Safety

Last updated: September 21, 2026

Prunely explains before it acts. Every removal goes through a review step: you preview items, choose what to include, then move selected files to the Trash. Nothing is permanently deleted by default.

Three risk tiers

Every recommendation carries a risk level so you know how carefully to look before you proceed.

Safe

Rebuilt automatically or easy to get again.

Review Recommended

Probably unneeded, but only you can tell.

Advanced

Can't be undone or may affect apps. Proceed carefully.

Four questions before anything moves

Each suggestion answers the same four questions — the same explanation structure every recommendation uses, whether it is a cache, a download, or a developer artifact.

What it is A plain-language description of the data.
Why removable Why Prunely thinks it can go.
If deleted What happens after you remove it.
Safer alternative An optional path that avoids deletion when one exists.

How removal works

Most items are moved to the Trash. You can restore them from there, or from Prunely’s History, until you empty the Trash yourself.

Move to Trash — the default. Items are not permanently deleted.
Empty Trash — handed to Finder’s own confirmation, because emptying is permanent.
Tool actions — for things only Docker or pnpm can remove. Those commands are confirmed separately and cannot be undone.

What starts selected

Only Safe items begin preselected. Review Recommended and Advanced stay unticked until you choose them. Files that look sensitive are listed so you can see them, but they are never auto-selected.

Available, reclaimable, and purgeable

Available matches Finder-style capacity — free space including what macOS can purge on demand.

Purgeable is shown separately under Available (for example, “Includes X GB purgeable”). It is space macOS may reclaim itself.

Reclaimable is space from matched cleanup rules — not purgeable. Purgeable is never counted in Reclaimable.

Local on your Mac

Scans and analysis stay on your Mac. File paths, sizes, and recommendations are processed on device. See our Privacy page for details.

Full Disk Access is needed for a full picture of System Data. Without it, some system-protected areas remain opaque — that is an honest limit of macOS permissions, not a shortcut.

Code signing and notarization are part of launch readiness; we will not claim Apple notarization until it ships.

Questions about safety: support@prunely.space.