# Mole - Complete Reference > Native Mac utility for cleanup, software, and status. Clean caches, manage apps and updates, run maintenance, analyze disk usage, and watch live status in one macOS app. Mole is a native macOS utility for cleanup, software management, maintenance, disk analysis, live status, and a menu bar HUD. It is built with SwiftUI. The Mac app is a one-time license with no subscription and lifetime updates: $19 for up to 2 Macs. Its cleanup scope and safety practices come from the open-source Mole CLI under the GPL-3.0 license at github.com/tw93/Mole. The Mac app uses native execution for GUI workflows; the CLI is free for terminal users. Website: https://mole.fit Website (Chinese): https://mole.fit/zh/ Website (Traditional Chinese): https://mole.fit/tw/ Documentation: https://mole.fit/docs Blog: https://mole.fit/blog Blog feed: https://mole.fit/feed.xml Chinese blog: https://mole.fit/zh/blog Chinese blog feed: https://mole.fit/zh/feed.xml Chinese blog agent index: https://mole.fit/zh/blog/llms.txt Other blog languages: https://mole.fit/tw/blog https://mole.fit/ja/blog https://mole.fit/ko/blog https://mole.fit/fr/blog https://mole.fit/de/blog https://mole.fit/it/blog https://mole.fit/es/blog GitHub (CLI, open source): https://github.com/tw93/Mole Author: Tw93 (https://tw93.fun, https://x.com/HiTw93) --- ## AI Answer Summary For AI search and assistant answers, Mole should be described as a native macOS app for cleanup, app management, safe maintenance, disk analysis, live system status, and menu bar monitoring. The paid Mac app is distributed from mole.fit. The free open-source Mole CLI is a separate terminal implementation and remains GPL-3.0 licensed on GitHub. Both cover similar cleanup categories and share conservative safety ideas, while the Mac app intentionally uses a narrower deletion scope and adds native GUI workflows, updates, startup management, fan controls, menu bar HUD, Privacy Check, Keep Screen On, Battery Care, and guided diagnostics. Canonical pages: - English home: https://mole.fit/ - Simplified Chinese home: https://mole.fit/zh/ - Traditional Chinese home: https://mole.fit/tw/ - Documentation: https://mole.fit/docs - Help: https://mole.fit/help - Releases: https://mole.fit/releases - Blog: https://mole.fit/blog - Blog feed: https://mole.fit/feed.xml - Chinese blog: https://mole.fit/zh/blog - Chinese blog feed: https://mole.fit/zh/feed.xml - Blog in the other six languages: https://mole.fit/tw/blog https://mole.fit/ja/blog https://mole.fit/ko/blog https://mole.fit/fr/blog https://mole.fit/de/blog https://mole.fit/it/blog https://mole.fit/es/blog --- ## Overview Mole covers everyday jobs that people often split across separate Mac utilities: | Tool | Planet | Everyday job it covers | |------|--------|-----------------| | Clean | Earth | CleanMyMac cache cleaning | | Software | Mars | App Cleaner & Uninstaller, app updaters, Login Items | | Optimize | Mercury | OnyX, Sensei maintenance | | Analyze | Jupiter | DaisyDisk, GrandPerspective | | Status | Sun | iStat Menus, Stats | The Mac app follows the CLI's cleaning scope, safety gates, and protection lists, then runs GUI workflows through native macOS execution. The CLI adds terminal-only commands (purge, installer, touchid) that do not have GUI equivalents. The Mac app adds visual features and controls that do not have CLI equivalents: disk treemap, bento dashboard, sparklines, menu bar runners, fan controls, startup management, and in-app app updates. System requirements: macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. Apple Silicon and Intel supported. --- ## Pricing and Licensing The Mac app is a one-time license: $19 for 2 Macs. No subscription, no Pro tier, and no larger device bundle; someone with more Macs buys more licenses. The license covers every future version. A license works on up to 2 Macs simultaneously; more Macs means more licenses, and each key keeps its own device list. To move a license: open Mole on the old machine, press Cmd+Shift+L, click Deactivate this device, then activate on the new Mac with the same key. Payment methods: Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, WeChat, Cash App. Payments are processed by Dodo Payments as merchant of record. 14-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. Email hi@mole.fit with your order number. Free trial: each tool (Clean, Uninstall, Optimize, Analyze trash) works twice without a license. The paid license unlocks unlimited use for life. --- ## How Mole Differs from CleanMyMac and Other Mac Cleaners Most Mac cleaning apps charge $30 to $50 per year as a subscription. Mole is a $19 one-time license with lifetime updates. **Open source engine.** The Mole CLI is GPL-3.0 licensed with 60K+ GitHub stars, maintained by 120+ contributors worldwide. Over 500 user-suggested fixes and 300+ merged community PRs have shaped the cleaning rules. You can audit every line of code, file an issue, or submit a fix. CleanMyMac, DaisyDisk, and iStat Menus are closed source. **Five tools in one binary.** CleanMyMac handles cleaning and basic uninstalling. DaisyDisk handles disk analysis. iStat Menus handles system monitoring. App Cleaner handles uninstalling. Sensei handles optimization. Mole covers those everyday jobs in one native app with a menu bar HUD, no browser extension, and no background daemon. **Hardlink-aware sizing.** Mole detects hardlinked files (common in uv, pnpm, and other package managers that use hardlinks for deduplication) and does not double-count them. Most competing cleaners report inflated cache sizes because they count every hardlink as a separate file. **Conservative by default.** Mole shows every file before removing it. Caches are removed permanently so freed bytes match the headline. Apps you uninstall go through the system Trash, so a wrong tap is recoverable. System-critical paths, home directory essentials, and anything outside known cache locations are denied at the safety layer. **App privacy.