Developer tips for reclaiming disk space on macOS.
Developer tools silently cache tens of gigabytes — Xcode, Docker, node_modules, Python venvs, Rust targets, and more. Here's how to reclaim it all.
CleanMyMac doesn't find DerivedData, node_modules, or Docker images. A fair comparison of Mac cleaners for developers.
I ran a full disk scan on my 512GB MacBook and found 127GB of developer junk. Xcode, Docker, node_modules, Rust, and more.
Conda environments, virtual envs, and pip cache can silently consume 20-50GB on your Mac. Where Python bloat hides and how to fix it.
Xcode hoards DerivedData, simulators, archives, and device support files — often 30-100GB. How to safely delete every category.
Homebrew, Gradle, Maven, Go, Ruby, and IDE caches silently consume 20-40GB on developer Macs. Every path, command, and typical size.
Each Rust project's target/ directory can hit 5-15GB. With multiple projects, that's 50-150GB of build artifacts you can reclaim.
Docker Desktop quietly consumes 20-60GB+ on macOS through images, containers, volumes, build cache, and the Docker.raw VM disk.
node_modules folders silently consume tens of gigabytes on your Mac. Find every one, delete them safely, and clean package caches.