TOOL 01
Evidence Graph Engine
Evidence Uninstaller
Traces codesign entitlements, Mach-O headers, and receipt plists to find true leftovers, not just matching folder names.
The quiet, native Mac cleaner that leaves no trace.
Clean caches, completely remove apps and their hidden leftovers, inspect startup daemons, analyze heavy folders, and monitor your Mac.
Download for Mac
brew install --cask macpulse
01 · Tools
Seven tools, one native binary.
Every feature is hand-crafted in pure Swift and SwiftUI. No cross-platform Electron wrappers, no memory hogging, no background services.
TOOL 02
Signature Matching
Orphaned Residuals
Finds containers and configuration directories from apps you uninstalled years ago and forgot were still consuming space.
TOOL 03
SMAppService Native
Startup Services
Tames runaway login items, background LaunchAgents, and LaunchDaemons that slow down your Mac's boot time.
TOOL 04
Raw Directory Traversal
APFS Disk Tree
Fast visual breakdown of your drive. Drill down into deep directories without waiting for slow file indexes.
TOOL 05
Zero User Data Risk
Caches & System Junk
Reclaims space from developer caches (Xcode DerivedData, Gradle, npm), browser caches, and obsolete crash logs.
TOOL 06
APFS Hardlink Aware
Duplicate Finder
Detects true duplicate files by binary hash and content inspection, not just filename and extension matching.
02 · Philosophy
How does MacPulse compare to CleanMyMac?
Traditional commercial utilities lock you into yearly recurring payments and install heavy background processes. MacPulse is a transparent, developer-grade utility.
| Capability | MacPulse | Typical Cleaner (CleanMyMac) |
|---|---|---|
| License Model | Free for Personal Use | $39.95 / year subscription |
| Background Daemons | Zero background processes | Always-running helper (200MB+ RAM) |
| Telemetry & Cloud Tracking | Zero. All computation is local | Analytics & license heartbeats |
| Uninstall Verification | Evidence Graph & Mach-O Link | Filename regex keyword matching |
| Accidental Deletion Protection | Local snapshot restore catalog | Direct delete to system Trash |
| CLI & Terminal Support | First-class `macpulse` CLI included | GUI only / limited CLI |
03 · Straight answers
Questions. Answered honestly.
Clear explanations about system safety, permissions, and architecture.
When an app installs components on macOS, it registers sandboxed group containers, daemon launch plists, and bundle receipt IDs. Most tools search for folder names containing the app title. MacPulse parses the app's Info.plist, Mach-O load dependencies, and codesign entitlements to build an exact graph of every artifact created by that app.
No. MacPulse enforces strict safety boundary rules. Personal directories (Documents, Desktop, Photos, iCloud Drive) are hard-coded as non-targetable. Furthermore, before any files are cleared, MacPulse records an atomic local snapshot in a SQLite catalog so you can restore items immediately if needed.
MacPulse requests Full Disk Access so it can inspect user Caches and sandboxed Application Support folders. It does not require kernel extensions or system extension entitlements. All scanning and deletion execution occurs locally on your machine.
A cleaner tool should not be part of the problem it claims to solve. Running an idle background daemon wastes CPU cycles and battery life. MacPulse does its work when you open it, and when you quit it, it exits completely.
Download MacPulse for macOS
Universal binary for Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) and Intel Macs. Requires macOS 14.0 Sonoma or later. Free open-source build (no Apple notarization fee).
Easiest install (clears Gatekeeper quarantine for you):
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/princepal9120/MacPulse/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
Or download the DMG, drag to Applications, then if macOS says “damaged” run
xattr -cr ~/Applications/MacPulse.app
— normal for unsigned OSS, not a corrupt file.
SHA256: 19d8403a71451aa5ba34aec2510478cb6e14640119f78073f2f73d2aff85fe86