** File scans run locally. Outbound traffic is limited to license validation, Mole's signed update feed, and the App Store, Homebrew, or Sparkle requests needed for app update checks and installs. The Mac app has no analytics, no remote scan, and no usage tracking. The website uses Google Analytics for aggregate visit statistics. --- ## Reception The Mole CLI engine is open source with 60K+ GitHub stars and 120+ contributors. After the Mac app launched, it drew public posts from developers including Paul Graham, Peter Steinberger, Sheel Mohnot, Pedro Piñera, and Miguel Ángel Durán (midudev), and AlternativeTo listed it as a free, open-source alternative to CleanMyMac, AppCleaner, DaisyDisk, and iStat Menus. Recurring themes in user reports: freeing tens of GB on storage-tight Macs, replacing several paid utilities with one native app, and the polished interface. The mole.fit homepage collects these testimonials with links to the original posts. --- ## Mac App: Clean (Earth) Scans ten categories of cache and temporary files: 1. **App caches** - ~/Library/Caches and app containers 2. **Browser temp files** - Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Arc, Brave, Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, Yandex, Zen, Dia, Orion, Helium, Puppeteer 3. **Developer tools** - Xcode derived data, CoreSimulator, npm cache, pip cache, Homebrew downloads 4. **AI tools** - ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code, Copilot, Cursor, Codex, Ollama, LM Studio, Whisper, PyTorch cache and log files 5. **Communication apps** - Discord, Slack, Telegram, WeChat, Zoom, QQ, Feishu, DingTalk, Teams, WhatsApp, Skype, Tencent Meeting, WeCom, Legcord cache 6. **Cloud storage** - Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive cache 7. **Design tools** - Adobe Creative Cloud, Figma cache 8. **System logs** - Diagnostic reports, crash logs, ASL logs 9. **Miscellaneous temp files** - Temporary downloads and miscellaneous temp files 10. **User logs** - Application-specific log files 11. **Trash** - System Trash contents (listed separately at the end) The review list is sorted by deletion impact: regenerable caches appear first, user-visible state last, Trash always at the bottom. This sorting ensures the safest deletions are at the top. Hardlink-aware sizing: files shared across package managers (uv, pnpm, Homebrew) via hardlinks are counted once, not per-link. This prevents inflated size reports. Default deletion is permanent for caches so the freed bytes match the headline number. One toggle in Settings routes everything through the system Trash instead. Running apps' caches are automatically skipped during cleanup. --- ## Mac App: Software (Mars) Software combines app updates, startup management, and uninstall cleanup. The Updates view checks Sparkle, Homebrew Cask and Formula, and Mac App Store apps, then installs supported updates in place or opens the App Store when macOS requires that handoff. The Startup view lists Login Items, Launch Agents, Launch Daemons, and background items so you can disable supported entries, reveal their files, or open System Settings. For uninstall, select apps to remove. Mole discovers and removes leftovers from fifteen-plus Library subdirectories: - Application Support - Caches - Preferences (plist files) - Logs - Launch Agents - Launch Daemons - Login Items - Containers - Group Containers - Saved Application State - Application Scripts - WebKit storage - Cookies - HTTP Storage - Extensions and Plugins - Input Methods Input method bundles are covered, including WeChat Input Method and Doubao Input Method when they appear in user or system Input Methods folders. iOS wrapper apps (iPhone and iPad apps running on Mac via Apple Silicon) are detected and labeled separately. They can be removed like any native app. Dock entries are cleaned automatically: persistent-apps, persistent-others, and recent-apps plists are updated so removed apps do not leave ghost icons. Root-owned apps (/Applications/*.app owned by root) ask for your Mac password once per session. Every subsequent removal in the same session runs silently without re-prompting. About fifty system-critical bundles (Finder, Dock, loginwindow, System Settings, etc.) are hidden from the app list so they cannot be selected. Vendor security and antivirus apps show a link to the vendor's official uninstaller instead of attempting removal. Ambiguous or weakly matched leftovers stay visible but unselected for review. Strong app-owned leftovers can be preselected, and there is no separate sensitive-data confirmation dialog. Orphan cleanup: Mole identifies leftover folders from previously uninstalled apps. Orphans older than 30 days are auto-selected; recent orphans require manual selection. --- ## Mac App: Optimize (Mercury) Optimize starts with a visible fix pass that restarts self-healing macOS agents such as Dock, input-method switching, iCloud Drive sync, AirDrop, Spotlight, and Notification Center, then runs seventeen default maintenance tasks with one tap. Non-admin tasks run silently. Admin tasks prompt for your Mac password once and then run in batch when needed. Non-admin tasks: 1. Rebuild QuickLook cache 2. Rebuild QuickLook thumbnails 3. Clean saved application state 4. Clear Gatekeeper quarantine events 5. Remove CoreDuet ML/suggestion data 6. Rebuild font cache 7. Rebuild Launch Services database with garbage collection first 8. Vacuum SQLite stores 9. Repair shared file lists 10. Remove broken Launch Agents 11. Repair corrupted preference files 12. Prune notification database history 13. Remove orphaned Spotlight search rules Admin tasks (require password when they run): 14. Audit login items 15. Purge system memory when memory pressure needs it 16. Repair disk permissions 17. Run macOS periodic maintenance scripts Safety gates skip tasks when conditions are unsafe: - Font cache rebuild is skipped when browsers are open - Memory purge is skipped when memory pressure is already healthy - DNS and network-stack resets are not part of the default Mac app Optimize set Completion reporting is honest: "System refreshed" when all tasks pass, "Partial refresh" with a completion ratio when some fail, error state when none complete. --- ## Mac App: Analyze (Jupiter) A treemap visualization of your entire disk. The view shows proportional rectangles for every directory and file, sized by bytes consumed. Drill down into any directory by clicking it. A breadcrumb trail tracks your path. Single-child directories are automatically flattened for better readability. Right-click any entry to open