AppleTree support

Happy to help with anything — questions, bugs, or feature requests.

Common questions

What do I need to run it?

macOS 15.0 or later, on Apple silicon and Intel. There is nothing else to install and no account to create.

How do I scan a folder or a whole drive?

Choose File → Open Folder… (⌘O), click the toolbar button, or drag a folder onto the window. To scan an entire volume, pick the volume itself — for your startup disk that is Macintosh HD.

Some folders were skipped, or the total looks too small.

macOS protects certain locations (much of ~/Library, for example) behind system privacy controls, and a scan deliberately stays on the one volume you selected rather than following mounts onto other drives. AppleTree labels why each folder was skipped, and prompts you about Full Disk Access only when granting it would actually reveal more. Snapshots and purgeable space are also counted by macOS but are not files a scan can walk, so the volume readout and the tree total can legitimately differ.

Does deleting from AppleTree erase files permanently?

No. Deleting moves items to the system Trash, exactly as Finder does, and you can put them back from there. A confirmation prompt is on by default; you can turn it off in Settings (⌘,) if you prefer.

Does AppleTree send anything over the internet?

No. There is no account, no analytics, no crash reporting, and no network connection of any kind. Scan results stay in memory and are discarded when you close the window.

Why does it ask about Full Disk Access?

Without it, macOS hides parts of your home folder from any app, which makes a whole-disk scan under-report. Granting it is entirely optional — AppleTree works normally on every folder you can already open — and you can revoke it at any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access.

How do I get the free version?

AppleTree is published under the GNU General Public License v3.0. Clone the repository and build it in Xcode, at no cost, forever. The Mac App Store build is the same software, offered as a paid convenience.

Reporting a problem

Including these makes a bug far easier to reproduce:

• Your macOS version and Mac model
• The AppleTree version (AppleTree → About AppleTree)
• What you scanned, and roughly how large it is
• What you expected to happen, and what happened instead