I Tested DaisyDisk: Affordable and Efficient Mac Disk Analyzer

As someone who constantly struggles with low disk space on my Mac, I’ve tried quite a few disk space analyzers and cleaners over the years, from free ones to expensive ones. If I’m to recommend one valuable disk space optimizer for Mac users, it’s going to be DaisyDisk. It’s hands down one of the most visually satisfying and efficient tools I’ve ever used to clean up my Mac, with an unbeatable price.

Interested to know how it performs? Check my in-depth review of DaisyDisk.

What Is DaisyDisk?

Unlike famous Mac disk cleaners such as CCleaner or MacCleaner, DaisyDisk might be a new name to you. So here’s a brief introduction: DaisyDisk is a delicate disk space analyzer designed for macOS that helps you visualize what's taking up space on your drives and then free up the precious disk space.

It scans your disks and presents the results in an interactive, colorful sunburst map. This allows you to see your Mac storage at a glance and quickly drill down into folders and files that are hogging space. If you get lost in Mac’s default storage management system, DaisyDisk is the tool to guide you through.

Is DaidyDisk Free or Paid

DaisyDisk offers an unlimited free trial, which you can use to analyze your disk and visualize storage usage. However, advanced features like in-app file deletion are locked until you purchase the full license.

Luckily, the pricing is super reasonable, far below the average for Mac optimization tools. It’s a one-time purchase (just $9.99), with no subscription or recurring fees. You pay once and get a lifetime license, including minor updates and bug fixes.

Better yet, one license works on up to five of your personal Macs, and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. And here’s a bonus I love: DaisyDisk supports Apple’s Family Sharing. That means if you buy it through the App Store, up to six family members can use it at no extra cost, perfect if you're sharing Macs at home.

Also, if you’re a college student, you can get 50% off. Yup, just $5 for a professional-grade Mac disk analyzer. That’s a steal.

My Experience Using DaisyDisk

When I first launched DaisyDisk, I was impressed by how lightweight and streamlined it is. By keeping itself simple and minimal, DaisyDisk feels like a built-in Mac toolbar instead of a third-party tool. Diving in, here’s what I found DaisyDisk useful.

Fast Scanning & Processing Speed

We both know how long it takes to scan a huge disk. However, DaisyDisk is an exception. For an average Mac internal disk (normally with 256GB of space) with ⅔ of the space being consumed, DaisyDisk finishes scanning the entire disk in less than 30 seconds. If you have a more powerful processor and a larger external hard drive, say over 1TB used, DaisyDisk still finishes the scan in around 5 to 7 minutes.

This kind of blazing-fast speed makes a big difference when you’re trying to clean up storage quickly. It’s fast, smooth, and doesn’t bog down your system while scanning.

Excellent Visualization of Disk Usage

Unlike most disk space visualizers, which share a classic blue layout, the interface of DaisyDisk is fun, intriguing, and intuitive. The sunburst visual map is more than just pretty; it’s useful as well. Each segment represents a folder or file, and the size corresponds to how much space it takes up.

Just click on any segment, and the view zooms in to reveal more detail. Each segment you select unfolds into its own diagram, clearly showing the subfolders and files inside in an easy-to-follow layout.

Countdown Before File Deletion

One of the things I really appreciate about DaisyDisk is how simple and safe it makes file deletion. The 5-second countdown before deleting a file definitely marks it down.

If you decide to delete files on Mac, it’s as easy as dragging them into the Collector at the bottom corner of the app. What’s smart is that the file doesn’t get deleted right away but waits there until you’re ready. Once you hit Delete, DaisyDisk gives you a 5-second countdown before it permanently removes the file (bypassing the trash). It’s a small but thoughtful feature that gives you peace of mind and helps prevent any accidental mistakes.

Unveiling Hidden Space

Moving on, DaisyDisk helped me uncover hidden space on my Mac, areas that I completely missed in daily use. These mysterious chunks labeled as hidden are actually system files or restricted folders that require special access.

All I had to do was grant Full Disk Access in System Preferences, and I could unlock detailed scans, allowing DaisyDisk to reveal hidden files and system-level data that many other tools overlook. This makes it especially powerful for users who want full transparency before cleaning up their storage.

Scanning Cloud Drives Like Local Storage

If you prefer could storage, DaisyDisk takes good care of that, too. It can scan cloud storage accounts such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive just like regular drives. Just pick the provider from a dropdown, log in, and my cloud storage shows up in the scan list. For someone juggling multiple cloud drives, this feature really helped me stay on top of total storage usage across platforms.

Limited Functionality

So far, we’ve covered the pros of DaisyDisk. What about the drawbacks? Well, if you're looking for an all-in-one Mac optimization tool, DaisyDisk is not the option. It focuses purely on disk space management, say, scanning, visualizing, and helping you manually remove large or unnecessary files.

It doesn’t offer additional features like duplicate find, app uninstallation, or system performance tweaks that tools like professional Mac cleaners include, such as BuhoCleaner.

Tip

BuhoCleaner is an all-in-one Mac cleaner that goes beyond disk scanning. It includes real-time system monitoring, app uninstaller, duplicate cleanup, startup optimization, and junk file removal. If you're after a more holistic Mac cleaning solution, it might be worth checking out alongside DaisyDisk.

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For me, this wasn’t a dealbreaker. I actually prefer having a lightweight tool that does one thing exceptionally well. But if you're expecting a full system maintenance suite, just know DaisyDisk isn’t built for that purpose.

No Recover or Undo Option

While there’s a 5-second countdown once you click the Delete button, here’s the catch: DaisyDisk skips the macOS Trash entirely. That means once those 5 seconds are up, the files are gone for good, with no way to recover them.

So if you accidentally delete the wrong file, there’s no undo, no recovery from the Trash, it’s just gone. Personally, this made me a bit more cautious and double-check everything before hitting delete.

To sum up, here are the pros and cons of DaisyDisk:

Is DaisyDisk Worth It?

DaisyDisk is a perfect example of great macOS software: minimal, powerful, beautiful, and focused. It’s not overloaded with features you don’t need. It does one thing, which is disk space analysis, and it does it well. If you’re a Mac user looking for an easy, safe, and actually enjoyable way to figure out and free up disk space, DaisyDisk is well recommended.