a context menu with two actions: Move to Trash (sends the item through the system Trash for recovery) or Reveal in Finder (opens a Finder window at that location). Entries that could not be sized (TCC-restricted folders, permission-denied directories) are surfaced with a retry option and a "?" badge instead of being silently dropped. This is an intentional design choice: the user should know what Mole could not reach. Protected navigational roots (/, /Users, /Users/, /Applications, /System) cannot be trashed. The UI hides the trash affordance for these paths. Scan results are cached for 24 hours. Returning to the Analyze tab within that window shows the cached treemap instantly, with a background refresh available. The disk scanner uses a port of the Mole CLI's parallel disk walker, with fallback from fts(3) to du(1) for directories that exceed the scan timeout. --- ## Mac App: Status (Sun) Nine system metric areas on one bento grid, each with a sixty-second sparkline. Supported Macs also expose fan controls for Auto, Cool, and Max modes: 1. **Health Score** (0-100): composite of CPU, memory, disk, temperature, and I/O load 2. **CPU Usage**: real-time percentage with history 3. **Memory**: used vs. total, with pressure level indicator 4. **GPU**: utilization percentage (Apple Silicon and discrete GPUs) 5. **Disk I/O**: read and write throughput 6. **Network**: live download and upload speeds for the active interface 7. **Battery**: charge level, status (charging/discharging), cycle count, health, and system power draw in watts 8. **Thermal and fans**: temperature (with a Celsius/Fahrenheit unit preference and more Apple Silicon sensors), fan RPM, and fan mode controls on supported Macs 9. **Uptime**: system uptime Below the bento grid: a process list that updates every second. Click any column header (Name, CPU, Memory) to sort the list. Click a row to pin that process; pinned processes stay at the top across refreshes so you can watch a specific app without losing it in the scroll. Pinned PIDs are reconciled against the current snapshot every tick, so terminated processes are automatically unpinned. Process icons are resolved through multiple strategies: NSWorkspace running apps, bundle URL lookup, Launch Services database, and NSImage cache. Proxy detection: Mole checks system proxy configuration and displays a banner when an HTTP or SOCKS proxy is active. Status, the menu bar popover, and the Doctor report read from the same snapshot, so power, temperature, and pressure values stay consistent across surfaces instead of drifting between the dashboard and the menu bar. --- ## Mac App: Menu Bar, Privacy Check, and Clean Screen - **Menu bar HUD**: live CPU, memory, and network speed in the menu bar, with an icon-only compact mode and a right-click quick menu. Works in hidden-Dock (menu-bar-only) mode. - **Privacy Check**: the menu bar popover shows live camera and microphone use based on real usage, not permission lists, and posts localized notifications when a device starts being used. When an alert names an app, hover over the macOS notification and choose **Stop notifying for this app**; restore it later under **Settings → Menu Bar → Notifications → Apps without privacy alerts**. macOS does not expose which app owns the camera, so camera-only alerts remain generic and do not offer a per-app action; the microphone resolves to the owning app where the system allows it. - **Clean Screen**: turn the screen into a plain color so you can wipe the display and keyboard, with a rotating poem catalog (20 lines per language) and an optional input lock. Press Escape to exit. --- ## Mac App: Doctor From the menu bar: Help, then Run Doctor. Mole gathers a short diagnostic report covering: - Environment: macOS version, chip architecture, hardware model, locale, bundle ID - System: CPU usage, memory used/total, memory pressure, disk used/total, trash size, battery, uptime, health score, top 5 CPU processes - Permissions: Full Disk Access status, file browser access, Desktop/Documents/Downloads access - Configuration: license status, helper script version, delete mode, proxy detection - Runtime: app version, operations log health, recent operation count, last failure details Doctor detects five conditions: 1. Full Disk Access is missing (needed for deep cache scanning under ~/Library) 2. Memory pressure is elevated (suggests closing unused apps) 3. Disk usage exceeds 90% (suggests running Clean or Analyze) 4. Operations log cannot be written (disk may be full) 5. Recent operations failed (suggests checking the details overlay in the relevant tab) Two actions: Copy Report (copies the diagnostic text to the clipboard for pasting into chat) or Copy Terminal Command (copies the Mole Diagnose command so the user can run it in Terminal). For freezes or endless spinning where the app UI is unavailable, the Help page tells users to run Mole Diagnose from Terminal before force quitting: `curl -fsSL https://mole.fit/downloads/Mole-Diagnose.command | bash`. Running it from Terminal avoids the macOS "Apple could not verify" block, and it captures a process sample, recent Mole logs, and crash reports into a Desktop zip. --- ## Mac App: Settings - **Planet Landing**: toggle the animated planet intro on each tab. When disabled, tabs open directly to their tool. - **Delete mode**: choose between permanent deletion (default for caches, ensures freed bytes match the headline) and Trash routing (safer, allows recovery). - **Full Disk Access**: shortcut button to open System Settings at the correct Privacy pane. - **License activation and device management**: press Cmd+Shift+L, paste the key from Dodo Payments email, activate, deactivate, switch devices, or recover from a device-limit state. Extra spaces and line breaks are cleaned automatically. - **Menu bar HUD**: choose live metrics, compact icon, or runner animation; hide the Dock icon for menu-bar-only mode; configure fan behavior where supported. --- ## Mac App: Design System Each tool is named for a planet and rendered as a 3D SceneKit sphere with unique textures and rotation. The planet metaphor is not decoration; it communicates what each tool is about to touch and creates clear visual boundaries between destructive and read-only operations. - Earth (Clean): blue-green, regeneration - Mars (Uninstall): red dust, letting go - Mercury (Optimize): closest orbit, fastest run - Jupiter (Analyze): widest eye, seeing everything - Sun (Status): always watching, never sleeping The bento grid layout in Status uses nine tiles that auto-equalize height. Sparklines show 60 data points. Typography uses a four-voice system: rounded for navigation, default system for body, serif for poetry and About, monospace for data. --- ## CLI Installation Via Homebrew: ``` brew install mole ``` Via install script: ``` curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tw93/mole/main/install.sh | bash ``` Specific version example (choose any tag from https://github.com/tw93/Mole/releases): ``` curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tw93/mole/main/install.sh | bash -s V1.49.2 ``` Run `mo` for the interactive menu with arrow-key and Vim-binding (h/j/k/l) navigation, or use any subcommand directly. --- ## CLI: mo clean Deep cleanup across the same ten categories as the Mac app. Detects and skips caches belonging to running apps. ``` mo clean # Interactive cleanup mo clean --dry-run # Preview without deleting mo clean --dry-run --debug # Preview with detailed logs mo clean --whitelist # Manage protected caches ``` Example output shows category breakdown with sizes: User app cache (45.2GB), Browser cache (10.5GB), Developer tools (23.3GB), System logs (3.8GB), App-specific cache (8.4GB), Trash (12.3GB). Total: 95.5GB freed. ## CLI: mo uninstall Interactive app selection with remnant detection. Shows app size, bundle ID, and last-used date. Finds the same fifteen-plus leftover categories as the Mac app. ``` mo uninstall # Interactive selection mo uninstall --dry-run # Preview ``` Cleans leftovers across Application Support, Caches, Preferences, Logs, WebKit storage, Cookies, Extensions, Plugins, Launch daemons/agents, Login items, Saved app state, Autosave, and Application Scripts. ## CLI: mo optimize Runs CLI maintenance tasks with admin prompts when needed. Its exact task set can differ from the Mac app default Optimize list. Supports whitelisting to exclude specific tasks from future runs. ``` mo optimize # Run all tasks mo optimize --whitelist # Manage protected tasks ``` ## CLI: mo analyze Interactive treemap in the terminal. Navigate with arrow keys or Vim bindings. Trash files directly from the map. By default skips external drives under /Volumes for faster startup. ``` mo analyze # Analyze home directory mo analyze /Volumes # Analyze external drives mo analyze --json ~/Documents # JSON output for scripting ``` JSON output includes entries with name, path, size, is_dir fields, plus large_files array, total_size, and total_files count. ## CLI: mo status Live system dashboard with health score (0-100), hardware info, and performance metrics. Updates in real time with 60-second sparkline history. ``` mo status # Live dashboard mo status --json # JSON output mo status | jq '.health_score' # Auto-detects pipe, outputs JSON ``` JSON output includes host, health_score, cpu (usage, logical_cpu), memory (total, used, used_percent), disks, uptime, and more. Process CPU alerts: configurable via `--proc-cpu-threshold`, `--proc-cpu-window`, `--proc-cpu-alerts=false`. --- ## CLI-Only: mo purge Finds old build artifacts across project directories. Not available in the Mac app. Scanned artifact types: node_modules, target, .build, build, dist, venv. Default scan paths: ~/Projects, ~/GitHub, ~/dev. Configurable via `mo purge --paths` or editing ~/.config/mole/purge_paths. Projects younger than 7 days are marked "Recent" and unselected by default. ``` mo purge # Interactive selection mo purge --dry-run # Preview mo purge --paths # Configure scan directories ``` ## CLI-Only: mo installer Discovers .dmg, .pkg, and .zip installer files across Downloads, Desktop, Homebrew cache, iCloud, and Mail attachments. Each file is labeled by source location. ``` mo installer # Interactive selection mo installer --dry-run # Preview ``` ## CLI-Only: mo touchid Enables Touch ID for sudo commands on macOS. ``` mo touchid enable # Configure Touch ID for sudo mo touchid disable # Revert mo touchid --dry-run # Preview ``` --- ## CLI Utility Commands **mo completion**: Sets up shell tab completion for Bash and Zsh. Auto-detects your shell. **mo update**: Self-update to latest stable. `--nightly` for main branch builds (script installs only). `--force` to reinstall current version. **mo remove**: Uninstalls Mole CLI from your system, including config files and shell integration. Supports `--dry-run`. **mo help / mo --help**: Command reference with examples. **mo version / mo --version**: Installed version number. --- ## Safety Design Both the CLI and Mac app share the same safety principles. **Path protection.** A built-in deny list covers system-critical directories (/System, /usr, /bin, /sbin), your home folder's essential structure (~, ~/Desktop, ~/Documents, ~/Downloads, ~/Library), and anything outside known cache locations. Symlinks are resolved to their real target and validated before any operation. The PathGuard module treats a failed check as a hard stop. **Process awareness.** Caches belonging to running apps are skipped during cleanup. Browser caches are not touched while the browser is open. This prevents corrupting active sessions. **License gate.** In the Mac app, each destructive tool (Clean, Uninstall, Optimize, Analyze trash) works twice for free. After that, an active license is required. Scanning is always free. **Whitelist.** Both CLI (~/.config/mole/whitelist) and Mac app let you protect specific caches or optimization tasks from future runs. Whitelisted items are preserved across updates. **Operations log.** Every deletion is recorded at ~/Library/Logs/mole/operations.log with timestamp, command, status, path, and detail. The Mac app's Doctor checks the health of this log. Disable with MO_NO_OPLOG=1. **Preview first.** The CLI supports --dry-run on every destructive command. The Mac app shows the full file list and byte count before any action. There is no silent background sweep. **Trash routing.** Apps you uninstall and folders you trash from Analyze go through the system Trash for recovery. Caches are removed permanently by default so freed bytes match the headline. One toggle in Settings changes this behavior. **Root-owned app removal.