Help · Guides · Pangalin Space Manager
How to see where the rest of your disk went.
The scan finds your files and apps' data, but macOS uses space that no app can list: snapshots, swap, Apple Intelligence models, its own system volume. Pangalin Space Manager's System Data page accounts for it line by line, says how each figure was measured, and never makes up a number.
Open it
- Scan your startup disk, then click System Data in the sidebar (⌘8), or Where did the rest go? on the Dashboard.
- Read the card Where did the rest go?: what's in use on the disk, what the scan found, and each part of the rest, such as Time Machine local snapshots, Swap, Apple Intelligence and Siri models, Spotlight's search index and any virtual machines.
- Check each line's tag: Measured, Estimated, Permission-limited, Not measured yet or Not knowable. The last line, Not explained, is what's left over.
The page always describes the whole Mac, whichever folder you scanned. Viewing it is free.
What you can do from here
- Thin Snapshots… asks macOS to thin local Time Machine snapshots. It needs a licence, because macOS can't say how much it frees.
- How to Rebuild It… explains rebuilding a bloated Spotlight index, and opens Spotlight's settings.
- Buttons open a virtual-machine app, or Apple Intelligence & Siri settings, so you can tidy up there.
- Folders we couldn't read lists what the scan couldn't see, and offers Turn on Full Disk Access. Cloud folders aren't scanned unless you switch on Include iCloud Drive and cloud drives in scans.
What changed this week
After a few scans over a week or more, the What changed card on this page shows what grew most. If free space keeps falling, it and the Dashboard estimate when the disk would fill at that rate, for example At this rate (4 GB a week), the disk fills in about 6 weeks.
Apple Intelligence on this Mac
This card shows how much space Apple Intelligence, Siri and dictation models take, by family. They're macOS's own files, so Pangalin Space Manager never deletes them; you can turn features off in System Settings › Apple Intelligence & Siri, and macOS removes models it no longer needs.
Mac health check
Click Mac health check on this page, or open it from Tools. What matters most on this Mac checks three things in plain words:
- Free space: you should keep 10% of the disk free, at least 20 GB and no more than 35 GB, for macOS updates and swap.
- Memory: whether what you have open fits, with Open Activity Monitor.
- Swap: how much of the disk macOS is using as extra memory. A restart clears it.
It also lists the biggest wins from your last scan, each with Review. On a Mac with 8 GB of memory or less, or a disk of 300 GB or less, the Dashboard points you here.
What breaks after macOS 27?
The health check also lists what may stop working after macOS 27: Intel-only apps that still need Rosetta, and old system extensions. It names every app and extension it finds; if there are more than 12, Show all … lists the rest. It only looks and changes nothing, so you can check for an Apple silicon version or a replacement before you need it. It's free.
Related guides
Checked against Pangalin Space Manager 3.47.1, 11 October 2026. Screenshots from Pangalin Space Manager 3.48.0, 11 October 2026.