SiftawayEvery rule, published
Siftaway can only touch what a rule names. Here are all 82 of them: 73 that clean (20 free, 53 Pro) and 9 that exist to say “never”. This page is generated from the same file the app ships with.
- User caches
- User logs
- Trash
- Installers
- Browsers
- System logs
- Developer toolchains
- Xcode
- Containers and VMs
- AI tool leftovers
- Protected
Paths with * are patterns, expanded to real directories before anything is shown to you; a wildcard never appears in a confirmation. Tools that can be installed in several places (conda, pnpm, Android SDK) are located by asking the environment, then the tool, then its config, before falling back to known locations. The rules for what can never be removed are explained on the safety page.
User caches · 3
| Rule | Paths | Risk | How to get it back |
|---|---|---|---|
| App caches Free Caches that apps create for themselves at runtime | ~/Library/Caches/* | Regenerable | Apps rebuild it on demand (no stated rebuild cost) |
| Window restore state Free Restore state for windows and tabs | ~/Library/Saved Application State/*.savedState | Regenerable | — |
| .DS_Store index files Free Icon layout and view settings remembered by Finder | ~/Downloads/**/.DS_Store | Regenerable | — |
User logs · 3
| Rule | Paths | Risk | How to get it back |
|---|---|---|---|
| App logs Free Logs that apps write at runtime | ~/Library/Logs/* | Regenerable | — |
| Crash reports Free Reports the system generates when an app crashes | ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/* | Costly to rebuild | — |
| Third-party crash reports Free Dumps left behind by third-party crash reporters | ~/Library/Application Support/CrashReporter/* | Regenerable | — |
Trash · 1
| Rule | Paths | Risk | How to get it back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trash Free Things you already deleted · Siftaway will not empty it for you | ~/.Trash/* | Regenerable | — |
Installers · 5
| Rule | Paths | Risk | How to get it back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Installers in Downloads Free Installers downloaded from the browser | ~/Downloads/*.dmg ~/Downloads/*.pkg ~/Downloads/*.mpkg ~/Downloads/*.iso +1 | Costly to rebuild | — |
| Homebrew downloads Free Packages and sources Homebrew downloaded while installing | ~/Library/Caches/Homebrew/downloads/* | Costly to rebuild | brew cleanup --prune=all; rebuild with brew install <formula>, which downloads again (not guaranteed offline) |
| Google updater downloads Free Installers downloaded by the updater | ~/Library/Application Support/Google/GoogleUpdater/* | Regenerable | Downloaded again at the next automatic update; not noticeable |
| Homebrew Cask downloads Free Disk images Homebrew downloaded while installing GUI apps | ~/Library/Caches/Homebrew/Cask* | Costly to rebuild | brew cleanup --prune=all; rebuild with brew install --cask <app>, which downloads again |
| macOS installer Free Installer used for system upgrades | /Applications/Install macOS*.app | Costly to rebuild | Download again from the App Store or Software Update (several GB). The installer has no use once the system is installed. |
Browsers · 4
| Rule | Paths | Risk | How to get it back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome cache Free Pages and resources Chrome cached while loading sites | ~/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome/* ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/*/Service Worker/CacheStorage/* | Regenerable | Rebuilt automatically during normal browsing; first visits are slower |
| Safari cache Free Pages and resources Safari cached while loading sites | ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/* ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Caches | Regenerable | — |
| Firefox cache Free Pages and resources Firefox cached while loading sites | ~/Library/Caches/Firefox/* ~/Library/Caches/Firefox/Profiles/*/cache2/* | Regenerable | — |
| Chromium-based browser caches Free Pages and resources cached by Chromium-based browsers | ~/Library/Caches/com.microsoft.edgemac/* ~/Library/Caches/BraveSoftware/* ~/Library/Caches/Chromium/* ~/Library/Caches/Arc/* +5 | Regenerable | — |
System logs · 2
| Rule | Paths | Risk | How to get it back |
|---|---|---|---|
| System logs Free System and service logs · needs root, report only | /private/var/log/*.log | Regenerable | — |
| System-level caches Free System-level caches · needs SIP disabled, report only | /Library/Caches/* | Regenerable | — |
Developer toolchains · 35
| Rule | Paths | Risk | How to get it back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Test automation browsers Pro Browser copies downloaded for automated testing | ~/.cache/puppeteer/* ~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/* | Costly to rebuild | npx playwright install / npx puppeteer browsers install, roughly 150–400 MB to download per browser |
