What is DaisyDisk?
DaisyDisk scans a Mac's storage and draws what it finds as a ring chart you click into, drilling from the whole disk down to individual files. It is deliberately not a "cleaner": the developer argues that macOS maintains itself and that the real fix for a full disk is finding and deleting the large files you no longer need, so the app identifies files and leaves the deleting to you. It is a one-time $9.99 purchase for a lifetime licence covering up to five personal Macs, with no subscription.
Verified product facts
- Type
- disk usage analyserEditorially reviewed
- Platform
- macOS
- Apple Silicon
- YesDeveloper-stated
- Pricing
- One-time purchaseDeveloper-stated
- Price
- USD 9.99Developer-stated
- Developer
- Software AmbienceDeveloper-stated
- Relationship to Nuanyue
- Third-party product — not published by NuanyueEditorially reviewed
- Current version
- 4.34.2Developer-stated
- Official website
- daisydiskapp.com/
Last updated . Facts marked developer-stated come from the developer and are not independently confirmed; editorially reviewed marks a Nuanyue judgement.
Key features
What DaisyDisk does at a glance.
Interactive ring chart of disk usage
Administrator scan
Reveals restricted folders
Detection of macOS snapshots
Scanning of cloud storage and network volumes
Instant file preview
With the space bar
Single window
Covering every mounted volume
What you can use DaisyDisk for
- Finding which files are filling up a Mac's drive
- Deciding which large files to delete when a disk is nearly full
- Inspecting space hidden in restricted folders with an administrator scan
- Seeing how much space macOS snapshots occupy
- Scanning external, network or cloud volumes to see what they hold
Who is DaisyDisk for?
- Mac users who want to find large files and delete them manually rather than run an automated cleaner
- People managing space across several Macs — one licence covers up to five personal Macs
- Users on older Macs — the app supports macOS 10.13 or newer
Who is DaisyDisk not for?
- Anyone wanting automated cleanup — DaisyDisk identifies files but leaves deletion to the user
- Windows or Linux users — DaisyDisk is macOS only
Limitations
- Reclaiming space is manual — the app identifies files but does not delete them
- Scanning a whole disk usually requires granting full disk access in System Settings
Strengths and trade-offs
What DaisyDisk does well, and what to weigh before choosing it. Points marked developer-stated come from the developer’s own material and have not been independently confirmed.
Strengths
- Supports both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, and requires macOS 10.13 or newer.Developer-stated
- One-time $9.99 purchase for a lifetime licence, with no recurring payment.
- A single licence covers up to five personal Macs.
- The developer states the app collects and transmits no data.Developer-stated
- Can scan as administrator to reveal space hidden in restricted folders, and can surface macOS snapshots.Developer-stated
Trade-offs
- It identifies files but does not clean automatically, so reclaiming space is a manual, file-by-file decision.Developer-stated
- A 30-day money-back guarantee applies, but the licence is otherwise a purchase rather than a subscription with ongoing entitlement.
First-use experience
What the app asks of you when you set it up. Only established facts appear here; anything we could not confirm is left out rather than guessed at.
- Installation
- Download a .zip from daisydiskapp.com and drag the app to Applications; a licence is required after the trial.
- First launch Developer-stated
- Scanning a whole disk usually needs full disk access, which macOS requires you to grant in System Settings.
- System integration Developer-stated
- Presents every mounted volume — internal, external, USB, Thunderbolt, network and cloud storage — in one window.
- Apple Silicon Developer-stated
- Supported
What it does
DaisyDisk scans a Mac’s storage and renders what it finds as an interactive ring chart. Clicking a segment drills into it, from the whole volume down to individual files, and pressing space previews a file without opening it. An optional administrator scan reveals space held in folders that are normally unreadable, and the app can also surface macOS snapshots that quietly occupy significant space.
Why it is not a “cleaner”
This is the most interesting thing about the product. DaisyDisk’s own homepage argues against the category it is often filed under:
macOS can clean itself very well, and Apple actually discourages the use of cleaner apps. When your disk space is low, fix the real problem — find and delete the large files that you no longer need.
The developer’s comparison puts a typical cleaner at 1–5 GB recovered by deleting caches that reappear, against DaisyDisk at 10–100 GB by deleting the largest files, with the user making every deletion decision. Nuanyue records this as a developer claim rather than an established fact, but it is a substantive position rather than marketing copy.
Pricing and licensing
$9.99 buys a lifetime licence — one-time, no recurring payment, minor updates included — covering up to five personal Macs, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Corporate and portable licences and student discounts are available on request.
Requirements
macOS 10.13 or newer, on either Apple Silicon or Intel. The developer states the app supports all Apple Silicon CPUs and macOS Tahoe.
Release history
Dated releases recorded for DaisyDisk, newest first, each with the source it was read from.
4.34.2Developer-stated
Current release; supports all Apple Silicon CPUs and macOS Tahoe.
Source: Official website
Questions about DaisyDisk
Is DaisyDisk a subscription?
No. It is a one-time $9.99 purchase for a lifetime licence, with no recurring payments. Minor updates and bug fixes are included.
How many Macs can I install DaisyDisk on?
One licence covers up to five personal Macs. Corporate, portable and student licences are available separately.
Does DaisyDisk run on Apple Silicon?
Yes. The developer states the app supports both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, and requires macOS 10.13 or newer.Developer-stated
Does DaisyDisk delete files automatically?
No. It finds and visualises what is using space and leaves deletion to you. The developer argues against automated cleaners, noting that macOS maintains itself and that cache files reappear shortly after deletion.Developer-stated
What is the latest DaisyDisk version?
4.34.2, released 10 July 2026.Developer-stated
Alternatives to DaisyDisk
Apps that could replace this one — the same job, a different trade-off.
Neatwise
Analyze storage, clean unnecessary files and keep your Mac organized.
Both scan a Mac for space hogs; Neatwise groups junk for review while DaisyDisk emphasises a visual map of the whole disk.
Compared with
Head-to-head comparisons Nuanyue has published.
CleanMyMac
Mac maintenance suite: cleanup, uninstall, malware scan.
Both reclaim disk space, but CleanMyMac automates cleanup on a subscription while DaisyDisk visualises usage and charges once.
GrandPerspective
Visualize disk usage with tree maps.
Both are visual disk usage analysers, but GrandPerspective is free and open source with a treemap rather than a ring chart.
Works well with
Not a replacement — apps commonly used alongside this one.
OnyX
System maintenance utility for cleanup, verification, and hidden settings.
Onyx runs maintenance tasks and clears caches, which is the work DaisyDisk's developer deliberately leaves out.
Links
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the sources below. Last updated .
