Support

Build Broom 1.0.0 · requires macOS 26

Getting in touch

Email hello@alteringtechnologies.com. Include the details under Reporting a problem and we can usually answer without a second round.

Getting something back

Build Broom moves things to the Trash rather than deleting them, so if you change your mind, open the Trash and put it back. That is the default and it is the behaviour to rely on; permanently deleting instead is a choice you have to make yourself, in Settings ▸ General ▸ Cleaning.

Most of what it removes is rebuilt automatically anyway. An item marked Safe is regenerated by Xcode the next time you need it — a first build after a clean simply takes longer.

Things worth knowing

Simulator runtimes are listed but not removable

In the Mac App Store edition, runtimes are shown for information and cannot be removed. A sandboxed app may not run simctl, which is the only supported way to remove them. The size is reported so you know where the space went; removing it is something you do in Xcode.

It asks for access to folders

The sandboxed edition can only look where you let it. If a category reads as empty when you expect otherwise, check Settings ▸ Locations ▸ Folder access and grant the folder in question.

The menu bar scans hourly

The light scan behind the menu bar item runs once an hour. The interval is not a setting. What it watches is yours to choose, in Settings ▸ Menu Bar ▸ Categories, and a quick clean from there only ever takes Safe items — always to the Trash, whatever your delete setting says.

Nothing risky is ever selected for you

No profile selects a Risky item, Aggressive included. If you want one removed you have to tick it yourself, and the confirmation will ask you to acknowledge it separately.

Tips and Restore Purchases

Build Broom is free, and every feature works without paying. Settings ▸ Tip Jar offers three optional one-time tips, sold through the App Store. Any tip also lets you switch off the question the menu bar asks before a quick clean. A tip made on another Mac comes back with Restore Purchases, in the same pane. Refunds are handled by Apple, at reportaproblem.apple.com.

The command line is a separate thing

bbclean is built from the source repository and is not part of the App Store download. It runs unsandboxed, which is why it can do things the app cannot.

Reporting a problem

The useful details are your macOS version, the app version from Build Broom ▸ About, which category was involved, and what you expected to happen instead. If a clean reported a failure, the Cleaning History window records the run and how many items failed.