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Kristina Schulz
Kristina SchulzUpdated 8 months ago

Free application that scans drives

OmniDiskSweeper is a free software that lets you take a deep dive into your hard drive. Developed by The Omni Group for Apple Mac operating systems, you can optimally clean your computer or laptop with Omni Disk Sweeper. OmniDiskSweeper will scan your entire hard drive to deliver an organized list of your content. 

CleanMyMac, DaisyDisk, and Disk Inventory X are alternative applications that analyze your disk space. All of the apps will let you know the amount of space each of the files uses on your macOS. While Disk Inventory X and OmniDiskSweeper are free to use, CleanMyMac and DaisyDisk offer you free trials to use for a period of time before you buy the utilities.

Is OmniDiskSweeper for Mac safe?

While OmniDiskSweeper is a free app, the tool does not compromise safety. OmniDiskSweeper is safe to use. The utility has a clean user experience that does not include distracting advertisements. Omni Disk Sweeper is free of spyware, along with being ad-free. Additionally, the service does not include malware.

You can check the privacy policy on the official website. The developers state that if any changes are made to the security standards, the users will be notified.

What is OmniDiskSweeper Mac?

OmniDiskSweeper lets you get a detailed view of your hardware storage space. A list of libraries will appear after your hard drive is scanned: ‘Users’, ‘Applications’, ‘System’, etc. You can click on each category to see what is inside each folder. The titles that have an arrow to the right will expand to let you browse the additional items.

The user interface has multiple panels to expand the categories. If multiple users are synced to your hard drive, then the usernames will be listed in the ‘Users’ tab. Additionally, you can find iTunes in the ‘Music’ menu. A scrollbar is available in the sections that have a large number of files and folders.

A file size will be placed beside every archive, even when the capacity of the articles is at zero. OmniDiskSweeper will list the unit of measurement beside each number: bytes, GB, kB, MB, etc. The units are organized into different colors. Each unit of measurement will have an individual color: blue, green, etc.

The measurements are written in a typewriter-styled font, while the categories are designed like the Macintosh HD menu. The items are listed in descending order in each panel. The large files and folders are at the top of the lists. You will often find the content at the bottom of the record classified as a ‘0 byte’.

How do I use OmniDiskSweeper on Mac?

You can choose the hard drive that you want to evaluate in the ‘Drive List’ that appears when you launch the freeware. The window will show both the external and internal hard disks that are connected. The amount of free, used, and total space will be written next to each drive.

You can press the ‘Sweep’ button at the bottom of the window after you highlight your preferred hard disk. The name on the button should match the drive you selected. Additionally, you can double-click on the title to start scanning. The amount of time that is needed to analyze your drive will depend on how large your hard disk is.

The portions that are being actively evaluated will be in red. The colors will change as the areas are finished. The service lets you delete files directly in the user interface. The ‘Delete’ button is in the bottom left corner.

While the deletion feature is convenient, this feature is not always practical. Since images are not shown when you highlight an article, you may not realize what you are deleting. You can use OmniDiskSweeper as a guide instead.

What is safe to delete using OmniDiskSweeper?

While the native Mac OS disk utility manager does give you storage information, this info is limited. You cannot open certain categories: ‘System’ and ‘Other’. The unopenable groups are at the bottom of the Mac HD menu. To combat this limitation, OmniDiskSweeper allows you to scan the ‘System’ and ‘Other’ areas. Although OmniDiskSweeper gives you a comprehensive view of your system, the UI makes deleting risky.

You can negate the risk by searching for the record in the ‘Finder’ app. If you find potentially removable records in the OmniDiskSweeper database, then you can search the keyword in ‘Finder’. ‘Finder’ will let you see a preview or launches the content to let you securely delete unwanted files, documents, applications, folders, etc.

The bottom of the UI has information about your current selection: the title, size, and location. The total amount of space used will be written in the top bar next to the hard drive name.

The user interface is simple. While the design is clean, the user experience is affected by the minimal design. However, a preview window that lets you see a logo of the content would make the UX better. OmniDiskSweeper has a dark and light mode available.

Is OmniDiskSweeper free?

OmniDiskSweeper used to cost money but was recently made free to use. Now, you have unlimited access to the platform when you download and install the software. Since OmniDiskSweeper is lightweight, you will not have to compromise your storage space to optimize your hard disk.

A detailed description for drives

If you get a notification on your Mac that your storage space is full, then OmniDiskSweeper can help. Since the built-in ‘System Information’ for Mac OS X does not give you a complete view of your storage, OmniDiskSweeper is an optimal app. Omni Disk Sweeper will analyze the folders that the Mac OS disk manager cannot.

What’s new?

You can see the latest version history of OmniDiskSweeper software releases on the official website. You can download and install the previous versions to use. The developers are consistently releasing new software updates.

OmniDiskSweeper is a Mac OS X utility for quickly finding and deleting big, useless files and thus making space on your hard disks. OmniDiskSweeper makes this easy by highlighting the biggest files on your disks, and by noting which files are used by the system, so you don't accidentally delete important files.

PROS

  • Safe
  • Easy to use
  • Lightweight
  • Lightweight Clean user interface
  • Deeply scans Mac system

CONS

  • Not an official version for PC
  • Does not feature preview window

Program available in other languages



User reviews about OmniDiskSweeper

  • Anonymous

    by Anonymous

    Free up disk space fast and easy.
    It may be a surprise for you to realize that your drive may be getting full (especially if you are the owner of solid-state drive, which offers less capacity than traditional hard disks). Omni Disk Sweeper is g More


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