OmniDiskSweeper alternative: a visual way to free space on Mac

The short answer

OmniDiskSweeper is a small, free Mac app from The Omni Group. It lists your folders from biggest to smallest, in columns like Finder's column view, and lets you delete what you don't need. It still works: version 1.16 came out in September 2025 and runs natively on Apple silicon.

What it doesn't do is show you the whole disk at once. You open one column, then the next, then the next. If you'd rather see everything in one picture and spot the big folders at a glance, SquirrelDisk is a free alternative. It draws your disk as a sunburst or a treemap, it is open source, and it runs on macOS, Windows and Linux.

Other options for the Mac:

• GrandPerspective: free and open source, treemap view.
• DaisyDisk: paid ($9.99 one-time), sunburst view. See our DaisyDisk comparison.
• Disk Inventory X: free treemap, but not updated since 2019 and Intel only.
• Finder: in a folder's List view, choose View → Show View Options → Calculate all sizes, then sort by Size.

OmniDiskSweeper vs SquirrelDisk

Checked on 5 October 2026 on omnigroup.com and Wikipedia.

Why a picture helps

A list answers "which folder in here is biggest?". A chart answers "where did my space go?" for the whole disk at once.

In OmniDiskSweeper, finding a forgotten 30 GB video export means opening your home folder, then Movies, then the project folder, column by column. In SquirrelDisk, that file is a large slice or box on the first screen, wherever it is. Click it and you're there.

How SquirrelDisk works

Pick a drive or a folder. The sunburst starts drawing straight away and fills in during the scan. The centre is the folder you picked; each ring outwards is one level deeper. Prefer rectangles? Switch to the treemap in Settings.

Click a slice to zoom in and click the centre to go back. The side list shows what's inside, biggest first, so you still get the sorted list you know from OmniDiskSweeper. Tiny files are grouped so the chart stays readable.

When you find something you don't need, drag it into the collector. Nothing is deleted yet. When you're ready, choose:

• Move to Trash.
• Delete for good.
• Back up to a folder or external drive first, then delete.
• Back up to cloud storage with rclone, then delete.

A few details that keep the numbers right on a Mac:

• Real size on disk.
• Files only in iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive count as zero.
• Hard links are counted once.
• Live updates when you change files in Finder.

It's a native Rust app of about 8 MB. You can start it from Finder (right-click a folder, then Quick Actions → "Scan with SquirrelDisk") or from Terminal with squirreldisk ~/Library.

When OmniDiskSweeper is the better choice

• You like lists more than charts. OmniDiskSweeper's column view is simple and familiar if you live in Finder's column view.
• You want a signed app from a known Mac developer. OmniDiskSweeper comes from The Omni Group. SquirrelDisk builds aren't signed with an Apple Developer ID, so the first launch takes an extra click. See Is SquirrelDisk safe?.
• You're on a very old Mac. Omni still offers older OmniDiskSweeper builds that go back to Mac OS X 10.4.

Not to be confused with DiskSweep

"Disk sweeper" searches also turn up DiskSweep, a different program for Windows from another developer, and some unrelated Android apps. OmniDiskSweeper is Mac only. If you need the same tool on a Mac and a Windows PC, SquirrelDisk works on both, with the same interface.

How to get started

1. Go to the download page and get the macOS build (Apple silicon and Intel).
2. Open it. The first time, macOS blocks it: go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.
3. Pick your main drive or your home folder. macOS may ask for access to folders like Documents or Desktop; allow it so the scan is complete.
4. Drag what you don't need into the collector, then move it to the Trash or back it up first.