DiskScanHelpers

Disk cleanup helpers for Xcode users — find what's eating your storage and clean it up safely.

Xcode caches (DerivedData, simulators, archives, device support) can quietly grow to dozens of gigabytes. These two small macOS scripts help you see exactly what's taking space and clean it up — with interactive HTML reports you open in your browser.

No dependencies beyond what ships with macOS (bash, du, python3).

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Project structure

DiskScanHelpers/
├── disk_scan.sh                 # General disk usage scanner
├── xcode_disk_scan.sh           # Xcode-specific scanner
└── ReportTemplates/
    ├── disk_report_template.html
    └── xcode_report_template.html

/tmp/DiskScanReports/            # Generated reports — cleared on reboot
├── disk_report.html
└── xcode_report.html

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xcode_disk_scan — Xcode Disk Scan

Scans Xcode-related cache/data folders, prints sizes, and suggests cleanup actions split by safety tier.

Usage

bash xcode_disk_scan.sh

Opens /tmp/DiskScanReports/xcode_report.html automatically.

What it shows

• DerivedData — build caches per project, sorted by size
• DeviceSupport — debug symbols per iOS/watchOS/tvOS version
• Simulators — devices with name, runtime, size, status; orphaned devices flagged
• Runtimes — CoreSimulator runtime images
• Archives — shipped builds with app name, date, size; supports custom archive locations
• Caches — Xcode app cache, SwiftPM caches (system + user), Interface Builder cache
• Tiered summary: Safe to delete vs Needs review with separate totals
• Recommended commands grouped by safety tier

Safety tiers

✅ Safe tier (run anytime):

• DerivedData — fully safe. Xcode rebuilds on next project open.
• DeviceSupport — safe. Xcode re-downloads on next device connect.
• Orphan simulators — xcrun simctl delete unavailable is always safe.
• Caches — regenerated on use.

⚠️ Review tier (read notes first):

• Runtimes — remove via Xcode → Settings → Platforms. Don't delete files directly.
• Archives — manage via Xcode → Organizer. Keep the latest per shipped version (dSYMs for crash symbolication).

Read-only — nothing is deleted unless you copy a command and run it yourself.

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disk_scan — General Disk Usage Report

Visual disk usage analyzer that generates an interactive HTML report for any folder. Useful for hunting storage hogs outside Xcode too.

Usage

bash disk_scan.sh [directory] [depth]

• directory — path to scan (default: $HOME)
• depth — how many levels deep (default: 3)

Examples:

bash disk_scan.sh                          # scan $HOME, depth 3
bash disk_scan.sh ~ 4                      # scan $HOME, depth 4 (more detail)
bash disk_scan.sh /Users/me/Projects 2     # scan specific folder, depth 2
bash disk_scan.sh / 2                      # whole disk, shallow

How it works

1. Runs du to collect directory sizes
2. Embedded Python builds a tree structure from the du output
3. Injects the JSON data into the HTML template
4. Saves the result to /tmp/DiskScanReports/disk_report.html and opens it

The template is never modified — data is injected into a copy. Re-running the script overwrites the previous result.

Visualization

Three switchable views (canvas-based):

• Sunburst — concentric rings with percentage labels; inner = top-level, outer = deeper levels
• Partition — columnar layout showing parent→child hierarchy with colored backgrounds and separator lines
• BoxMap — nested treemap with proportional rectangles

All views support:

• Click to drill into a folder, breadcrumb / back to navigate up
• Hover tooltip with name, path, size, and percentage
• Interactive stacked bar and legend (click to drill in)

Sidebar:

• Sortable folder table with size bars
• Search/filter with "Only Top Folders" toggle (unchecked = search all levels)
• Click any row to drill into that folder

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Installation

Clone the repo and run the script you need — no install steps, no dependencies to download:

git clone https://github.com/Dimajp/DiskScanHelpers.git
cd DiskScanHelpers
bash xcode_disk_scan.sh   # or disk_scan.sh

Requirements

• macOS (uses du -d flag and Xcode-specific paths)
• python3 (ships with modern macOS)
• A browser to view the report

Output

Each script generates a self-contained HTML file under /tmp/DiskScanReports/. The report opens automatically in your default browser, and /tmp/ is cleared on system reboot — so old reports don't pile up.

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License

Released under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Copyright © 2026 Dmitry Protopopov (github.com/Dimajp).