diCleaner brings cleanup, storage analysis, application management, optimization, and privacy tools into one Mac app. This guide explains how the app is organized, which permissions it may request, and how to complete a careful first scan without removing anything you still need.

Before you begin

For the most predictable first experience:

  • Finish any important file copies, app installations, or macOS updates already in progress.
  • Keep the Mac connected to power if you plan to scan a large disk.
  • Save open documents before removing applications or startup items.
  • Make sure you have a current backup of irreplaceable files.
  • Allow a first scan to finish before starting the same scan again.

diCleaner can identify files that may be unnecessary, but only you know whether a download, project folder, installer, or application is still useful to you. Treat the result list as a review workspace rather than an automatic instruction to delete everything shown.

Understand the main window

The main sidebar organizes the app into six areas.

Overview

Overview is the starting point. It provides access to commonly used tools and a summary of the Mac. Use it when you are not sure which tool you need or want to return to the main dashboard.

Cleanup

Cleanup focuses on data that is usually generated by macOS or applications and may be recreated when needed. Available tools include:

  • Junk Files for caches, logs, temporary data, and other supported cleanup categories.
  • Mail Attachments Cache for locally cached attachments.
  • Trash Bin for items already placed in Trash when the feature is available in your edition.
  • System Update Cache for supported downloaded update files.

Cleanup results are grouped by category. Expand a category to understand what was found before selecting it for removal.

Optimize

Optimize contains tools that affect how the Mac starts or behaves. Startup Management lets you inspect supported items that may open or run when you sign in.

Removing or disabling a startup item does not necessarily uninstall the application that created it. If you no longer want the application itself, use the uninstaller in Applications.

Privacy

Privacy contains tools for data you may want to remove or protect deliberately:

  • Clear supported recent-item history.
  • Securely remove selected files when ordinary deletion is not appropriate.
  • inspect and remove supported metadata from photos.
  • Use secure vault features when they are available in your edition.

Privacy tools can make information difficult or impossible to recover. Read their confirmation messages carefully and verify the selected files before continuing.

Applications

Applications helps you manage installed software and related files:

  • Uninstall an application together with supported related files.
  • Find leftovers from applications that are no longer installed.
  • Check supported applications for available updates.
  • Find application installer files.

An application may share data with another application from the same developer. Review related files before uninstalling, especially if you intend to keep another app from the same product family.

Files

Files helps you understand how personal files use storage:

  • Space Analyzer shows how storage is distributed in a selected location.
  • Large & Old Files Finder locates files using size and age criteria.
  • Duplicate Files Finder groups files that appear to contain the same data.
  • Similar Photos Finder groups visually similar images for review.
  • Downloads Manager helps organize the Downloads folder.
  • Screenshots Manager helps locate and review screenshots.

A file appearing in one of these tools does not mean it is junk. File tools are designed to help you make decisions; they do not determine whether your personal content is important.

Module shortcut bar

The icon row at the bottom of the main window provides quick access to favorite modules. Select an icon to open its tool, use the heart on a module card to add or remove that shortcut, and drag shortcut icons to change their order.

The bar is part of diCleaner and does not modify the macOS Dock. See Customize the module shortcut bar for complete instructions.

Permissions diCleaner may request

macOS controls access to protected files and folders. diCleaner requests access only when a tool needs it, so different tools may produce different permission prompts.

Home Folder Access

The App Store version may ask you to select or allow access to your Home folder. This permission lets supported tools scan locations inside your user account, calculate file sizes, find related application data, and clean selected items.

If you do not grant access, you can continue using the app, but some locations may be skipped and scan totals may be incomplete.

The direct-download edition can access the Home folder without maintaining the same saved folder authorization used by the App Store edition.

Full Disk Access

Full Disk Access helps diCleaner inspect supported areas that macOS otherwise protects, including certain system logs and Trash locations. Most tools can still perform useful work without it, but protected items may be omitted.

To review this permission:

  1. Open diCleaner Settings.
  2. Select Privacy.
  3. Check the Full Disk Access status.
  4. Choose Open Full Disk Access Settings if you want to change it.
  5. In macOS System Settings, enable diCleaner if you want it to scan the supported protected locations.
  6. Return to diCleaner and run the scan again.

Changing Full Disk Access does not delete files. macOS may require you to reopen diCleaner before the new permission is applied everywhere.

Access to individual folders or services

A tool may request access to a particular folder, such as Downloads, at the moment you open it. A supported cache scan may also cause macOS to request access associated with the application that owns that data.

If you decline a prompt, diCleaner should skip the inaccessible location rather than treating it as empty. You can grant access later and repeat the scan.

