Burrow

Find what your Mac no longer needs.

Burrow looks through caches, build folders and the leftovers of apps you deleted. You review every item before anything is removed.

Download for MacVersion 0.1.0, macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon

Old project builds

Build folders in projects you have not touched for 45 days.

  • Pods · ios-app

    Project untouched for 112 days. Run pod install to restore.

    1.7 GB
  • .venv · scraperCheck first

    Project untouched for 96 days. Recreate with python -m venv.

    1.5 GB
  • node_modules · client-portal

    Project untouched for 88 days. Run npm install to restore.

    636 MB
  • .next · storefront

    Project untouched for 71 days. Rebuilt by next build.

    742 MB

Example scan from a developer’s Mac. Your numbers will differ.

Old project builds19.7 GBPackage caches5.2 GBApp caches2.7 GBXcode & simulators2.3 GBInstallers & backups325 MBLeftovers of deleted apps110 MBLogs40 MB

Nothing leaves without your say.

It shows you first
Every scan ends in a list. Items that rebuild themselves are ticked. Anything that could matter is marked Check first and left unticked.
It refuses to touch your files
Documents, Desktop, Pictures, Keychains and your SSH keys are off limits, whatever a rule says. Burrow only works inside caches, logs, developer folders and build output.
It leaves running apps alone
If an app is open, its cache is skipped. If anything inside an item changed after the scan, that item is skipped too.
It keeps an undo for anything unusual
Caches that rebuild are deleted at once. Everything else goes to the Trash, so you can put it back.

Seven places it looks.

Old project builds
node_modules, Pods, .next, target and .venv in projects you have not touched for 45 days. Activity comes from git and lockfile dates.
Package caches
npm, Gradle, Cargo, Go, pnpm, Homebrew and the like. They download again when needed.
App caches
The Caches folder in your Library. System caches are marked Check first.
Xcode & simulators
DerivedData, simulator caches and debug symbols for iOS versions you no longer use.
Installers & backups
Disk images and packages in Downloads older than 30 days, and old device backups.
Leftovers of deleted apps
Support files whose app is gone, matched by bundle identifier against what is installed.
Logs
Log files older than two weeks.

Prefer the terminal?

The same engine ships as burrow. It is a dry run unless you pass --apply, so you can look before you commit. Safe items only by default; add --review to include the rest.

$ burrow clean
Dry run. Nothing was changed. Add --apply to clean.
  Freed now:  27.87 GB
  In Trash:   Zero KB  (empty Trash to reclaim)
  Items:      88 removed, 0 skipped

Get Burrow.

Free. Native Swift. Runs on your Mac and sends nothing anywhere.

Download for MacVersion 0.1.0, macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon

Burrow is not notarized yet. The first time you open it, right-click the app and choose Open. For the fullest scan, allow Full Disk Access in System Settings.

Build it yourself
git clone https://github.com/sameerthedeveloper/burrow.git
cd burrow
scripts/bundle.sh