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How to run other tools' own clean-up commands.
Developer tools such as Homebrew, Docker and npm keep caches they know how to clear themselves. Janitors lists the tools installed on your Mac and runs each one's own clean-up command when you ask. The tool does the removing, and it's permanent: nothing goes to the Trash.
1. Open Janitors
- Choose Go › Tools (⌘6) and click the Janitors card.
- Free Up Space opens with the Janitors list: Cleanup commands built into other tools. Each runs that tool's own cleanup.
- Each row names the tool and the exact command it runs, with what that command removes.
Pangalin Space Manager first checks which tools are installed and actually run on your Mac, so you only see the ones that work. While it checks, it says Checking which vendor tools can run here…. If none are installed, it says No vendor cleanup tools detected on this Mac.
2. Run one
- Click Clean with … on the tool's row, for example Clean with Homebrew.
- Read the confirmation. It shows the full command, says it deletes permanently and that the tool does the removing, not Pangalin Space Manager.
- Click Clean permanently to run it, or Cancel.
- The row says Cleaning… while it runs, then ✓ done, or ✗ with the reason, such as is Docker running?
What each janitor runs
Only the tools found on your Mac are listed. These are the ones Pangalin Space Manager knows:
- Homebrew:
brew cleanup --prune=all, old bottles and download caches. - iOS Simulators:
xcrun simctl delete unavailable, simulators for runtimes Xcode no longer has. It needs Xcode, not just the Command Line Tools. - Docker:
docker system prune -f. Docker must be running. - OrbStack:
orb prune -f. Your Linux machines and their contents aren't touched. - Podman:
podman system prune -f. - Gradle daemons:
gradle --stop, which stops background daemons; builds start a fresh one next time. - Conda:
conda clean -a -y, package tarballs and caches. - RubyGems:
gem cleanup, superseded gem versions. - npm, Yarn and bun: clear the package download cache.
- pnpm:
pnpm store prune, packages no project uses any more. - pip, uv and Poetry: clear downloaded Python packages.
- Go:
go clean -cache, the build cache. Go modules:go clean -modcache; projects download what they need again on their next build. - CocoaPods:
pod cache clean --all. Swift Package Manager:swift package purge-cache. .NET NuGet:dotnet nuget locals all --clear.
The confirmation for each row gives the full command, including the folder the tool runs from.
Docker, OrbStack and Podman: stopped containers
These three also remove every stopped container, and its writable layer goes with it. Anything written inside a stopped container that isn't committed to an image or kept in a named volume is gone. Named volumes aren't touched. The confirmation says this before you run it.
What can't be undone
- Every janitor deletes permanently. The tool removes the files itself and doesn't ask again, so nothing goes to the Trash, Edit › Undo can't bring anything back, and there's nothing to restore from History.
- What they remove can be downloaded or rebuilt again, so the cost is time, not data, apart from stopped containers, above.
How it runs
Pangalin Space Manager runs each tool as you, the same as typing the command in Terminal. It never asks for your administrator password for a janitor, and never runs one as administrator. If a tool needs something it can't get that way, the row shows ✗ and why, for example that the tool needs its runtime and you should run it once in Terminal instead.
Why it needs a licence
Another tool's command does its own removing, and macOS can't tell how much space it freed. So janitors can't be counted against your free 5 GB, and running one needs a licence ($25 a year). Without one, Pangalin Space Manager says This needs a licence and nothing is changed. Seeing which janitors your Mac has is free. While Preview only is on, no janitor runs.
After a short run, the row may say roughly how much more space is free, marked approximate, not counted. After a long run, such as a Docker prune, it says the tool reports what it removed instead, because other things on your Mac change free space in the meantime.
Xcode simulators that Xcode can no longer use are also offered on Go › System Data (⌘8), with the same iOS Simulators janitor and the same licence rule.
Related guides
Checked against Pangalin Space Manager 3.48.1, 14 October 2026.