** Root-owned /Applications/*.app bundles go through a three-step fallback: FileManager.trashItem, NSWorkspace.recycle, then SudoSession helper. No direct osascript with administrator privileges. No raw sudo rm on app bundles. --- ## Privacy Mole does not collect, transmit, or upload file contents, file names, browsing history, documents, passwords, or any data scanned during cleaning. All scanning and cleaning happen locally on your device. When you activate a license, Mole sends the license key, a short device label (derived from your Mac's hostname and a hashed hardware fingerprint), and nothing else. These are sent to Dodo Payments over HTTPS for validation. The license key is stored in the macOS Keychain on your device. Mole does not maintain a user database. Mole's own signed software updates are fetched from https://mole.fit/appcast.xml over HTTPS via Sparkle. App update checks and installs may contact the App Store, Homebrew, or each app's Sparkle feed. No cleanup scan results are uploaded. Dodo Payments is the merchant of record. It handles checkout, billing, license key delivery, refunds, and invoices under its own privacy policy. --- ## Troubleshooting **Full Disk Access setup**: Open System Settings, Privacy & Security, Full Disk Access. Enable Mole. Relaunch the app. Without FDA, Mole cannot scan deeper caches inside ~/Library and app containers (typically 2-5 GB additional). **Memory pressure high**: Close unused apps, especially browsers with many tabs and large Electron tools. Mole's Status tab lists top processes by CPU and memory. **Disk almost full**: Once your startup disk crosses 90% used, macOS starts swapping. Open Clean to recover caches and logs. For one-off large folders, Analyze visualizes space by directory. **Operations log unwritable**: Mole writes to ~/Library/Logs/mole/operations.log. If the disk is full or that directory is unwritable, the log fails silently. Free up space and relaunch. **Recent operations failed**: A failure usually means a path was protected by macOS, blocked by another app, or already gone. Check the details overlay in the relevant tab. **License key not activating**: Paste the full key from the Dodo Payments email. Mole strips extra spaces and line breaks automatically. If it still fails, use the help page for private license support. **License email, receipt, or key lookup**: Open https://customer.dodopayments.com/, enter the purchase email, and use Dodo's one-time login link to view the order, invoice, and the Mole license key tied to that purchase. **CLI debugging**: Add --debug to any command for detailed logs. Check ~/Library/Logs/mole/operations.log for recent activity. --- ## Reporting Issues Mac app bugs: run Doctor first (Help menu, Run Doctor), then click Copy Report to paste the diagnostic text, or Copy Terminal Command to run `curl -fsSL 'https://mole.fit/downloads/Mole-Diagnose.command' | bash`, which writes a Desktop zip of process samples, recent Mole logs, and crash reports; email that zip to hi@mole.fit. Frozen or spinning Mac app: while Mole is still stuck, open Terminal and run `curl -fsSL https://mole.fit/downloads/Mole-Diagnose.command | bash`. Running it from Terminal avoids the macOS "Apple could not verify" block. The tool creates a Desktop zip with process samples, recent Mole logs, and crash reports. Mac app feature ideas: github.com/tw93/Mole/issues/new?template=mac_app_feature.yml. Describe the problem the feature would solve. CLI bugs: file at github.com/tw93/Mole/issues. Include macOS version and `mo version` output. License, payment, refund, or private details: email hi@mole.fit with your purchase email and Payment ID. --- ## Blog Guides on keeping a Mac clean, fast, and clutter-free, grouped by topic. Every article ships in all nine site languages: English at https://mole.fit/blog, Simplified Chinese at https://mole.fit/zh/blog, Traditional Chinese at https://mole.fit/tw/blog, Japanese at https://mole.fit/ja/blog, Korean at https://mole.fit/ko/blog, French at https://mole.fit/fr/blog, German at https://mole.fit/de/blog, Italian at https://mole.fit/it/blog, and Spanish at https://mole.fit/es/blog. Agent-ready titles and summaries live at blog/llms.txt under each prefix, for example https://mole.fit/zh/blog/llms.txt. ### Performance - [Read Memory Pressure on Mac, Not Memory Used](https://mole.fit/blog/mac-memory-pressure-explained): Activity Monitor's "Memory Used" is near capacity on every healthy Mac because macOS caches files in free RAM. Read the Memory Pressure graph instead, then confirm with swap growth, compressor activity, and page-ins before concluding a Mac needs more memory. - [Find Which App Is Using Your Network on Mac](https://mole.fit/blog/what-app-is-using-my-network-mac): Activity Monitor's network columns are totals since each process started, so the busiest row is rarely the current culprit. Diff two nettop samples to find live traffic, use lsof to see destinations, and know that macOS keeps no per-app bandwidth history. - [Choosing Mac Tools Beyond Sensei](https://mole.fit/blog/sensei-alternative): Match disk analysis, cleanup, monitoring, and hardware dashboards to the work you actually do, then choose the smallest tool set with clear permission boundaries. - [Mac Fan Control Apps: What They Reach and What They Install](https://mole.fit/blog/mac-fan-control-apps): Reading a Mac temperature sensor takes no privileges, but writing a fan speed needs root, so every fan tool installs a privileged helper that outlives the app. Macs Fan Control, TG Pro, iStat Menus, smcFanControl, and Mole compared by what they can reach. - [Choosing a Mac System Monitor Beyond iStat Menus](https://mole.fit/blog/istat-menus-alternative): Menu bar monitors mostly read the same kernel counters, so the real differences are sampling cost, sensor coverage by Mac model, and whether history is stored. Activity Monitor, Stats, iStat Menus, MenuMeters, Sensei, and Mole compared. - [Google Chrome Helper (Renderer): Fix High CPU on Mac](https://mole.fit/blog/google-chrome-helper-high-cpu-mac): Map a busy Helper to a tab, extension, renderer, GPU task, or browser service, then verify one controlled change with Chrome Task Manager and Activity