Purgeable space and APFS snapshots on Mac

Purgeable is not a junk folder

APFS reports some used space as purgeable: clones, snapshots, and files macOS believes it can recover if you need the room. Finder’s “available” number already bakes some of that in. A button that claims to “delete purgeable space” is usually either emptying Trash, deleting local snapshots, or lying.

Snapshots are inspect-only

Time Machine local snapshots are the usual surprise. DiskPrune lists them on Snapshots. There is no swipe-to-delete, no checkbox, no tmutil command in the UI. We do not run snapshot deletion, and we will not add it.

Apple documents how local snapshots work. If you turn Time Machine off, or let the system expire snapshots under space pressure, that is macOS. DiskPrune’s job is to show they exist so “System Data” is not a mystery.

What you can do in DiskPrune today

Scan. Read the autopsy. Move caches, logs, and DerivedData you actually selected to Trash. Empty Trash in Finder when you mean it. If the capacity bar barely moves, look at Snapshots and Docker — those are the two places DiskPrune refuses to pretend.