| npm cache Pro Package contents npm downloaded during installs | ~/.npm/_cacache | Costly to rebuild | npm cache clean --force; rebuild with npm install, which re-downloads on demand |
| npm logs and npx temp directory Pro npm debug logs and the npx temp directory | ~/.npm/_logs ~/.npm/_npx | Regenerable | — |
| pnpm content-addressable store Pro pnpm's package store, shared by projects through hard links | ~/Library/pnpm/store ~/.pnpm-store ~/.local/share/pnpm/store | Costly to rebuild | pnpm store prune; rebuild with pnpm install, which re-downloads missing packages |
| Yarn cache Pro Package zips Yarn downloaded according to the lockfile | ~/Library/Caches/Yarn ~/.yarn/cache ~/.yarn/berry/cache | Costly to rebuild | yarn install, which downloads again |
| Bun package cache Pro Packages Bun downloaded during installs | ~/.bun/install/cache | Costly to rebuild | bun pm cache rm; rebuild with bun install, which downloads again |
| Corepack downloads Pro Package manager binaries Corepack downloaded for projects | ~/.cache/corepack | Regenerable | corepack enable, which re-downloads the package manager |
| Frontend build caches Pro Intermediate output from frontend toolchains | ~/.cache/typescript ~/.cache/vite ~/.vite ~/.turbo +7 | Regenerable | The next build; the first build is slower (works offline) |
| Electron binary cache Pro Prebuilt Electron binaries | ~/.cache/electron ~/Library/Caches/electron ~/.electron | Costly to rebuild | npm install (downloaded in postinstall), about 100 MB per version |
| pip cache Pro Wheels and HTTP cache pip downloaded during installs | ~/Library/Caches/pip | Costly to rebuild | pip3 cache purge; rebuild with pip install, which re-downloads wheels |
| uv cache Pro Packages uv downloaded during installs | ~/.cache/uv | Regenerable | uv cache prune; rebuild with uv sync, which downloads again |
| Poetry cache Pro Packages and metadata Poetry downloaded during installs | ~/Library/Caches/pypoetry ~/.cache/pypoetry | Costly to rebuild | poetry install, which downloads again |
| Python tool caches Pro Miscellaneous caches from Python tooling | ~/.cache/ruff ~/.cache/mypy ~/.cache/pre-commit ~/.cache/pytest +1 | Regenerable | — |
| pyenv download cache Pro Interpreter and dependency sources downloaded by pyenv | ~/.pyenv/cache | Costly to rebuild | pyenv install, which has to recompile Python |
| conda package cache Pro Packages conda has extracted | ~/miniconda3/pkgs ~/anaconda3/pkgs ~/miniforge3/pkgs ~/mambaforge/pkgs +4 | Costly to rebuild | conda clean --tarballs --yes; rebuild with conda install, which downloads again and may run into channel changes |
| Go build cache Pro Build cache generated when Go compiles | ~/Library/Caches/go-build | Regenerable | go clean -cache; rebuild with go build, a full recompile (works offline) |
| Go module cache Pro Modules Go downloaded while building | ~/go/pkg/mod | Costly to rebuild | go clean -modcache; rebuild with go mod download, which re-downloads all dependencies |
| Cargo download cache Pro Crates and sources Cargo downloaded while building | ~/.cargo/registry/cache ~/.cargo/registry/src | Costly to rebuild | cargo fetch, which re-downloads crates |
| Cargo Git dependency checkouts Pro Sources Cargo checked out from git dependencies | ~/.cargo/git/checkouts ~/.cargo/git/db | Costly to rebuild | cargo fetch, which re-clones git dependencies |
| rustup download cache Pro Component and toolchain archives downloaded by rustup | ~/.rustup/downloads ~/.rustup/tmp | Regenerable | rustup self update; rebuild with rustup toolchain install, which re-downloads the toolchain |
| sccache compile cache Pro Compile results stored by sccache | ~/.cache/sccache ~/Library/Caches/Mozilla.sccache | Regenerable | sccache --stop-server; rebuild at the next compile, with the cache hit rate back to zero (works offline) |
| Gradle build cache Pro Build output Gradle generated while compiling | ~/.gradle/caches/build-cache-1 ~/.gradle/caches/journal-1 ~/.gradle/daemon ~/.gradle/workers +1 | Regenerable | gradle --stop; rebuild with ./gradlew build; the first build is slower (works offline) |
| Gradle dependency cache Pro Dependencies Gradle downloaded while building | ~/.gradle/caches/modules-2 ~/.gradle/caches/jars-9 | Costly to rebuild | ./gradlew --refresh-dependencies, which re-downloads all dependencies |
| Maven local repository Pro Maven's local repository, where dependencies downloaded during builds are stored | ~/.m2/repository | Costly to rebuild | mvn dependency:go-offline, which re-downloads all dependencies |
| Other JVM caches Pro Caches from other JVM build tools | ~/.ivy2/cache ~/.sbt/boot ~/.sbt/launchers ~/.konan +1 | Costly to rebuild | — |
| Android build and device caches Pro Caches related to Android builds and the emulator | ~/.android/build-cache ~/.android/cache ~/Android/Sdk/.downloadIntermediates ~/Library/Android/sdk/.downloadIntermediates +5 | Regenerable | xcrun simctl delete unavailable; rebuild by building again / running the emulator again; the first build is slower (works offline) |
