How to Use Shedi: The Beginner's Guide (First Scan, the Honest-Deletion Lesson, and the Trash-First Arc)

CodexFuse Team · 2026-11-03T16:01:02.093Z · 13 min read min read

How to Use Shedi: The Beginner's Guide (First Scan, the Honest-Deletion Lesson, and the Trash-First Arc)

Learning how to use Shedi takes about ten minutes, and most of that is the first scan. Shedi is a Mac cleaner built for developers: instead of the one-magic-button junk cleaners, it finds what Xcode, Docker, node_modules, and 49 other developer tools left on your Mac, tells you what every item is, and deletes only what you pick — everything goes to the Trash first. It is made by Otabek Abdiraimov, an independent developer who also makes the Mac notch app Halo, and it costs $19.99 once, with no subscription (a launch offer of $9.99 for the first 25 buyers was live at the time of writing). This guide walks through the whole first run: the install, the scan, the honest-deletion labels, the safety rules, and the pricing — including the one gotcha on first launch, because Shedi is not notarized yet.

Your "System Data" is not system data. It is Xcode's DerivedData, old simulator runtimes, Docker images, and node_modules in projects you have not opened since last year. If Docker is the main culprit on your machine, our Docker beginner guide explains how those images pile up in the first place — Shedi is the tool that shows you the bill.

How do you use Shedi?

You use Shedi by downloading it, running one scan, reading what it found, and cleaning only what you choose. The whole first session looks like this:

1. Download it from shedi.app. There is no account to create and nothing to sign up for — the app is a small native download and the license check happens at purchase, not at install.
2. Open it the macOS way, once. Shedi is not notarized yet (the maker's Apple Developer enrollment lands in November 2026), so the first launch needs one "Open Anyway" click in System Settings › Privacy & Security. The notarized build is promised as a free update.
3. Grant Full Disk Access if you want the full picture. macOS hides app caches, logs, and parts of your Library until you allow it. Shedi works without the permission too — it just tells you what it could not see.
4. Press Scan and wait about ten seconds. Shedi checks every place your tools leave things and groups what it finds by category, largest first. On the maker's own 14-inch MacBook Pro it found 9.05 GB in 6 seconds.
5. Read the labels before you touch anything. Every item says what it is, what made it, whether it is safe to remove, and whether it comes back. Items are marked Safe, Check first, or Your files — and only Safe items are pre-selected.
6. Press Clean, then empty the Trash when you are confident. Only what you picked goes, and it goes to the Trash first, so the Trash is your undo button. The few things that cannot go to the Trash — Docker images, broken simulator runtimes — are cleaned with the tool's own command and named on a confirmation sheet before they run.

That is the whole loop. Everything after this section is detail: what Shedi finds, how the safety model works, what it costs, and how it compares to the big cleaners.

What is Shedi, exactly?

Shedi is a Mac disk cleaner built specifically for developers — "the honest Mac cleaner," in the maker's own words. As a Shedi Mac cleaner overview: it knows where 49 developer tools and leftovers hide disk space, explains every item it finds, and removes only what you select, with everything going to the Trash first. It costs $19.99 once with no subscription and free updates for life, runs on macOS 15 or later on Apple silicon and Intel, and is made by independent developer Otabek Abdiraimov. It launched on Product Hunt in October 2026, where the maker's pitch was simple: his own Mac kept running out of space, the culprits were always Xcode simulators, DerivedData, Docker, and node_modules, and the big cleaners either missed them or wanted him to trust one giant Clean button — so he built one that shows its work.

What does Shedi actually find on your Mac?

Shedi's scan is a census of developer leftovers. Here is what the categories mean, in the maker's own terms:

The honest part, as the site puts it: cleaner apps earned a bad name clearing caches that refill by morning, so Shedi goes after build output from projects you stopped opening — and says which items return. The maker's own demo scan found app caches and logs at 3.02 GB, projects at 2.05 GB, node_modules at 1.66 GB, and package caches at 1.45 GB.

Is it safe to let Shedi delete things?

Yes — for the pre-selected Safe items, and the safety is structural rather than a promise. Nothing is removed until you press Clean, you see the full list first, and files go to the Trash so you can put them back. Shedi never touches system files, anything outside your home folder, or the files of apps that are still open, and it does not follow symbolic links. Your files are never pre-selected, and the few deletions that cannot use the Trash are named before they run.

Five beginner mistakes to avoid on your first clean:

How is Shedi different from CleanMyMac?

The maker's own dev.to comparison (October 2026) frames it plainly: CleanMyMac is a broad Mac maintenance suite, while Shedi does one thing — frees disk space, goes deep on developer junk, explains every item, and moves files to the Trash first.

The maker's own verdict, quoted: "The difference is that Shedi costs less because it does much less." As a Shedi review in one line: it is the right buy if developer junk is your problem and the wrong buy if you want an all-in-one suite. If developer junk is your main problem, his suggested fair test is to scan the same Mac with both and compare. MacCleaner Pro is the other incumbent in this lane; the generic free and open-source options include Apple's own Components pane and DevCleaner, which the maker's site covers in its alternatives guide.

