Mac Cleanup Go is a preview-first Terminal User Interface (TUI) application designed for macOS users who need to reclaim disk space by cleaning up unnecessary files. It specifically targets caches, logs, and temporary files from various applications and system components, providing a controlled and safe cleanup process. The tool is built for users who prefer command-line efficiency and want granular control over what gets deleted.

Over time, macOS accumulates gigabytes of cache, log, and temporary files from everyday applications and development tools, which can significantly reduce available storage. Manually finding and safely deleting these files is tedious and risky, as users might accidentally remove important data. Mac Cleanup Go solves this problem by automating the discovery of these space-consuming items while putting the user in full control of the final deletion step, ensuring safety and preventing data loss.

A core feature is its interactive preview system. Before any deletion occurs, users can review a detailed list of all files and folders identified for cleanup, complete with their sizes and full paths. This allows for item-by-item exclusion, so users can keep specific files they deem important. The preview-first approach ensures transparency and prevents unwanted data removal, making the cleanup process safe and trustworthy.

The tool categorizes cleanup targets with impact levels—safe, moderate, risky, and manual—to guide user decisions. Safe categories contain auto-regenerated caches and logs. Moderate items may require re-download or re-login. Risky categories, which might contain user data, are unselected by default and items within them start as excluded. Manual categories provide guides only, with no automatic deletion. This risk stratification helps users make informed choices about what to clean.

It includes built-in scanners for specific tools like Homebrew, Docker, and old downloads. These scanners use tool-specific commands (like `brew cleanup --dry-run`) or filter files by last-modified time to intelligently identify stale data. The application scans known cache, log, and temp paths across a wide range of apps and tools in parallel for speed, currently supporting 107 total targets across groups like System, Browsers, Development, and Applications.

Mac Cleanup Go operates through a dual-mode interface: an interactive TUI and a command-line interface (CLI). The TUI provides a visual, keyboard-driven experience for browsing categories, previewing files, and selecting items. The CLI mode allows for scripting and automation, enabling users to configure targets and execute cleanups directly from the terminal. This flexibility caters to both interactive users and those who want to integrate cleanup into automated workflows.