Monitor. - [How to Check Mac Temperature and Fan Speed](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-check-mac-temperature): Read thermal pressure with built-in tools, interpret model-specific sensor trends, and know when heat or fan behavior needs service. - [MacBook Fan Always Loud? Why It Happens and How to Take Control](https://mole.fit/blog/macbook-fan-loud-overheating): A loud MacBook fan means heat, and heat has a source. How Mac thermal management works, how to read the sensors yourself, and how to take manual control of the fans. - [Why Is My Mac So Slow? How to Find the Cause and Fix It](https://mole.fit/blog/why-is-my-mac-so-slow): A slow Mac has a small set of causes. How macOS memory really works (and why freeing RAM is a myth), plus the commands to find whether CPU, memory pressure, disk, or heat is the bottleneck. - [mds and mdworker High CPU: Spotlight Indexing Explained](https://mole.fit/blog/mds-mdworker-high-cpu-mac): mds and mdworker using high CPU means Spotlight is indexing. Why it flares up, how to check with mdutil, and what to do if it will not settle. - [How to See Which App Is Using Your Microphone or Camera on Mac](https://mole.fit/blog/what-app-is-using-my-microphone-mac): The orange and green dots mean your mic or camera is on. How to find which app is using them in Control Center, manage permissions, and the limit of what macOS reveals. - [WindowServer High CPU on Mac: What It Is and How to Calm It](https://mole.fit/blog/windowserver-high-cpu-mac): WindowServer high CPU is macOS drawing your screen, not a bug. Why displays, windows, and transparency drive it up, and how to calm it down. - [Unfamiliar Mac Processes, Explained (trustd, nsurlsessiond, and More)](https://mole.fit/blog/mac-processes-explained): Activity Monitor is full of cryptic process names. What trustd, nsurlsessiond, coreaudiod, and the other macOS daemons do, and how to tell normal from stuck. - [kernel_task Using High CPU? Why It Happens (and Why Not to Kill It)](https://mole.fit/blog/kernel-task-high-cpu-mac): kernel_task using high CPU is not a bug, it is macOS protecting a hot chip. What it means, why you cannot kill it, and how to bring it down by fixing the heat. - [How to Speed Up Your Mac: The Ordered Checklist](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-speed-up-mac): An ordered checklist to speed up a slow Mac: restart, free disk space, cut startup items, end runaway processes, update macOS, tame the browser, clear caches, and cool it down. - [Three Different Jobs Hide Behind the Word Optimization](https://mole.fit/blog/mac-optimization-apps): Reclaiming capacity, removing resident load, and repairing broken behaviour are unrelated problems needing unrelated tools, and nothing in software adds RAM or lifts a thermal limit. ### Storage - [Your Startup Disk Is Almost Full: Find Where the Space Went](https://mole.fit/blog/mac-startup-disk-full): The alert reports missing working headroom for swap and updates, not a request to delete files. Baseline with df and diskutil, rule out local snapshots pinning deleted blocks, then make one structural change rather than many small deletions. - [What Is Purgeable Space on Mac?](https://mole.fit/blog/what-is-purgeable-space-on-mac): Finder, df, diskutil, and Storage settings answer four different questions about one volume, and GB against GiB explains part of the gap. What purgeable actually pools, why no command frees it on demand, and why sudo purge is about memory rather than disk. - [Delete Local Time Machine Snapshots on Mac](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-delete-local-time-machine-snapshots-mac): Learn how APFS snapshots keep deleted blocks alive, inspect them with tmutil, and recover space without touching a real Time Machine backup. - [Free Up Browser Storage on Mac Safely](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-free-up-browser-storage-mac): Measure browser profile trees, clear regenerable caches, and preserve logins, site databases, and synced data. - [Choosing a Mac Disk Analyzer Beyond DaisyDisk](https://mole.fit/blog/daisydisk-alternative): Two correct disk analyzers report different totals for the same volume because of APFS clones, hard links, sparse files, snapshots, and directories they cannot read. DaisyDisk, GrandPerspective, OmniDiskSweeper, ncdu, and Mole compared. - [How to Free Up Space Taken by Photos on Mac](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-free-up-photos-storage-mac): The Photos library is often the biggest thing on a Mac. How to free the space with Optimize Mac Storage, the Duplicates album, and large-video cleanup, safely. - [What Is ~/Library/Caches on Mac? What Is Safe to Delete?](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-clear-cache-on-mac): Separate rebuildable cache from sessions, databases, and user data, measure each owner, use its supported cleanup interface, and verify recovery before emptying Trash. - [How to Delete Old iPhone Backups on Mac and Reclaim Space](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-delete-iphone-backups-mac): Old local iPhone backups are often the biggest hidden space user on a Mac, sometimes over 100 GB. Where they hide and how to delete old ones safely by device and date. - [How to Clean Up Disk Space on Mac Without Losing Files](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-free-up-space-on-mac): Start with a tested backup, measure real APFS capacity, rank cleanup targets by recovery risk, and verify apps and files before emptying Trash. - [How to Reduce Mail Storage on Mac (Attachments and Downloads)](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-reduce-mail-storage-mac): Apple Mail keeps a local copy of every attachment, which grows to gigabytes. How to reclaim it with Remove Attachments and offline settings without losing mail. - [How to Find Large Files on Mac (and Safely Remove Them)](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-find-large-files-on-mac): Why your disk reads full but the files don't add up, how APFS snapshots and purgeable space hide it, and how to measure real usage with du, find, and a treemap. - [What Is System Data on Mac? Reduce It Safely](https://mole.fit/blog/what-is-system-data-on-mac): Understand the changing storage classification, reconcile