| Electron editor caches Pro Caches left behind by Electron-based editors | ~/Library/Application Support/Code/Cache ~/Library/Application Support/Code/CachedData ~/Library/Application Support/Code/Code Cache ~/Library/Application Support/Code/GPUCache +18 | Regenerable | — |
| JetBrains IDE caches and logs Pro Project indexes for IDEA and WebStorm | ~/Library/Caches/JetBrains/* ~/Library/Logs/JetBrains/* | Regenerable | Indexes are rebuilt when the project is reopened; the first indexing of a large project can take more than 10 minutes (works offline) |
| Sublime / Neovim caches Pro Caches and plugin indexes for Sublime and Neovim | ~/Library/Caches/com.sublimetext.4 ~/Library/Caches/com.sublimetext.3 ~/.cache/nvim | Regenerable | — |
| Kubernetes / cloud CLI caches Pro Caches for kubectl, helm, and cloud CLIs | ~/.kube/cache ~/.kube/http-cache ~/.aws/cli/cache ~/.config/gcloud/logs +3 | Regenerable | — |
| Ruby / PHP / Elixir / OCaml caches Pro Packages downloaded during installs for Ruby, PHP, and similar languages | ~/.gem/specs ~/.bundle/cache ~/.rbenv/cache ~/.composer/cache +3 | Costly to rebuild | gem cleanup; rebuild with bundle install / composer install / mix deps.get, which download again |
| Other build system caches Pro Caches from other build systems | ~/.cache/bazel ~/.cache/bazelisk ~/.cache/zig ~/.cache/sbt +6 | Costly to rebuild | nix-collect-garbage -d; rebuild at the next build / nix-shell, which re-downloads or recompiles |
| .NET / NuGet package cache Pro Packages NuGet downloaded during installs | ~/.nuget/packages ~/.local/share/NuGet | Costly to rebuild | dotnet nuget locals all --clear; rebuild with dotnet restore, which downloads again |
| Command-line download tool caches Pro Files downloaded by command-line tools such as wget and curl | ~/.cache/curl ~/.cache/wget ~/Library/Caches/curl ~/Library/Caches/wget | Costly to rebuild | — |
| Sketch caches and logs Pro Sketch's caches and logs; design files are not stored here | ~/Library/Caches/com.bohemiancoding.sketch3 ~/Library/Logs/com.bohemiancoding.sketch3 | Regenerable | Nothing to do manually: Sketch rebuilds its indexes and caches at the next launch. The documents themselves are .sketch files and are not in these directories. |
Xcode · 10
| Rule | Paths | Risk | How to get it back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xcode DerivedData Pro Build products and indexes Xcode generated while compiling | ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/* | Regenerable | xcodebuild build, a full recompile (works offline) |
| Xcode Archives (release archives) Pro Release archives and symbol files | ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/Archives/* | Costly to rebuild | Archive again (needs the source, certificates, and dependency versions from that time); an exact reproduction is very likely impossible |
| iOS/watchOS device support files Pro Symbol files for debugging on real devices | ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS DeviceSupport/* ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/watchOS DeviceSupport/* ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/tvOS DeviceSupport/* ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/Devices | Costly to rebuild | Regenerated automatically when a device on that version is connected, about 1–3 GB per device per version |
| Simulator caches and temp files Pro Files the simulator extracted and cached at runtime | ~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Caches ~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/*/data/tmp ~/Library/Developer/XCTestDevices ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/Previews +1 | Regenerable | xcrun simctl delete unavailable; rebuild by running the simulator / SwiftUI previews again; the first launch is slower (works offline) |
| Swift Package Manager cache Pro SwiftPM dependency checkouts and build cache | ~/Library/Caches/org.swift.swiftpm ~/.cache/swift-package-manager | Costly to rebuild | xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies, which re-clones/re-downloads dependencies |
| Xcode's own caches Pro Xcode's own caches | ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.dt.Xcode ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/IB Support ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/FontAndColorThemes/.tmp | Regenerable | Rebuilt automatically by Xcode; the first open is slower (works offline) |
| CocoaPods and Carthage caches Pro Dependencies CocoaPods and Carthage have downloaded | ~/Library/Caches/CocoaPods ~/Library/Caches/org.carthage.CarthageKit | Costly to rebuild | pod cache clean --all / carthage update, which download again (private sources need the internal network) |
| Simulator runtimes Pro The simulator runtimes themselves for iOS and other platforms | ~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Profiles/Runtimes | Costly to rebuild | xcrun simctl runtime delete / download again in Xcode, which pulls several GB over the network |
