Frequently Asked Questions

DiskSpectra represents seeing your disk storage in full, vivid color. With dual visualizers—concentric Sunburst Color Rings and interactive squarified Treemaps—it transforms mysterious gigabytes into clear, navigable color spectrums so you instantly know what is taking up space on your Mac.

If your Mac has an Apple M-series chip (M1, M2, M3, or M4, introduced late 2020 or later), download the Apple Silicon version for maximum speed and Metal hardware acceleration. For Macs with Intel processors, download the Intel version. If you are unsure, our Universal installer runs natively on both architectures.

DiskSpectra includes a dedicated External Drives & Cloud Locations hub with persistent secure-bookmark access. External SSDs (APFS, HFS+, exFAT) and cloud folders (iCloud Drive, Google Drive, OneDrive) remain remembered across app launches. DiskSpectra scans local metadata in nanoseconds using Darwin POSIX lstat without ever triggering accidental re-downloads or cloud freezing.

100% yes. DiskSpectra operates completely locally on your Mac. It makes zero network calls, requires no accounts, and transmits zero telemetry or analytics. All disk analysis, SHA-256 duplicate hashing, and Apple Vision AI perceptual feature prints are executed completely in-memory on your device.

Yes! DiskSpectra enforces a strict Trash-first architecture paired with an integrated Put Back Safety Ledger. All deleted items are logged with their original paths and sent to your native macOS Trash (~/.Trash). You can click "Put Back" directly in DiskSpectra or Finder at any time to restore files.

On modern Macs using the Apple File System (APFS), three factors can cause Finder's reported free space to lag behind actual cleanup:

1. APFS Local Snapshots (Time Machine): macOS creates automatic local restore snapshots. When you delete files, the directory references are freed immediately, but the physical disk blocks remain locked inside recent snapshots until macOS thins them out during scheduled maintenance or after your next backup.

2. Purgeable Space: macOS categorizes freed caches as "Purgeable". In Finder, "Available Space" combines raw free space plus purgeable space, meaning the raw free block count may take a short time to update.

3. Finder Metadata Caching: macOS caches disk allocation statistics. A simple restart or running diskutil apfs updatePreboot refreshes Finder's status immediately.

DiskSpectra was designed from the ground up to eradicate "black-box" cleaning anxiety:

• Pre-Flight Dry-Run Manifest: Instead of an opaque "Clean" button that acts blindly, DiskSpectra presents an itemized dry-run review sheet separating disposable build caches, user data, and system logs with granular checkboxes.

• Visualizer Safety Badges & Removal Rationale: Every segment and treemap node displays a safety badge (🟢 Safe to Clean, 🟡 User Data, 🔒 System-Managed) and an explicit rationale explaining why the file exists and whether removing it is safe.

• Put Back Safety Ledger: Original paths are recorded before moving items to macOS Trash so you always retain full 1-click restore control.

CleanMyMac charges a recurring $39.95/year subscription and installs heavy background daemons that run 24/7, consuming up to 300MB of RAM. DaisyDisk only offers a sunburst view and lacks duplicate hunting, app uninstallation, and developer bloat cleaning. DiskSpectra combines Dual Visualizers (Sunburst Rings AND squarified Treemaps), Apple Vision AI + SHA-256 duplicate hunting, developer cache purging (Xcode, node_modules, Docker, Homebrew), Put Back safety ledger, and app leftover removal for a single one-time $9.99 lifetime payment with zero background daemons.

Yes! Your $9.99 Lifetime Power Suite license covers all your personal Macs (MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, Mac Studio, or iMac). Simply enter your license key on each machine to unlock the full Power Suite permanently.

DiskSpectra natively supports macOS 13 Ventura, macOS 14 Sonoma, and macOS 15 Sequoia across all Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) and Intel Mac models. It is built natively with Swift and Metal graphics for fluid 120Hz ProMotion animations.

The Free Essentials version is free forever and includes complete interactive Sunburst and Treemap disk mapping, sub-second folder inspection, large file discovery, and live CPU/RAM/APFS hardware telemetry. The Power Suite ($9.99 lifetime) unlocks 1-Click Smart Clean, Apple Vision AI + SHA-256 Duplicate Hunter, Developer & System Junk Cleaner (Xcode, node_modules, Docker, user caches), Put Back Safety Ledger, Deep App Uninstaller with leftover eradication, persistent external/cloud drives, and all 6 custom themes (Obsidian, Forest, Ocean, Sunset, Cyberpunk, Monochrome).