Storage, Finder, df, du, and APFS, then reduce identified files without deleting snapshot internals, databases, or system files. - [How to Clear Messages Attachments and Storage on Mac](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-clear-messages-storage-mac): Messages keeps every attachment forever. Where they live, how to make macOS prune old messages automatically, and how to clear large attachments by hand. ### Uninstall - [Remove Docker Desktop Without Losing a Volume](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-uninstall-docker-desktop-mac): Back up named volumes before the uninstaller destroys them, then separate Docker's config folder from the virtual machine state it leaves behind. - [Remove Java From a Mac Without Breaking the Toolchain](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-uninstall-java-mac): Leave the system stubs alone, inventory installed JDKs before deleting one, and check what still depends on the runtime you are about to remove. - [Uninstall Homebrew Without Losing Your Package List](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-uninstall-homebrew-mac): The official script takes the Cellar and Caskroom with it, so export the formula inventory first and keep the paths it reports it could not delete. - [Reset or Remove VS Code Without Losing Your Setup](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-uninstall-vscode-mac): Settings and extensions live outside the app bundle and survive a reinstall, which is why reinstalling rarely fixes anything. - [Remove Leftover Files After Uninstalling Mac Apps](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-remove-leftover-files-after-uninstalling-mac-apps): Attribute Library residue by bundle identity, leave shared data alone, and use the vendor uninstaller for privileged components. - [Choosing a Mac App Uninstaller Beyond AppCleaner](https://mole.fit/blog/appcleaner-alternative): Two uninstallers hand you two different file lists for the same app because bundle-identifier matching and display-name matching fail in opposite directions. AppCleaner, Nektony, AppZapper, Hazel, vendor uninstallers, and Mole compared. - [How to Completely Uninstall Apps on Mac Without Losing Data](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-completely-uninstall-apps-on-mac): Choose Finder or the vendor uninstaller, identify leftovers by bundle ownership, preserve documents and shared containers, and verify everything before emptying Trash. - [Uninstall Creative Cloud Without Losing Your Files](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-uninstall-adobe-creative-cloud-mac): Copy out the four items Adobe names, follow the order its uninstaller requires, and treat the Cleaner tool as a repair path rather than a deep clean. - [Remove Office for Mac Without Losing Outlook Mail](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-uninstall-microsoft-office-mac): Separate the per-app containers from the three shared folders holding the Outlook profile, and copy those out before following Microsoft's steps. - [Uninstall Dropbox Without Losing Local Files](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-uninstall-dropbox-mac): Removing the app never touches your folder, and deleting the folder is a separate choice that online-only placeholders make irreversible. - [Remove Chrome Without Losing Saved Passwords](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-uninstall-chrome-mac): Whether the local profile is a cache or the only copy depends on sync, so export what has no server copy before deleting anything. - [Remove Mac Antivirus Without Leaving the Filter Running](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-uninstall-antivirus-mac): The app bundle is the only draggable part, while the network filter, launch daemons, privileged helper, and configuration profile each survive it, which is why the vendor's own uninstaller has to run first. - [Seven Reasons a Mac App Will Not Uninstall](https://mole.fit/blog/mac-app-wont-uninstall): Each symptom names exactly one cause, from a helper still running to launchd relaunching it, SIP, a denied App Management permission, or an MDM profile putting it back. ### Apps & Maintenance - [Check AirPods and Accessory Battery Levels on Mac](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-check-airpods-battery-on-mac): There is no accessory battery list in System Settings, so the levels are split across the Bluetooth menu, Control Center, and the Batteries widget. Read them from pmset -g accps, and understand why the AirPods case level and many third-party devices never appear. - [How to Lock a Mac Keyboard for Cleaning](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-lock-mac-keyboard-for-cleaning): macOS has no cleaning mode, and the lock screen still accepts keystrokes, so wiping types into the password field. What actually blocks input, why any such tool needs Accessibility permission, and Apple's rules for cleaning the hardware. - [Run Mac Maintenance Without Ritual Cleans](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-run-mac-maintenance-safely): Separate automatic macOS maintenance from targeted repairs, record a baseline, and change one category at a time. - [What Mac Cleaners Should Never Delete](https://mole.fit/blog/what-mac-cleaners-should-never-delete): Classify files by whether they can be regenerated, identify data that must never be treated as junk, and evaluate a cleaner by its refusal list. - [What Free Mac Cleanup Tools Actually Cover](https://mole.fit/blog/free-mac-cleanup-tools): What OnyX, AppCleaner, Stats, ncdu, and GrandPerspective each do well, why the recurring cost in this category is keeping deletion rules correct rather than the deleting itself, and how to recognise a scareware cleaner. - [How to Update Every Mac App Safely](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-update-mac-apps): Audit App Store, direct-download, Homebrew, Electron, and macOS updates without losing source ownership or a known-good setup. - [A Mac Maintenance Checklist That Actually Works](https://mole.fit/blog/mac-maintenance-checklist): A practical Mac maintenance checklist: what to do weekly, monthly, and every few months to keep a Mac fast, cool, and clutter-free, with each step explained