Troubleshooting & FAQ

FAQ

I installed DevCleaner but it didn’t open / no window appeared.

DevCleaner launched as a menu bar app — that is intentional. There is no Dock icon by design and no big window on first launch.

• Look for the wand icon near the clock (right side of the menu bar).
• If the menu bar is crowded, macOS may hide icons behind the overflow control (» / chevron). Click it and look for the wand there.
• Reopen DevCleaner from Applications (don’t keep running it from the mounted .dmg).
• Click the wand, then press Open in the panel to show the main window.

Full walkthrough: Getting started.

Why is there no Dock icon?

DevCleaner is a menu bar app, so it lives by the clock, not in the Dock. While the main window is open it temporarily appears in the Dock and ⌘Tab; close it and it tucks back into the menu bar. Look for the wand icon.

Why did the reclaimable size change on its own?

Caches grow as you build and shrink as you clean. DevCleaner rescans in the background, so the number tracks reality. A category showing zero just means there is nothing to reclaim there right now.

It warned me an app is still running. Should I clean anyway?

Better to quit the app first. Cleaning the cache of a running app, Xcode mid-build for example, can break work in progress. The warning lets you cancel or proceed deliberately. See staying safe.

What is Dangerous+ and why can’t I use it on Free?

DANGER+ is uninstall-only data (complete Application Support / CLI data for a tool). It is never pre-selected, never part of Quick Clean or Auto Clean, and requires Pro plus double confirmation (Touch ID or typing DELETE). It deletes permanently — not via Trash. Details in staying safe.

Will cleaning sign me out of my apps?

No. Cookies, local storage, sessions, credential files and SSH keys are never deleted, regardless of category. Your logins are protected by design. (Dangerous+ uninstall is a different, explicit action — it removes the app’s data so the tool will not work until reinstalled.)

Admin Clean asks for approval or says the helper needs repair. What do I do?

Open Settings → General → Admin Clean Helper. Use Install / Repair, then approve DevCleaner Helper under System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions if macOS asks. After that, Admin Clean uses Touch ID for allowlisted paths — not a password dialog every time. If an update leaves an old helper running, Unregister (or remove it in Login Items), then Repair again.

How do updates work?

DevCleaner updates itself with Sparkle. Leave automatic update checks on in Settings → General → Updates, or check manually any time. Read the latest release notes.

What data does DevCleaner send?

After a cleanup it can contribute a single anonymous number, the bytes freed, to the public counter on devcleaner.app. No paths, no identifiers, nothing else. Turn it off in Settings → General → Privacy. See the privacy policy.

Is it safe to delete node_modules and package caches?

Generally yes, they rebuild on the next install, but there are nuances. Our npm, Yarn & pnpm guide walks through each one.

Some items failed to delete

After a cleanup you may see a banner saying a few items failed. DevCleaner never hides this. Click it to see exactly which items and why. The usual reasons:

• The file is in use. An app holding the file open can prevent deletion. Quit the app and clean again.
• Permissions. Some caches are owned by the system. Use Admin Clean (helper + Touch ID) below.
• A file provider did not respond (iCloud Drive, a booted simulator). These are skipped on purpose so DevCleaner never hangs.

Admin Clean Helper

When an allowlisted path is protected by macOS permissions, DevCleaner can retry via the Admin Clean Helper (SMAppService privileged helper). Flow in short:

1. Install once from the failures sheet or Settings → General → Admin Clean Helper → Install / Repair.
2. Approve DevCleaner Helper in System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions if prompted.
3. Later Admin Clean runs use Touch ID (or your Mac password) in the app — not a full elevation dialog every time.

If Admin Clean says the helper is outdated, unreachable, or “No allowlisted paths” after an update, Unregister (or remove DevCleaner Helper in Login Items), then Install / Repair again. It is always safe to decline; you simply keep that protected item. Non-allowlisted / protected system paths are skipped rather than offered a dead-end elevate prompt.