Complete your first cleanup safely

The following workflow starts with lower-risk, reviewable information and leaves more specialized tools until you are familiar with the app.

1. Run a Junk Files scan

  1. Open Cleanup.
  2. Choose Junk Files.
  3. Start the scan.
  4. Leave the window open until scanning finishes.
  5. Review the total and each category separately.

Scan size is an estimate of the selected items that diCleaner can currently see. It may change after permissions are granted, applications create new caches, or macOS removes temporary files on its own.

2. Review categories before removal

Expand any category you do not recognize. Pay particular attention to:

  • Data belonging to an application you are currently using.
  • Caches that would be expensive or inconvenient to download again.
  • Logs you may need for troubleshooting.
  • Mail attachments you expect to use offline.
  • Update files while an update is still in progress.

Deselect anything you want to keep. You do not have to remove every item found, and leaving an item selected in one scan does not obligate you to select it in future scans.

3. Confirm the cleanup

Continue only after the selected list matches your intention. Do not quit diCleaner, restart the Mac, or disconnect a scanned external disk while removal is in progress.

When cleanup finishes, review the result message. A skipped item usually means the file was in use, its permission changed, or another process had already moved it. Run a new scan if you want to see the current state.

4. Inspect storage without deleting

Next, open Files and use Space Analyzer or Large & Old Files Finder. These tools are useful for understanding storage before making further decisions.

Start with a familiar folder. Review the file path and open a file in Finder when its purpose is unclear. Large files often include personal videos, virtual machines, archives, project assets, or device backups; their size alone is not a reason to delete them.

5. Review applications

Open Applications after you are comfortable reading diCleaner result lists. Choose an application you genuinely no longer need, inspect its related files, and preserve shared data or reusable projects when appropriate.

Use Leftovers separately for files associated with software that is no longer installed. A leftover result is a candidate for review, not proof that the file is useless.

What happens when you remove an item

The exact behavior depends on the tool and the item:

  • Some cleanup data can be recreated automatically by macOS or its application.
  • Removing cached data may make the next launch or first load slower.
  • Removing an application does not cancel an account or subscription associated with it.
  • Removing a startup item changes startup behavior but may leave the application installed.
  • Deleting a personal file can affect projects, backups, or applications that reference it.
  • Secure removal features are intended to reduce recoverability and should be treated as destructive.

Read the confirmation shown by the tool you are using. If the item is important and you are unsure how the tool will handle it, cancel, back it up, or deselect it.

Scanning and online services

File scanning and analysis take place on your Mac. diCleaner does not upload file contents as part of a local scan.

Online Information & Comments is an optional service for supported applications, startup items, files, and folders. It can show item information and comments, and lets you contribute a comment. Files and file contents are not uploaded.

Choose how it is accessed:

  1. Open diCleaner Settings.
  2. Select Privacy.
  3. Find Online Services.
  4. Under Online Information & Comments, choose Ask Next Time, Enabled, or Disabled.

Ask Next Time shows the transmitted fields before continuing. Enabled opens the feature from its information button without asking again. Disabled hides those buttons.

Change scanning preferences

Open diCleaner Settings, then select Scanning to adjust supported scan thresholds:

  • The minimum file size for Large & Old Files.
  • The minimum photo size for Similar Photos.
  • The minimum file size for Duplicate Files.

Higher minimum sizes usually make a scan focus on larger items and may reduce scan time. Lower values include more small files and can create a much longer result list. Each setting provides a default value if you want to restore the original behavior.

If a scan looks incomplete

Check the following before assuming files are missing:

  1. Confirm that the intended disk or folder was selected.
  2. Open Settings → Privacy and review Home Folder Access and Full Disk Access.
  3. Grant any folder-specific access requested by the tool.
  4. Make sure the disk is mounted and available in Finder.
  5. Let the current scan finish, then start a new scan after changing permissions.
  6. Check whether an ignore rule or scan-size threshold excludes the item.

If a result still seems incorrect, keep the item rather than deleting it and note the tool, file path, macOS version, and diCleaner version before contacting support.

After completing the first workflow:

  • Learn how each cleanup category is classified before selecting larger cleanups.
  • Review application removal and leftover detection before uninstalling multiple apps.
  • Configure file-size thresholds to match the size of your disk.
  • Read the online-services privacy documentation before using optional online information.
  • Use troubleshooting guidance whenever a scan, permission, or removal result is different from what you expected.

There is no need to use every diCleaner tool in one session. Start with one category, review its results, and expand your workflow as you become familiar with what the app shows.