Best 9 Disk Space Analyzers for Mac in 2024

If you use your Mac to save a lot of files and download many applications, you may eventually start to run out of disk space. You can address this issue by using an external storage device, but in many cases you will want to keep enough free space on your main drive to maintain high performance and not impact your ability to save new photos or videos. Using a Mac disk space analyzer can help you identify old and duplicate files that can be deleted to provide more free space for future activity.

9 Disk Space Analyzers for Mac

Now let’s look at 9 disk space analyzers that can help you understand how your Mac’s storage is being used so you can take the appropriate action to free up some space.

Apps to Check Disk Space for Mac Testing Statistics:

1. Disk Drill Clean Up

Analyze disk space:  Yes | Remove duplicate files: Yes | Perform disk cleaning: Yes | Provides additional tools: Yes | OS Support: macOS 10.12.6 or later

Developed by the famous data recovery company, Disk Drill has a built-in intuitive tool whose purpose is to scan and analyze disk and folders for space hogs. You can then easily move them to Trash or remove them entirely. The tool can be configured to provide the perfect balance of performance and speed.

Key Features:

• Fast visualizations – Disk Drill’s Cleaner doesn’t keep you waiting for visualizations to render. The app is blazingly fast even on older Macs.
• Multi-language support – The app is available in English, Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish.
• Full Toolkit – The cleaner module is just a part of a bigger app that provides all tools you may need during storage maintenance from Data Recovery to S.M.A.R.T. monitoring.

TrustPilot user reviews summary for Disk Drill Clean Up: Cleaner module is highly appreciated by Mac users for its fast but thorough disk space analysis and management capabilities. It stands out for its ability to create visual data maps, helping users easily identify large files and folders consuming significant disk space. The app supports various disk types and offers multiple display modes for user convenience. It is praised for its real-time scanning results, effective filtering options, and its contribution to maintaining hard drive health. With a user rating of 4.4 out of 5, Disk Drill Clean Up is commended for its modernized interface, improved disk mapping algorithms, and its overall effectiveness in disk space management.

2. Disk Space Analyzer: Inspector

Analyze disk space:  Yes | Remove duplicate files:  No | Perform disk cleaning:  Yes | Provides additional tools: No  | OS Support: macOS 10.13 or later

This tool is a disk visualizer for Mac that is available on the Mac App Store. It provides a simple disk analyzer that can be used by anyone with a Mac. You can easily find the largest files taking up space on your Mac, external storage, or your Dropbox account. It just takes a few minutes to scan your disk and review the chart displaying drive usage.

Key Features:

• Analyzes all disks – With Disk Space Analyzer, you can analyze any disk, including your startup disk and mounted disk images.
• Impressive speed – The developers of Disk Space Analyzer have greatly improved the scanning speed on macOS Sonoma.

AppStore user reviews summary for Disk Space Analyzer: Inspector: Disk Space Analyzer: Inspector is acclaimed for its effective disk space management on Mac. It stands out for its intuitive sunburst-like diagram visualization, helping users easily identify and manage large files and folders. The app is user-friendly, supporting various types of volumes and offering real-time scanning. With a rating of 4.4 out of 5 from 147 reviews, it is praised for its simplicity and efficiency in identifying and removing unnecessary files, making it a valuable tool for optimizing storage space on Mac devices.

3. DaisyDisk

Analyze disk space:  Yes | Remove duplicate files: No | Perform disk cleaning: Yes | Provides additional tools: No | OS Support: OS X 10.5 through current macOS versions

DaisyDisk is a space analyzer that provides a map of your disk using a distinctive circular graphical display that is easy to understand. It provides real-time disk analysis so you can always tell if you have enough room to install a new app or download that movie you wanted. The user has complete control over what gets deleted and system files are protected against accidental removal.

Key Features:

• Beautiful user interface – Gemini 2 can intelligently tell original files from their copies, and it remembers your choices to save you time during future cleanups.
• M3-ready – DaisyDisk is fully compatible with M3 Macs, so you can expect it to run smoothly and deliver accurate results without much delay.

AppStore user reviews summary for DaisyDisk: DaisyDisk is praised for its interactive map visualization of disk space on Mac. It efficiently identifies and removes large, unnecessary files, supporting local and cloud storage. Key features include a unique interface, fast scanning, and real-time disk information. Recent updates have enhanced hidden space discovery and user navigation. Users appreciate its effectiveness in disk space management, though some desire more guidance for temporary file deletion.

4. Disk Analyzer Pro

Analyze disk space:  Yes | Remove duplicate files: No | Perform disk cleaning: Yes | Provides additional tools: No | OS Support: Mac OS X 10.8 and all newer versions of macOS

Disk Analyzer Pro is a disk analyzer and cleaner available from the Mac App Store. It helps you organize the files and folders on your disks so you can make the most efficient use of storage space. Scan reports show usage statistics in terms of file count, size, and percentage of space used. Selected files can be copied, moved, deleted, or compressed. An integrated file explorer makes it easy to see and manage the files on your Mac’s disks.