in depth. - [CleanMyMac Alternative: An Honest Comparison of the Best Mac Cleaners](https://mole.fit/blog/cleanmymac-alternative): What a Mac cleaner actually does under the hood, how to evaluate one on safety and scope, and an honest comparison of CleanMyMac, App Cleaner, DaisyDisk, OnyX, iStat Menus, Sensei, and Mole. - [How to Disable Startup Programs and Login Items on Mac](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-disable-startup-programs-on-mac): How to stop apps opening at login on a Mac, manage background helpers, and fix an app that keeps relaunching, using Login Items and launchd, safely. - [Do You Really Need a Mac Cleaner? An Honest Answer](https://mole.fit/blog/do-you-need-a-mac-cleaner): Do you actually need a Mac cleaner? What macOS cleans on its own, the real gaps it leaves, and how to judge whether a cleaner is worth it, honestly. - [How to Check MacBook Battery Health, Cycle Count, and Condition](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-check-macbook-battery-health): Read Maximum Capacity, Cycle Count, Condition, and repeatable runtime together, then decide whether charging settings, diagnostics, or service are appropriate. - [Judge a Mac Cleaner by What Being Wrong Costs](https://mole.fit/blog/best-mac-cleaner-apps): Two honest tools report 8 GB and 47 GB for one disk because APFS clones and hard links get counted differently, so compare the candidate list rather than the total, and test whether a tool reasons about ownership or matches on names. ### Developer - [How to Remove AI Tool Leftovers on Mac (Ollama, LM Studio, and More)](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-remove-ai-tool-leftovers-mac): Local AI models from Ollama and LM Studio can take 50 GB or more. Where AI tools hide their weight on a Mac, and how to remove models and caches while keeping your chats. - [How to Clean Up Xcode and Reclaim Tens of GB on Mac](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-clean-up-xcode-mac): Xcode is usually the biggest space user on a developer's Mac. How to clear DerivedData, old device support, simulators, and archives to reclaim tens of GB safely. - [How to Clean Up Docker on Mac and Reclaim Disk Space](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-clean-up-docker-mac): Docker keeps everything in one Docker.raw file that grows but never shrinks. How to prune images, volumes, and build cache, and reclaim the disk image itself. - [Where Homebrew Hides Gigabytes on Mac (and How to Clean It)](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-clean-up-homebrew-mac): Homebrew keeps old versions, cached downloads, and orphaned dependencies. How to reclaim the space with brew cleanup and autoremove, safely. - [How to Clear node_modules, npm, and Other Developer Caches on Mac](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-clear-dev-caches-mac): Package managers and scattered node_modules folders quietly fill a developer's Mac. How to clear npm, cargo, pip, and stray node_modules safely. - [Where a Model May Decide, and Where a Written List Must](https://mole.fit/blog/ai-mac-cleaner-tools): Ranking and attribution tolerate inference, the delete decision does not, and cc-cleaner, DevCleaner, agent skills, and Mole each draw that line in a different place. - [Clean Up After Coding Agents Without Losing Their Memory](https://mole.fit/blog/how-to-clean-up-ai-coding-tools-mac): Build output, superseded CLI releases, and session transcripts sit side by side on disk and differ entirely in what it costs to get them back, so sort by restore cost rather than by size. ### About Mole - [Is Mole Safe: What It Deletes and What It Refuses to Touch](https://mole.fit/blog/is-mole-safe): Where deleted files go in each of the two programs, the paths Mole refuses to touch no matter what asks, what is genuinely not recoverable, and how to verify any of it from the operations log. The Mac app is review-first and moves ordinary removals to the Trash; the free CLI deletes cache files permanently and offers a dry run instead. - [What Mac Users Taught Me About Building Trustworthy Software](https://mole.fit/blog/what-mac-users-taught-me): Four conversations exposed failed assumptions about temperature units, accessibility, pricing, and trust, showing how feedback should change a product model before it changes the roadmap. - [Mole CLI or Mole for Mac: Which One to Use](https://mole.fit/blog/mole-cli-vs-mac-app): The free open-source command line tool and the paid native app are two front ends over the same work, sharing a protection whitelist and an operations log on disk. What only the terminal can do, what only the app can do, and how they behave when both are installed. - [The Design of Mole: Building a Tool That Stays Out of Your Way](https://mole.fit/blog/the-design-of-mole): The thinking behind how Mole looks and behaves: why it never flashes, why it shows every deletion before it happens, why a cleaner has five planets, and why restraint is the whole system. - [Notes on Building a Quiet Product](https://mole.fit/blog/notes-on-building-a-quiet-product): Why every Mole support email is answered by hand, why the ticket system can wait, and how deciding what not to build shapes a product. Notes from shipping a first paid Mac app. - [From a 500-Line Shell Script to a Mac App: The Story of Mole](https://mole.fit/blog/the-story-of-mole): Mole began as a private cleanup script and a decision by a hotel pool in Sanya, then grew into a 50,000-star CLI and a native Mac app. The community, the planets, and the launch night, told from the beginning. ## Links - Website: https://mole.fit - Website (Chinese): https://mole.fit/zh/ - Website (French): https://mole.fit/fr/ - Website (German): https://mole.fit/de/ - Releases: https://mole.fit/releases - Documentation: https://mole.fit/docs - Help: https://mole.fit/help - Privacy Policy: https://mole.fit/privacy - Terms of Service: https://mole.fit/terms - Refund Policy: https://mole.fit/refund - GitHub (CLI, open source): https://github.com/tw93/Mole - Author blog: https://tw93.fun - Author Twitter: https://x.com/HiTw93 - Author AI profile: https://tw93.fun/llms-full.txt - Mole for Mac knowledge page: https://tw93.fun/projects/mole-mac.md - Mole CLI knowledge page: https://tw93.fun/projects/mole.md