How to Buy, Install and Set Up MacPrune

Setting up MacPrune takes four things: download the right build from macprune.com, drag the app into Applications, grant Full Disk Access in System Settings, and run your first scan. You do not have to buy anything first, because the basic version is free. If you later want Pro, you buy a licence key and paste it into the app. We built MacPrune, and this is the setup we recommend.

Step 1: Check your Mac

1. Choose the Apple menu, then About This Mac.
2. Check the macOS version. MacPrune needs macOS 13 or later.
3. Look at the line that names the processor. If it says Chip followed by an Apple name such as M1, you have Apple silicon. If it says Processor followed by Intel, you have an Intel Mac.

Step 2: Download and install

MacPrune is downloaded from macprune.com. It is not in the Mac App Store, so get it only from our site.

1. Go to the MacPrune home page and download the build for your Mac: Apple silicon or Intel.
2. Open the downloaded .dmg file from your Downloads folder.
3. Drag the MacPrune icon onto the Applications folder in the window that appears.
4. Eject the disk image: in Finder, click the eject button next to it in the sidebar. You can then delete the .dmg file.
5. Open MacPrune from Applications or Launchpad. The first time, macOS asks you to confirm that you want to open an app downloaded from the internet. Click Open.

Step 3: Grant Full Disk Access

macOS keeps parts of the disk closed to apps unless you allow it. MacPrune asks for Full Disk Access so it can measure the whole disk; without it the totals would be incomplete.

1. Open System Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Full Disk Access.
2. Turn on the switch next to MacPrune and confirm with Touch ID or your Mac password when asked.
3. If macOS says the change applies after the app restarts, quit MacPrune and open it again.

You can turn this switch off again at any time in the same place.

Step 4: Run your first scan

1. Open the Disk page to see the map, where every folder is a tile sized by the space it takes. This page is for looking only; nothing is deleted from the map.
2. Open the Clean page and run the scan. Results come in three groups: Safe to clean, Review before cleaning, and Handle with care.
3. Start with Safe to clean. Read what is listed, tick what you want gone and confirm.
4. Chosen items move to the Trash. The space is freed when the Trash is emptied, and MacPrune offers to empty it after a clean. Items that were already in the Trash are removed for good, so check the Trash first if you are unsure.

Take the other two groups slowly. Old downloads, mail attachments, iOS backups and Docker data can be things you still need.

Step 5: Buy and activate Pro (optional)

The free version scans everything and cleans user caches, browser caches and the Trash, with limits on some batches. Pro is a one-time purchase with no subscription, one Mac per key, and it removes those limits and unlocks every category.

1. Buy a licence from the pricing page. You receive a licence key.
2. In MacPrune, click Activate, paste the key and confirm. The Mac needs to be online for this, because the app validates the key.

Settings worth a look

MacPrune can show its pages as top tabs or a sidebar, and it can use a dark look, a light look or follow the system. It also adds a Mac Health panel to the menu bar with storage, memory, battery, CPU and network. The app checks for updates when it is online, so keeping it current needs no extra work.

Where to go next

Once it is installed, these guides cover the usual first jobs: how to free up Mac storage, how to completely uninstall apps and is MacPrune safe.