Key Features:

• Automatic categorization – Disk Analyzer Pro automatically categorizes discovered files based on their file types to help users achieve the desired results.
• Built-in file browser – Integrated into the application is a convenient file browser that you can use to browse your storage device.

AppStore user reviews summary for Disk Analyzer: Disk Analyzer Pro is a disk space analysis and cleanup app for macOS. Users find it highly useful for visualizing and managing disk space. The app offers detailed reports on storage usage, an integrated file explorer, and groups files by size, type, and date. It’s praised for its ability to locate large and obsolete files, enhancing disk space management. The latest update includes minor bug fixes and scan engine improvements. Users appreciate its comprehensive features and ease of use in optimizing disk space.

5. GrandPerspective

Analyze disk space:  Yes | Remove duplicate files: No | Perform disk cleaning: Yes | Provides additional tools: No | OS Support: macOS 10.9 or later

GrandPerspective is a utility designed to graphically shows the disk usage within a file system. It lets users easily identify files taking up the most space so they can be reviewed and deleted if necessary. The app uses treemaps to display files, with each item shown as a rectangle proportional to its size. Filters allow you to only view the filetypes you are interested in and files can be deleted from within the interface.

Key Features:

• Regularly updated – GrandPerspective is regularly updated to maintain compatibility and fix bugs.
• Configurable display of views – You can choose how you want the software to display how storage space is utilized.

AppStore user reviews summary for GrandPerspective: GrandPerspective is a utility app for Mac that graphically displays disk usage. It uses tree maps for visual representation, helping users manage disk space effectively. Users find it indispensable for identifying what’s filling up their disks. The app is praised for its simplicity, reliability, and the ability to zoom in on specific areas to understand disk usage better. The latest update includes faster scanning and improved user interface elements. Users appreciate GrandPerspective for its detailed and visual approach to disk space management.

6. OmniDiskSweeper

Analyze disk space:  Yes | Remove duplicate files: No | Perform disk cleaning: Yes | Provides additional tools: No | OS Support: Mac OS 10.4 or later

OmniDiskSweeper is a freeware tool that can analyze your Mac’s disk space to identify which files and folders are taking up the most space. The tool lets you choose specific folders to scan and allows the removal of selected files from within the app. It’s a simple tool that appears to do its job and helps you save space on your Mac.

Key Features:

• Individual folders – You can scan individual folders as well as entire storage drives.
• Permanent deletion – The software can permanently delete files without moving them to Trash first.

CNET user reviews summary for OmniDiskSweeper: OmniDiskSweeper is a Mac utility tool for creating storage space by clearing out unused files. The tool is efficient in listing all files and directories on a disk, sorted by size, which helps in quickly identifying and deleting large, unnecessary files. The latest version, updated on June 5, 2019, includes improvements for macOS High Sierra and newer versions. Users appreciate its speed and effectiveness in managing disk space on Mac OS X, Mac OS X Server, and Mac OS 9 disks.

7. NCDU

Analyze disk space:  Yes | Remove duplicate files: No | Perform disk cleaning: No | Provides additional tools: No | OS Support: macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave

NCurses Disk Usage is a freeware disk usage analyzer with an ncurses interface. You need to have NCurses installed to use the tool, which may make it an unrealistic choice for some users. Individuals planning to use this tool need to be familiar with downloading and installing binary files from the Terminal command line.

Key Features:

• Excellent performance – Because NCDU doesn’t have a graphical user interface, and because its algorithms are highly optimized, it performs well even on older Macs.
• Homebrew formulae – You can install NCDU using Homebrew, a popular package manager for macOS.

AlternativeTo review summary for NCurses Disk Usage: NCDU is a disk usage analyzer with an ncurses interface, highly rated for its efficiency and simplicity. It’s particularly favored for its fast performance and user-friendly, terminal-based interface. Users appreciate its ability to exclude specific folders and its intuitive display of disk usage. While some compare it to traditional commands like ‘du’, NCDU stands out for its speed and ease of use, especially in remote server environments. Overall, it’s well-received for its effectiveness in managing disk space.

8. Disk Inventory X

Analyze disk space:  Yes | Remove duplicate files: No | Perform disk cleaning: No | Provides additional tools: No | OS Support: macOS 10.13 – 10.15

This simple freeware tool displays the size of files and folders in treemaps for easy viewing. The tool does not provide the functionality to remove files from within the tool and is essentially a one-trick-pony. If you want an alternative view of the files on your disk, this freeware solution might work for you.

Key Features:

• Visual overview – Disk Inventory X displays a visual overview of storage space utilization, allowing you to see at a glance which folders take up the most storage space.
• Released under the GPL – The software is released under the GPL license, so you can use it without virtually any limitations.

CNET user reviews summary for Disk Inventory X: Disk Inventory X is a popular disk usage utility for Mac OS, appreciated for its unique treemap visualization feature. This graphical representation helps users easily identify large files and folders consuming significant disk space. The app is praised for its efficiency in managing disk space. The latest update includes faster directory scanning, enhancing its functionality and user experience. Overall, Disk Inventory X is valued by users for its innovative approach to disk space visualization and management.

