WinDirStat for Mac: free alternatives that run on macOS

The short answer

WinDirStat does not run on macOS. It is a Windows program, and the official site offers only Windows installers. There is also no Linux version.

If you want the WinDirStat idea on a Mac (see every folder by size, spot the big ones, and clean up), you have a few free options. SquirrelDisk is one. It is free and open source, it runs on macOS, Windows and Linux, and it can show your disk as a sunburst or as a treemap.

Other Mac choices:

• GrandPerspective: free and open source (GPL), treemap view. Free from SourceForge, or $2.99 on the App Store.
• DaisyDisk: a polished paid app ($9.99 one-time) with a sunburst view. See our DaisyDisk comparison.
• Terminal: du -sh ~/* | sort -h shows folder sizes with nothing to install. ncdu, available through Homebrew, gives an interactive terminal view.

WinDirStat vs SquirrelDisk

Checked on 28 September 2026 on windirstat.net and its GitHub releases.

How SquirrelDisk works

Choose a drive or folder. The sunburst appears straight away and fills in as the scan goes. The centre is the folder you picked, and each ring outwards is one level deeper. If you miss WinDirStat's treemap, switch to it in Settings.

Click a slice to zoom in. Click the centre to go back up. The side list sorts the biggest items first, so the largest folders are always on top. Tiny files are grouped to keep the chart clean.

To free space, drag slices or list rows into the collector. Then pick what to do:

• 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.

There is an optional secure erase (3 passes, DoD 5220.22-M). On SSDs and APFS, old blocks may still exist after overwriting, so full-disk encryption is what really protects you.

SquirrelDisk tries to show numbers you can trust:

• Sizes are the real space used on disk.
• Cloud-only files from iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive count as zero.
• Hard links are counted once.
• The chart updates live when you change files in Finder or Explorer.

It also has guard rails. System folders, your home folder and whole drives can't be collected. App and settings folders ask for an extra confirmation.

Beyond your own disk, SquirrelDisk can scan a server over SSH using your ssh config, and cloud storage through rclone, which it can install with one click. It is a native Rust app with no Electron or web view. It speaks 25 languages, has 7 colour themes, and updates itself.

When WinDirStat is the better choice

If you are on Windows, WinDirStat is a strong, actively developed tool. Pick it when:

• You need to find duplicates. WinDirStat can detect duplicate files by content. SquirrelDisk has no duplicate finder.
• You scan big NTFS drives. WinDirStat can scan NTFS directly and uses several threads. SquirrelDisk does not read the NTFS file table, and we have no benchmark to compare speed.
• You like detailed statistics. Its extension list, largest-files view and Windows maintenance tools suit people who want more data on screen.
• You prefer GPLv2 software with a long history on Windows.

How to get started

1. Go to the download page and get the macOS build (Apple silicon and Intel).
2. On first launch, macOS blocks the app because it is not code-signed. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.
3. Pick a drive or folder. Turn on the treemap in Settings if you want the WinDirStat look.
4. Drag what you don't need into the collector, then move it to the Trash or back it up first.