Instead of providing a list of files and folders sorted by size, GrandPerspective examines the volume or folder of your choosing and then creates a visual representation of the space occupied by each file on that drive or in that folder. If you’re a visual type, you’ll enjoy the freeĭiscovered thanks to Derik DeLong over on the And if, like the Library folder displayed in the screenshot above, the folder contains files from many packages, the package names don’t fit in the OmniDiskSweeper window-even when the type is automatically reduced to near-illegible size. And if you’re curious, that folder is where Mac OS X stores your virtual memory swap files.) Unfortunately, this feature works only if the files in question were installed by Mac OS X’s Installer utility and are cataloged in an Installer receipt package in /Library/Receipts. (Not that OmniDiskSweeper would let you see below. ![]() Or, for a more serious example, if you select /private/var/vm-a folder that on my system takes up 2GB of space-you’ll see that it’s “Part of package BaseSystem.” In other words, don’t even think about trying to delete it. For example, if you select the folder /Library/Application Support/iWork ’06, OmniDiskSweeper points out that this is “Part of package iWork,” so you know not to delete it if you actually use iWork. OmniDiskSweeper doesn’t have as many useful options as WhatSize, but it does have one unique feature: When you select a folder in the browser, OmniDiskSweeper lists, at the bottom of the window, any Mac OS X packages to which the files in that folder belong. Be sure to select the desired file beforeĜontrol/right-clicking on it. Thankfully, a confirmation dialog appears pointing out which file will be deleted, but given that most people tend to click “OK” when they see a dialog, I consider this to be a serious bug. ![]() However, be aware that there is a rather serious interface bug in Table View: If you select a file in the list, then Control/right-click on a different file in the list to delete it via the contextual menu, the selected file, not the one you’re clicking on, will be deleted. (Note that for some reason, Table View’s window is called FlatView.) By Control/right-clicking on a file in Table View, you can move it to the Trash or reveal it in the Finder. This feature makes it much easier to find offending space-wasters, because you don’t have to manually search each folder on your drive. Available from the Tools menu, Table View lets you filter your results, displaying, for example, files and folders-or just file or just folders-anywhere on the drive larger than 1GB. ![]() WhatSize also lets you examine the contents of just a particular folder-instead of an entire drive-by clicking the Folder button in the toolbar click the Home button to examine just your Home directory.īut my favorite option is Table View. If you find a huge file that you want to delete, simply select it and click the Delete button in the WhatSize toolbar. Through this process, you can quickly see which files and folders are occupying the most space on your drive. (A list view option is also available.) As you do, the contents of each folder are, again, displayed in descending order of size. You can then browse those files and folders just as you’d navigate them in the Finder’s column view.
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