9. WhatSizeMac

Analyze disk space:  Yes | Remove duplicate files: Yes | Perform disk cleaning: Yes | Provides additional tools: No | OS Support: Mac OS X 10.4 or later

WhatSizeMac is a disk management tool that analyzes your disks and displays their contents in an interactive chart. Users can easily drill down for further details to find space wasters that can be removed with a click. Duplicate files can be permanently removed, sent to the Trash, or replaced with hard links. The tool helps speed up your Mac by retuning free space to the operating system.

Key Features:

• Chart display – WhatSizeMac visualizes your disk space utilization as an interactive chart.
• Cleaning tools – Included with WhatSizeMac are cleaning tools that you can use to remove common space-wasters, such as logs.

MacUpdate user reviews summary for WhatSize: WhatSize, a disk space management tool for Mac, has mixed reviews with an overall rating of 3.8 out of 5 based on 143 user rates. Users appreciate its ability to quickly measure folder sizes and sort files and folders by size, aiding in identifying and removing large, unnecessary files. However, some users criticize its high price, especially compared to alternatives like DaisyDisk and GrandPerspective. The latest version adds support for macOS Ventura but drops support for macOS Sierra 10.12. While some users find it a clever and useful utility, others consider it overpriced for its functionality.

How to Choose a Space Analyzer Solution for Mac

Selecting the right hard drive analyzer for your Mac can be challenging. There are many products out there that claim to be able to do the job. Following are some factors to consider when choosing an app to analyze your Mac’s disk space.

• 🤗 User-friendliness. You should look for a storage analyzer that provides a user-friendly interface which simplifies finding the tool’s features. Having to wrestle with a command-line interface makes it less likely that you will use the application productively.
• 🤓 Ease-of-use. Related to the user-friendliness of a software solution is its ease of use when performing its role. You want to find a tool that is easy to run and provides an intuitive method of analyzing your Mac’s disk space. A complex command-line tool will not get used as often as a solution that lets you click through and analyze your disks easily.
• 💡 Features. The Mac disk usage analyzer you select should have a feature set that addresses your needs. Some tools may only report on disk usage, leaving you to manually delete duplicate files to free up space. Others might automatically delete files without giving you the opportunity to review the deletions. Look for a tool that gives you options in how to address the space issues on your Mac.
• 🧰 Additional tools. Some of the software tools that act as a disk inspector also provide other tools that can be extremely useful for a Mac owner. Disk analyzers are often bundled with tools like backup and recovery software. Look for a solution that gives you a variety of software utilities if possible.
• 💲 Price. Price should never be the sole determining factor when purchasing a software solution, but it does come into play. If two products offer similar functionality and user-friendliness, it makes sense to opt for the lower-priced solution. That being said, don’t fall into the trap of looking for the least expensive option at the expense of features or usability.

How to Free Up Disk Space on Mac Easily

If you are having problems with a lack of disk capacity, you want a tool that helps you free up space. We are going to use Disk Drill as an example and run through the steps required to identify and remove duplicate and unnecessary files from your Mac.

Use the following procedure to free up disk space on your Mac using Disk Drill.

1. Download and install Disk Drill for Mac on your machine.
2. Click on the Clean Up tool located in the left-hand panel of Disk Drill’s interface.
3. Select the drive or folder you wish to analyze and click the Start Scan button.
4. You will be notified by a ‘Scan complete’ message when the scanning process is finished.
5. Now you can drag folder to the caddy at the bottom or click on it to open it accessing subfolders or individual files.
6. Found garbage automatically sorted by size to make it easy to find the items you want to delete.
7. To delete selected files or folders click on Review & Remove and choose what you wish to do – you can move selected items to trash, delete them permanently or move to a different location, for example USB drive, if you’re not ready to say goodbye to them yet.
8. Don’t forget to empty the Trash if you’ve opted for this option to permanently delete the chosen files and folders.

Why Do You Need a Disk Analyzer for Mac?

When it comes to Apple products in general, extra storage space always costs a lot of money. That’s why many people opt for Mac with smaller hard drives. But even those who don’t eventually discover that filling up available storage space is much easier than reclaiming it by deleting unwanted and unnecessary files.

As you use your Mac, all kinds of junk accumulates on your hard drive, from leftover system and app data to duplicates to forgotten downloads. It can be an extremely time-consuming process to manually locate these files, which is where disk space analyzers come in.

A capable disk space analyzer can quickly and painlessly reveal where the largest files and folders are located, showing you where you need to focus your attention to achieve the desired results.

Conclusion

The use of a disk analyzer can help resolve issues with inadequate space on your Mac. Running a disk analysis will show you what files are taking up the most space so you can take action and remove them if possible. Even if you can’t remove some of the files, you may be able to compress them or move them to extended storage to free up space on your main disk. We suggest you analyze your disks regularly. You may be surprised at what you find!