What ClearMac will never delete

These rules are checked inside the part of ClearMac that moves files to the Trash, not only in the screens. So even if something is selected by mistake, it's skipped, and ClearMac tells you why.

Your Mac's system

• The startup disk itself, and the root of any disk
• macOS system folders: /System, /usr, /bin, /sbin, /private/etc and /private/var/db, and everything inside them
• Top-level folders such as /Library, /Applications, /Users and /Volumes. Individual apps inside /Applications can be removed, but the folder itself can't
• ClearMac itself, and any app that's running

Your keys and passwords

• Your keychains (~/Library/Keychains)
• SSH and GPG keys (~/.ssh, ~/.gnupg)

Your personal folders

Your home folder, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Movies, Music and Public folders, and your Library and its main folders (Caches, Application Support, Preferences, Containers, Logs). You can choose individual items inside them; the folders themselves stay.

Things other apps manage

• iCloud Drive. Removing a file here removes it from all your devices. To free space without deleting it, use Remove Download in Finder.
• Cloud folders such as Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive (~/Library/CloudStorage). Deleting here deletes in the cloud too, and may skip the Trash. Use the provider's option to keep files online only.
• Messages. Manage attachments in Messages (Settings ▸ General ▸ Keep messages).
• Mail. Manage mail and attachments in the Mail app.
• Photos, Music and TV libraries, including older iPhoto and Aperture libraries, whole or in part. With iCloud Photos, removing photos deletes them on every device. Manage them in their apps.
• A folder that contains one of these libraries. Before moving a folder to the Trash, ClearMac looks inside for a Photos, Music or TV library, and refuses if it finds one or can't check.
• The inside of Final Cut Pro, iMovie, Logic Pro and GarageBand libraries. Removing pieces breaks them. Use the app's own option, like Final Cut Pro's File ▸ Delete Generated Library Files.

The Trash

ClearMac never removes items that are already in the Trash. Emptying the Trash is a separate step that you confirm yourself.

And what it won't do

• It has no background helper with special rights. When an app needs an administrator password to be removed, Finder asks for it, just as when you drag the app to the Trash yourself.
• It won't download cloud-only files to look inside them.
• It won't pre-select anything that doesn't rebuild by itself.

This list mirrors ClearMac's source code (ProtectedPaths). If the two ever differ, the app is stricter, and we'll fix this page.