How much does Shedi cost?

The Shedi price is a one-time purchase — no subscription, with free updates for life and a 14-day refund for any reason. Prices below are from shedi.app, checked November 3, 2026, and they move: a launch offer of $10 off for the first 25 buyers was live, with 10 of the 25 left.

Halo is the maker's other app — it turns the Mac notch into a Dynamic Island. The license check runs through Lemon Squeezy, and there is no account: the only things that ever go online are the license check, the update check, and anonymous usage counts you can turn off.

What should you know before your first launch?

Three things, all from the maker's own FAQ. First, the notarization: Shedi is not notarized yet because the Apple Developer enrollment comes in November 2026 — until then, the first launch needs one "Open Anyway" click (the site has a 30-second guide), and the notarized build follows as a free update. Second, the requirements: any Mac with macOS 15 or later, Apple silicon or Intel; if your Mac runs macOS 11 to 14, Shedi is not for you. Third, the permissions: Full Disk Access lets Shedi see app caches, logs, and parts of your Library — without it, the app still works and tells you what it could not see.

One more honest note from the FAQ, worth quoting because most cleaner marketing implies the opposite: Shedi does not make your Mac faster by itself. It gives back disk space. A Mac that is nearly full can slow down when macOS runs out of room to work, so space helps then — but no cleaner speeds up a Mac that has room to spare.

Do you even need Shedi? The free route.

rm -rf works, if you know every path and which ones are safe. The maker's free guides on shedi.app list them: a 14-minute reference of every developer cache on macOS with exact paths, typical sizes, and the official clean command; a 7-minute guide to Xcode's DerivedData, simulators, and runtimes; and a 7-minute guide to Claude Code and Codex disk usage on a Mac. If you would rather clean by hand, those guides are the honest free version of this article.

And if your repos themselves are the clutter — old projects with node_modules you will never open again — knowing your way around them pays off beyond cleaning: our Git beginner guide covers the workflow that keeps project folders sane. If you are building with AI coding tools, which bring their own disk appetite (Shedi 1.2 lists your Ollama and LM Studio models with their sizes), our Claude Code beginner guide is the starting point for the tools creating the mess. Shedi's pitch is that it saves the looking up: one scan finds every path, sizes it, says what each one is, and moves it to the Trash instead of deleting it.

Sources

- shedi.app — homepage, pricing, and FAQ (fetched November 3, 2026): "the honest Mac cleaner" positioning, the 49-tools list, scan behavior and sample results, launch pricing, the not-notarized note, safety rules, and the maker's bio. - Otabek Abdiraimov, "CleanMyMac alternative for developers: Shedi vs CleanMyMac," dev.to (October 16, 2026): the comparison table, CleanMyMac's US App Store prices (checked October 14, 2026), Shedi's safety rules, and the maker's "costs less because it does much less" summary. - Otabek Abdiraimov, "6 Mac Apps Every Developer Should Install in 2026," Medium (October 2026, via search): the 10-second scan, Safe/Trash-first rules, $19.99 pricing, macOS 15 requirement, and the not-notarized heads-up. - Product Hunt, "Shedi: Get back the space Xcode, Docker and node_modules ate" (via search): the launch page, the maker's 21.5 GB first-scan anecdote, and the early-buyer $10-off pricing.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shedi safe to use?

Yes, within the design: nothing is removed until you press Clean, you see the full list first, and everything goes to the Trash first so you can put it back. Only items labeled Safe are pre-selected; items labeled Check first or Your files need your explicit choice. The few deletions that cannot use the Trash — Docker images, broken simulator runtimes — are named on a confirmation sheet before they run, and nothing outside your home folder is touched except through Docker's and Xcode's own tools.

Shedi vs CleanMyMac — which should I pick?

Pick Shedi if you write code and Xcode, Docker, or node_modules are what fill your disk; if you want to see what every item is and whether it comes back before anything is removed; and if you would rather pay $19.99 once for disk cleanup alone. Pick CleanMyMac if you want one app for cleanup, malware protection, app updates, and performance; if your Mac runs macOS 11 to 14; or if you want cloud storage cleanup and duplicate finding. The maker's own verdict: Shedi costs less because it does much less.

Does Shedi work on older macOS versions?

No. Shedi requires macOS 15 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel. If your Mac runs macOS 11 through 14, CleanMyMac (macOS 11+) or the free options — Apple's Components pane, DevCleaner — are the alternatives.

Will Shedi delete my Docker volumes?

No — not unless you explicitly pick them. Docker volumes are shown separately as your files, because they hold your data rather than build artifacts. Shedi cleans Docker images and build cache with Docker's own commands, and those are named on a confirmation sheet before they run.

Can I undo a cleanup?

For almost everything, yes: files go to the Trash first, so restoring is dragging them back. The exceptions are the few deletions that cannot use the Trash (Docker images, broken simulator runtimes), which are named before they run. And if the app is not for you, there is a 14-day refund for any reason.