Help · Guides · Pangalin Space Manager
How to use Explain.
Not sure what a folder is, or whether anything needs it? Explain gives a short plain-English answer, written on your Mac by Apple Intelligence. Nothing is sent to us or to anyone else.
Ask for an explanation
- Hover over a row (or select it) in any list. A small sparkle button appears; on Dashboard cards and list headings it's always shown.
- Click the sparkle. The answer is written in a few seconds.
- Read it alongside Pangalin Space Manager's rating at the top (Safe to clean, Review before acting or Caution: best left alone). The rating comes from Pangalin Space Manager's own checks, not from the model.
An explanation never ticks, unticks, deletes or moves anything. What happens to your files is up to you.
Three free answers
Without a licence you get 3 explanations per Mac. The footer shows how many you have left. Only answers that are actually written count. Opening one you've already seen in the same session is free. Reinstalling doesn't reset the count. A licence unlocks unlimited explanations.
What it reads
Only facts Pangalin Space Manager has already measured:
- the item's name and kind
- the folder it's in (your home folder is shown as “~”, not your user name)
- its size
- Pangalin Space Manager's own rating and note
It never reads the contents of your files. It runs on Apple's on-device model only, not Apple's cloud model or any other AI service, and it makes no network requests. Answers are kept in memory while the app is open and forgotten when you quit. See the Privacy Notice.
It can be wrong
Every answer is labelled “Written on your Mac by Apple Intelligence · may be imperfect”. The model can be inaccurate, and the same item can get a different answer another time. Before you act, check the real file, its size, its location and Pangalin Space Manager's rating.
Why the button might be missing
Explain appears only where Apple Intelligence can run. You need:
- macOS 26 or later. Apple Intelligence on macOS 15 works in Apple's own apps, but other apps can use its on-device model only from macOS 26.
- Apple Intelligence turned on in System Settings › Apple Intelligence & Siri
- your Mac and Siri set to a language Apple Intelligence supports
If any of these is missing, there's no button and everything else works as normal. Pangalin Space Manager checks once when it opens, so after turning Apple Intelligence on, quit and reopen the app.
Related guides
Checked against Space Manager 3.45.1, 10 October 2026.