Toolbox
Understand Mac changes before you clean them up
1 follower
Understand Mac changes before you clean them up
1 follower
Toolbox is a free, open-source macOS app I built after getting tired of cleanup tools that show large folders without explaining what created them or whether removal is reversible. It traces installer changes, finds rebuildable project output only inside folders you choose, and records Trash-backed cleanup actions so you can recover them. Everything runs locally. No account, telemetry, privileged helper, or automatic deletion. Not Apple-notarized; first launch requires Open Anyway.
Free
Launch Team
Dropbox SignSimple, secure eSignatures for the way your team works.
Promoted
Hi Product Hunt,
I built Toolbox because I kept running into the same problem on my Mac: I could see that a folder was large, but I couldn't tell what created it, whether it was safe to remove, or how I would undo the cleanup if I got it wrong.
So I made the tool I wanted to use myself.
Toolbox has three main workflows:
- Install Trace compares filesystem metadata before and after a normal installer.
- Projects finds known rebuildable output only inside project folders you choose.
- Recovery keeps evidence for Trash-backed cleanup actions and checks paths before restoring.
It runs locally and doesn't require an account. There is no telemetry, privileged helper, automatic deletion, or malware verdict.
One honest limitation: Toolbox 2.0 is a stable product release, but it is ad-hoc signed and not notarized by Apple, so macOS requires the Open Anyway step in Privacy & Security. I included a SHA-256 checksum, and the source is public. Please don't disable Gatekeeper or remove quarantine attributes.
I'm looking for practical feedback from Mac developers. What evidence would you need before cleaning a path? Which confirmation or recovery step feels unclear? And which project artifact should Toolbox recognize next?
If you find a reproducible issue, please include your macOS version and Mac architecture, but not private paths or files:
https://github.com/thangldw/toolbox/issues
Thanks for trying it.