App Directory: The Best Disk Space Analyser For Mac

Even if you have plenty of space on your Mac’s hard drive, it’s good practice to do a check every once in a while to see what’s taking up disk space and spot anything unusual. Disk Inventory X provides a useful colour-coded map as well as a drawer-based list to help you see what files are taking up the most space on your Mac.

Disk Inventory X

Platform: OS X
Price: Free
Download Page

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• Provides a basic overview of all your disks on startup
• Creates a clickable map of the data on your disk, colour-coded by type
• Provides additional information about specific data when you click on an item on the map
• Can analyse the entire disk or just a specific folder
• Easily reveal specific folders and files in the Finder so you can delete them
• Shows basic information about any file or folder you select (post-analysis)
• Allows you to view your entire disk by order of file/folder size so you can see the largest space hogs

Disk Inventory X is very informative and easy to use. You choose the disk you want to analyse, it runs through all the data on it, and then provides you with a colour-coded map so you can see what’s filling up your disk. You can then click on any portion of the map to find out more details and reveal that item in the Finder so it can be deleted (if you want to delete it, that is). What I find most useful, however, is the drawer-based list in the app that displays files and folders from largest to smallest. Although the map can be visually interesting, I find that a text-based list is easier to read as you can just see what’s taking up lots of space and what’s not very easily. Disk Inventory X gives you both, so you’re in good shape regardless of what you prefer. It provides all the information you’ll need, in multiple ways, when analysing your disk space.[clear]

It isn’t exactly a pretty app and the amount of information it provides might be overwhelming for some users. That said, these are very minor complaints. For the most part, Disk Inventory X should handle just about everything you’d want out of a disk space analyser.[clear]

DaisyDisk ($10.49) is a beautiful disk space analyser. It’s the preference of many Mac users. What it does differently is display disk usage data as a sunburst map, which some may find easier to read (and definitely more pleasant to look at). DaisyDisk is very fast and very pretty. The only problem is that it costs $10.49, which is hard to justify for an app you probably won’t use very often when there are equally useful, free alternatives.

GrandPerspective (free) is very similar to Disk Inventory X, but not quite up to par. The interface also feels a little old, combining some of the new styles of Mac OS X 10.5+ and some of the old ones too. It’s a perfectly functional app that creates comprehensive disk usage maps, but it doesn’t give you a disk overview (like Disk Inventory X and Daisy Disk) and no simple breakdown beside the map. That said, GrandPerspective does offer a information drawer that provides plenty of other data about your volume and what’s on it. If you’re not in love with Disk Inventory X and want something a little bit different, you might want to give GrandPerspective a look.[clear]

Lifehacker’s App Directory is a growing directory of recommendations for the best applications and tools across multiple platforms.