how to safely shrink it back down.
ReadXcode's DerivedData Folder Is a Storage Black Hole — Here's How Big It Gets
DerivedData quietly accumulates build artifacts and indexes. Here's exactly where it lives, why it grows so large, and how to clear it safely.
ReadHow to Find and Delete Old node_modules Folders Across All Your Projects
A practical, safe walkthrough for locating every node_modules folder on your Mac, sizing them, and deleting the ones you actually don't need anymore.
ReadThe node_modules Problem: Why Every JS Dev's Mac Fills Up Eventually
node_modules is the biggest source of disk bloat for JS developers. Here's why it gets so big, and what actually reclaims the space.
ReadLocal Time Machine Snapshots: The Silent Storage Killer
APFS keeps hourly local snapshots even without a backup drive attached, and they can quietly hold tens of gigabytes hostage. Here's how to check and clear them.
ReadHow to See Exactly What's Using Disk Space on macOS
A practical, step-by-step way to actually find what's filling your Mac's drive — Finder tricks, Terminal commands, and what to check first.
ReadMy Mac Says It's Full But My Files Only Add Up to 40GB
You've checked your Documents, Photos, and Downloads and they don't explain the missing space. Here's where the rest is actually hiding.
ReadSystem Data Keeps Growing on macOS: The Full Explanation
The System Data category never seems to shrink, no matter what you delete. Here's what's actually inside it and how to bring it back down.
Read"About This Mac" Storage Tab Is Lying to You
The storage bar in About This Mac doesn't match reality nearly as often as it should. Here's why, and how to get the real breakdown.
ReadWhy "Other" Storage on Your Mac Is So Huge
Apple's storage bar lumps everything unclassified into "Other." Here's what's actually inside that category and how to break it down yourself.
Read"Startup Disk Almost Full" on Mac — What It Means
The warning macOS shows you is real, but its suggestions barely help. Here's what's actually filling your startup disk and how to find it.
ReadWhy Reclaim only ever moves files to Trash — never rm
A cleanup tool that touches your filesystem earns trust through constraints, not confirmation dialogs alone. Here's how Reclaim is built to be hard to misuse.
ReadLocal AI models are quietly filling your SSD
Running models locally is great for privacy and latency. It's also a newer, bigger version of the same storage problem developers have always had.
Readnode_modules, target/, and the slow bleed of dev cache bloat
Every project you've ever touched left something behind. Here's how that adds up, and why it's safe to clean up almost all of it.
ReadWhere did all my disk space go?
macOS gives you almost no way to answer this. Here's why your Mac fills up silently, and what's actually eating the space in most developer setups.
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