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AnyaClean supports Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 13 Ventura or later. Intel Macs are not supported.

Open the DMG, drag AnyaClean into the Applications folder, eject the disk image, and launch AnyaClean from Applications. Running the app directly from the read-only disk image can prevent background features from being configured correctly.

macOS may show a normal first-launch security prompt for an app downloaded from the internet. Official AnyaClean builds are signed with a Developer ID certificate and notarized by Apple.

Yes. Smart Scan and Duplicates can target an external drive, and File Search can search a selected folder or drive. You must explicitly grant access through the macOS folder picker before AnyaClean can scan it.

Finder-visible mounted volumes can appear in the drive overview. Whether a network location can be scanned depends on its availability, permissions, and whether macOS allows you to grant access to it.

No. Scanning and analysis happen locally on your Mac. AnyaClean has no cloud scanning service, advertising SDK, analytics upload, or account system.

The macOS App Sandbox prevents applications from reading arbitrary files. AnyaClean can inspect only locations you explicitly approve and locations macOS permits. It stores a secure local bookmark so it can remember your choice.

macOS protects some personal folders individually. Selecting an entire disk does not automatically override every privacy control, so macOS may still request access when AnyaClean reaches a protected location.

macOS privacy decisions and AnyaClean's local settings can survive replacing the application. Use Settings & Help → Reset All Access & Data to clear AnyaClean's saved access and local data. Permissions listed by macOS must be removed separately in System Settings.

It removes AnyaClean's saved folder access, scan results, cleanup history, exclusions, rules, schedules, and preferences from that Mac. It does not delete personal files and cannot erase privacy entries managed by macOS System Settings.

Smart Scan is the simple overview: choose a Mac or drive and receive storage categories and explainable recommendations. File Search is the precise tool: choose its own folder or drive, select a category or exact extension such as PNG or PDF, choose sorting options, and start the search manually.

No. Smart Scan, File Search, Duplicates, and App Uninstaller keep independent locations and results.

Used disk space can include protected macOS data, other users' files, snapshots, virtual memory, purgeable space, and locations AnyaClean cannot read. AnyaClean reports its scanned coverage instead of pretending inaccessible space has been fully analyzed.

These are locations that macOS did not allow AnyaClean to read during the scan. They remain visible as a count so the storage report does not imply complete access.

Yes, when they are inside an approved and readable location. Protected system paths may be counted or reported but remain unavailable for cleanup.

An entire Mac or a photo drive can contain hundreds of thousands or millions of items. AnyaClean measures real files, builds a searchable local index, and performs extra verification for features such as duplicate detection. You can cancel a scan without replacing the last completed report.

Yes. Scan progress belongs to the scan operation rather than the visible screen, so navigating elsewhere should not stop it.

No. Smart Scan, File Search, cache scanning, duplicate scanning, application scanning, and rule previews are read-only.

No. Recommendations are explanations and estimates, not guarantees that a file is unimportant. Always review the file name, location, type, size, and preview. If you are unsure, leave the item untouched.

Storage cleanup involves personal files whose importance only you can judge. AnyaClean requires explicit acceptance of its safety terms before use and checks that acceptance again before manual cleanup. The terms remain available in Settings & Help.

Use Move to Trash, review small groups, confirm that your Mac and applications still work, and empty the Trash only when you are confident. Keep an up-to-date backup of important data.

Yes, but permanent deletion is an advanced, separately disabled option. Enabling it requires typed confirmation, and irreversible operations require another explicit confirmation. Permanently deleted files bypass the Trash and cannot be restored by AnyaClean.

AnyaClean may display protected system files, application internals, another user's data, inaccessible locations, or files without safe write access so you can understand disk usage. Locked items include an explanation and cannot be selected for direct cleanup.

It excludes a file or folder from future cleanup suggestions. A folder exclusion also protects its descendants. Exclusions can be reviewed in Rules & Schedule.

Cleanup History is a local record of successful and failed file actions, including the original location and reclaimed-space estimate. It stays on your Mac and can be cleared without changing personal files.

It groups candidates by size, compares partial fingerprints, and then verifies complete file contents with SHA-256 before calling files exact duplicates. Hard links are not counted as separate redundant copies.

No. It prepares a review containing redundant copies while preserving at least one file from every duplicate group. Nothing is preselected during the scan, and cleanup still requires confirmation.

Not currently. Duplicate detection is byte-for-byte exact. Two visually similar photos with different edits, metadata, formats, or compression are treated as different files.

No. A cache can contain active temporary state, sessions, downloads, build products, or data that is expensive to recreate. Recommended means AnyaClean recognizes a commonly rebuildable location; it is not a guarantee that removal has no consequence.

Quit the related application, read the item's explanation and path, remove only a small reviewed group, and use the Trash. If you do not understand what an item belongs to, do not remove it.

The current review covers supported user-level application caches and logs, Xcode DerivedData, and Simulator caches after explicit User Library approval. It does not treat cookies, credentials, documents, application databases, Group Containers, or protected system caches as generic cleanup targets.

Often, yes. Rebuilding can temporarily slow the application, trigger downloads, consume processor time, or require signing in again if the data was misclassified. This is why Cache Review is conservative and Trash-only.

AnyaClean reviews and moves the selected .app bundle to the Trash. With separate User Library access, Complete Uninstall can also show closely related user data for individual review.

No. AnyaClean favors safety over aggressive guessing. Exact bundle-identifier matches may be recommended, name-only matches require review, and shared Group Containers, documents, and uncertain data are not automatically selected.

Built-in system applications are protected. Other applications may be running, changed since the scan, owned by another account, or require macOS App Management permission. If macOS denies removal, AnyaClean can open the application in Finder so you can inspect it or move it manually when permitted.

A running application may still be writing settings or data, and macOS may refuse to move it. Quit the application and try again.

Yes. Each enabled rule can have its own daily, weekly, or monthly schedule. Background scanning is off until you explicitly enable Allow Background Scans.

No. New rules default to Recommend Only. A rule must be previewed before saving, and automatic Trash or permanent deletion requires separate, explicit opt-in and safety confirmations.

AnyaClean includes a small sandboxed helper that wakes for due rules and exits after the run. The app must be installed in Applications, background scanning must be enabled, and macOS must allow the background item.

A rule that loses access to its target is disabled without disabling unrelated rules. Reconnect the drive, restore access if necessary, and explicitly enable the affected rule again.

No. Automatic actions have per-run file-count and size limits, fresh safety checks, and failure handling. Permanent deletion uses stricter limits than Trash cleanup.

Successful AnyaClean cleanup updates active recommendations and indexes. If a file was removed outside AnyaClean, run the relevant scan again so the saved report reflects the current disk contents.

Open Settings & Help, review Notifications in macOS System Settings, confirm background scans are enabled, and make sure at least one rule is enabled. Recommend Only runs notify you when reviewable results are found.

Confirm that AnyaClean has been copied to Applications instead of running from the DMG. Then review Login Items, the rule's saved folder access, and any macOS privacy permissions requested for that location.

Include your Mac model, macOS version, AnyaClean version and build number, the feature you were using, the exact message shown, and whether the target was the internal disk, an external drive, or a network volume. Do not send private file contents. A screenshot with sensitive file names hidden can also help.