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Without Full Disk Access, macOS hides other users' folders, some caches and purgeable space. Scan as administrator and the purple "hidden space" petal fills in the difference.

It's the catch-all category in Storage settings: caches, Time Machine local snapshots, app support data, logs, and virtual machine or Docker disks. Scan your disk with DiskGarden to see it folder by folder; our guide What is System Data on a Mac explains what's safe to remove.

Find the biggest folders first — scan with DiskGarden and follow the widest petals — then check the usual suspects: Downloads, old iPhone backups, Xcode and Docker data, caches and videos. The full walkthrough: How to free up space on your Mac.

Yes, as long as you've looked over what's in it. DiskGarden only removes what you put there, shows each item's size and path first, and refuses to take system folders such as /System, /Library and /usr. On the map, press Space to Quick Look anything before you drop it in; in the Waste bin, right-click an item to show it in Finder or take it back out.

By default, emptying moves the items to the Trash, so you can still get them back from there.

Yes. Every volume your Mac has mounted — USB and Thunderbolt drives, SD cards, disk images, Time Machine disks and network shares — shows up on the Volumes page. Network shares scan more slowly, since every folder is read over the network.

Files and folders too small to draw as their own petal are gathered into one grey petal per folder, so the map stays readable. Grow into the folder to see them individually.

No. DiskGarden never deletes anything on its own. It shows you where the space went; you decide what goes into the Waste bin, and nothing is removed until you empty it.

Nowhere, until you empty the Waste bin: the files stay exactly where they are. When you empty it they move to the Trash, or — if you turned off "Emptying moves files to the Trash" in Settings — they're deleted right away.

Yes. Every feature, no time limit, no account and no ads.

Your scans stay on your Mac. DiskGarden goes online only to check for updates and, if it crashes, to send a crash report. The privacy page has the details.

Quit DiskGarden and drag it from Applications to the Trash. To also remove its saved scans and settings, delete ~/Library/Application Support/DiskGarden and ~/Library/Preferences/app.diskgarden.DiskGarden.plist. If you granted Full Disk Access, remove DiskGarden from System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access.