Version 1.0. Applies to the official Swept binaries. Last revised 2026-09-06.
In this document, "we" and "us" mean the copyright holder named in
LICENSE, together with Swept's contributors and licensors. Swept
is published by an individual, not a company; if that ever changes, the name in
LICENSE changes with it and this definition still holds.
Swept's source code is licensed under the MIT License — see
LICENSE. Nothing here narrows that grant. You may use, copy,
modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense and sell the source exactly as
the MIT License permits, and you do not need to accept this document to do any
of it.
This document governs the official builds we distribute — the .app and
the .dmg published on this project's releases page. It exists to state, in
specific terms and where you will actually read them, what this program does
and what you are accepting when you run it.
Those builds are currently unsigned and not notarized, which macOS will
tell you when you open one. That is a deliberate, disclosed state rather than
an oversight: see Install for what it means and how to
proceed, and docs/LEGAL.md for why it is where the project has chosen to
stand for now.
If the two ever conflict as to the source code, the MIT License wins.
Read section 2 and section 5 even if you read nothing else. This program removes files from your computer. That is its purpose, not a failure mode.
Swept identifies files on your Mac that are commonly safe to remove — caches, logs, build artifacts, browser data, items left behind by uninstalled applications — and, on your explicit instruction, moves them to the Trash.
By design it:
- previews before it acts. Every disposal is shown to you with its path and size before anything happens.
- never acts on its own. There is no automatic, scheduled, or background cleaning. Nothing is removed without a confirmation you gave for that run.
- prefers the Trash to deletion. Recoverable disposal is the default; irreversible deletion requires a separate, explicit instruction.
- writes down what it did. Every planned and executed action is appended to
~/Library/Application Support/swept/audit.jsonl.
These are real properties of the program, tested and enforced in code. They are not a guarantee that the program is free of defects, and they are not a substitute for your own backups.
You are operating a tool that destroys data. By installing or using Swept you acknowledge and accept that:
- File removal is not reliably reversible. Items moved to the Trash can be restored until the Trash is emptied. Items removed permanently cannot be restored by us, by Swept, or by macOS.
- You alone decide what is removed. Swept proposes; you confirm. The decision to confirm a disposal, and the consequences of that decision, are yours.
- Software has defects. Despite testing, a safety kernel, and a preview step, Swept may misidentify a file, misreport a size, or behave unexpectedly on a configuration we have not seen. Some defects are discovered only after they have caused harm.
- Removing a file can break things that depend on it. Clearing caches can sign you out of websites, discard offline data, or force applications to rebuild state. Clearing browser history erases it permanently. Setting a login item aside can stop software from starting.
- We cannot recover your data. We have no copy of it and no ability to retrieve it.
You accept these risks knowingly and voluntarily, and you agree that using Swept is your decision to make and your responsibility to bear.
Maintain a current, tested backup before running Swept. Time Machine, a bootable clone, or any backup you have actually verified you can restore from.
This is a condition of use, not a suggestion. If losing a file would matter to you, that file must exist somewhere Swept cannot reach before you run it.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE", WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, QUIET ENJOYMENT, DATA ACCURACY, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING, COURSE OF PERFORMANCE, OR USAGE OF TRADE.
WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT: THE SOFTWARE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; THAT IT WILL OPERATE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURELY, OR ERROR-FREE; THAT ANY FILE IT IDENTIFIES IS IN FACT SAFE TO REMOVE; THAT ANY SIZE, COUNT OR SAVING IT REPORTS IS ACCURATE; THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED; OR THAT ANY DATA REMOVED CAN BE RECOVERED.
NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED FROM US OR THROUGH THE SOFTWARE, CREATES ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED HERE.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT AND UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY — WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, WARRANTY, OR OTHERWISE — SHALL WE, OR ANY OF OUR CONTRIBUTORS, LICENSORS, AGENTS, EMPLOYEES, OR (IF WE ARE EVER AN ENTITY) ITS MEMBERS, MANAGERS OR OFFICERS, BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR:
(a) ANY LOSS OF, CORRUPTION OF, OR INABILITY TO RECOVER DATA, FILES, DOCUMENTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, PROJECTS, SOURCE CODE, CONFIGURATION, CREDENTIALS, BROWSING HISTORY, OR ANY OTHER CONTENT, HOWEVER CAUSED;
(b) ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY CHARACTER;
(c) ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST REVENUE, LOST SAVINGS, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, DEVICE DAMAGE, COST OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES, OR COST OF DATA RECOVERY; OR
(d) ANY DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THE SOFTWARE;
EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, AND EVEN IF A LIMITED REMEDY IS FOUND TO HAVE FAILED OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE.
AGGREGATE CAP. OUR TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SOFTWARE OR THESE TERMS SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (i) THE AMOUNT YOU ACTUALLY PAID US FOR THE SOFTWARE IN THE TWELVE MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM — WHICH, FOR THE FREE OFFICIAL BUILDS, IS ZERO DOLLARS (US$0.00) — OR (ii) FIFTY UNITED STATES DOLLARS (US$50.00).
THE DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATIONS IN SECTIONS 4 AND 5 ARE A FUNDAMENTAL BASIS OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN US. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE, AND WE WOULD NOT PROVIDE IT ON ANY OTHER TERMS.
You agree that you will:
- maintain current backups, as required by section 3;
- review each preview before confirming it, and confirm only what you intend to remove;
- use Swept only on computers and data you own or are authorised to administer;
- not rely on Swept as the sole safeguard for anything you cannot afford to lose; and
- comply with all applicable laws in your use of the Software.
If you deploy Swept for others — across an organisation's machines, or on behalf of clients — you accept responsibility for that deployment, for the backups protecting it, and for the instructions you give the people affected by it, and you agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from claims arising out of that deployment.
Swept's findings, recommendations and figures are automated output, not professional advice. Nothing it reports is a warranty that a file is safe to remove, that your system is healthy, or that a security or privacy concern has been resolved.
See NOTICE.md for trademark attributions and third-party
components, and PRIVACY.md for what the Software does and does
not collect.
Swept is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Apple Inc., MacPaw Inc., or any browser or application vendor whose data it can act upon.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, or the exclusion or limitation of liability for incidental, consequential or certain other damages. In those jurisdictions, the exclusions and limitations in sections 4 and 5 apply only to the maximum extent that law permits, and you may have rights that those sections cannot take away.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.
Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, it is modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, or severed if it cannot be; the remainder stays in force. In particular, if any part of section 5 is held unenforceable, the remaining limitations continue to apply.
Governing law. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Maryland, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply. Nothing here deprives you of the protection of mandatory consumer law in your own place of residence, where that law applies regardless of this clause.
Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the MIT License as it applies to the source code, are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Software.
No waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it.
Changes. We may revise these Terms for future releases. Revisions apply to the version of the Software they ship with; they do not change the terms of a build you already have. The version at the top of this document identifies which revision a given build presented to you.
The official builds of Swept ask you to confirm, on first launch, that you have
read and accepted these Terms and that you maintain backups. That confirmation
is recorded locally in
~/Library/Application Support/swept/acceptance.json — on your machine only.
It is never transmitted anywhere. See PRIVACY.md.
If you do not accept these Terms, do not install or use the official builds. The source code remains available to you under the MIT License regardless.