| iOS photo cache Free Photo cache left behind when syncing iOS devices | ~/Pictures/iPod Photo Cache | Regenerable | Nothing to do manually: rebuilt the next time an iOS device is synced with Photos. The original photos are in the Photos library, not in this directory. |
| Mail attachment downloads Free Download cache for mail attachments; the mail itself is not here | ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Mail Downloads | Regenerable | Nothing to do manually: opening the message again re-downloads the attachment. The mail itself is in ~/Library/Mail. |
Containers and VMs · 3
| Rule | Paths | Risk | How to get it back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Docker buildx build cache Pro buildx build cache | ~/.docker/buildx/cache ~/.docker/buildx/.tmp | Regenerable | docker builder prune --force; rebuild at the next docker build; the first build is slower (works offline) |
| Docker dangling images and build cache Pro Dangling images and intermediate layers no container references | — | Regenerable | docker system prune --force; rebuild by pulling / building again, which re-downloads image layers |
| Lima / Colima image downloads Pro Images downloaded by Lima and Colima | ~/Library/Caches/lima/download ~/.lima/download | Costly to rebuild | limactl start, which re-downloads the VM image (hundreds of MB and up) |
AI tool leftovers · 7
| Rule | Paths | Risk | How to get it back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code old versions Pro Old versions of Claude Code that were installed | ~/.local/share/claude/versions | Costly to rebuild | claude update, which downloads again (on the order of 100 MB) |
| Claude Code temp files Pro Claude Code's temporary files | ~/.claude/shell-snapshots ~/.claude/statsig ~/.claude/todos | Regenerable | — |
| Claude Code session transcripts Pro Claude Code's session transcripts | ~/.claude/projects | Costly to rebuild | — |
| Codex temp files and logs Pro Codex's temporary files and logs | ~/.codex/log ~/.codex/.tmp ~/.codex/cache ~/.cache/codex-runtimes | Regenerable | — |
| Codex past sessions Pro Codex's past session transcripts | ~/.codex/sessions ~/.codex/archived_sessions | Costly to rebuild | — |
| AI agent old versions Pro Old versions of AI agents that were installed | ~/.local/share/cursor-agent/versions ~/.copilot/pkg ~/.gemini/antigravity-browser-profile ~/.cache/chrome-devtools-mcp +1 | Costly to rebuild | — |
| Local model weight caches Pro Download and extraction caches for local model weights | ~/Library/Caches/models ~/Library/Caches/ai-weights | Costly to rebuild | Download again from the distribution platform (anything removed upstream cannot be pulled back) |
Protected · 9
| Rule | Paths | Risk | How to get it back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local model weights Protected Local model weights | ~/.ollama/models ~/.lmstudio/models ~/.cache/huggingface ~/.cache/torch +2 | Irreplaceable | — |
| Python virtual environments Protected Project virtual environments | ~/.cache/pypoetry/virtualenvs ~/.virtualenvs ~/miniconda3/envs ~/anaconda3/envs +1 | Irreplaceable | — |
| Keys and credentials Protected Keys and credentials | ~/.ssh ~/.gnupg ~/.aws ~/.kube/config +3 | Irreplaceable | — |
| Cloud sync and personal files Protected Cloud sync and personal files | ~/Library/Mobile Documents ~/Library/Group Containers ~/Documents ~/Desktop +6 | Irreplaceable | — |
| Editor state and local history Protected Editor state and local history | ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User ~/Library/Application Support/Code/workspaceStorage ~/Library/Application Support/Code/History ~/Library/Application Support/Code/globalStorage +6 | Irreplaceable | — |
| VM and container data Protected Data volumes of virtual machines and containers | ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/vms ~/Library/Group Containers ~/.colima ~/.lima +5 | Irreplaceable | — |
| Installed toolchains Protected The installed toolchains themselves | ~/.rustup/toolchains ~/.swiftpm ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData ~/.phpbrew | Irreplaceable | — |
| SIP and kernel-managed system paths Protected Paths that need SIP disabled or are managed by the kernel | /.Spotlight-V100 /private/var/vm /private/var/folders /private/var/db/CoreDuet +2 | Irreplaceable | Cannot be rebuilt. These paths either need SIP (System Integrity Protection) disabled to be written, or are managed exclusively by the kernel or system daemons. |
| Local backups and personal databases Protected Local backups and personal databases | ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup ~/Library/Application Support/Knowledge | Irreplaceable | Cannot be rebuilt: MobileSync/Backup is the encrypted backup of an iOS device and cannot be restored without the password; Knowledge is tightly coupled to 4 system services. |