GrandPerspective

GrandPerspective is a small utility application for Mac OS X that graphically shows the disk usage within a file system. It can help you to manage your disk, as you can easily spot which files and folders take up the most space. It uses a so called tree map for visualisation. Each file is shown as a rectangle with an area proportional to the file's size. Files in the same folder appear together, but their placement is otherwise arbitrary.

News

26 Sep 2009 GrandPerspective 1.1.0 has been released and is available for download. It includes many minor improvements. Just read the release notes for details.
15 Aug 2009 Another milestone reached, GrandPerspective has been downloaded over 250.000 times! The application also recently passed the one thousand iusethis users threshold.
9 Aug 2009 Okay, it has been a bit quiet on the GrandPerspective front lately, as I was busy with too many other things. However, I just started working on the code again, so there is a new release on the horizon. I can't make any promises though about its release date yet.
22 Dec 2008 Christmas has come early this year. Carefully crafted over a period of three years, preceded by more than a dozen releases, it is finally here: GrandPerspective 1.0. The most striking change is the improved appearance, featuring amongst others a customizable toolbar. On top of that, there have been a bucket load of minor improvements. Download it today to let your year end on a high note! :-)
1 Oct 2008 A localized version of GrandPerspective 0.9.13.1 is now available for download. It's available in Japanese, Spanish, French and Dutch. By the way, I am still looking for more translations for the upcoming Version 1.00 release.
29 Aug 2008 GrandPerspective 0.9.13.1 has been released and is available for download. This release fixes two bugs in 0.9.13 that could (on some systems) cause crashes when scanning in folder contents.
26 Aug 2008 GrandPerspective 0.9.13 has been released and is available for download. This release features the ability to store scan results to file and lets you load these results again at a later time. Furthermore, progress reporting for long-running tasks has been improved. There have been several minor improvements as well, and a few bugs have been fixed.

For the historians amongst you, there are even records of older news.

Features

Disk usage visualisation by way of tree maps
Configurable display of views:
- Choice of color mapping schemes
- Choice of color palettes
- Configurable mapping by file type
- Optionally view package contents
- Optionally view the entire volume
Convenient navigation of views:
- Traverse up and down the folder hierarchy
- Select files and folders in the view
Reveal files and folders in the Finder
Delete files and folders from the view
User-configurable rules on files and folders:
- Construct rules using tests on an item's: name, path, size, file type, hard-link status, and package status
- Use these rules to:
  - Mask files in the view
  - Filter files from the view
  - Exclude files and folders when scanning a disk
Multiple view support:
- Re-scan a view to compare results before and after clean-up
- Twin or duplicate a view for different displays of the same data
Support for hard-linked files and folders:
- Analyse Time Machine back-ups
Save results of disk scanning operations:
- Reload and view again at any time
Save images of views
Configurable user preferences
Snappy and responsive GUI:
- Optimized drawing of views
- Drawing and scanning are carried out in background threads
Small memory and disk footprint
Fully internationalized:
- Localizations available in English, Japanese, German, Spanish, French and Dutch
Extensive help documentation
Available as a Universal Binary

Download it

GrandPerspective has been released as Open Source under the GNU General Public License. The official release files are available from the GrandPerspective download area. The latest release (Version 1.1.0) consists of three files:

GrandPerspective-1_1_0.dmg (English)
This is the main release file. It contains all you need to run the application. To install the application, open the disk image and drag the application icon onto your Applications folder, or wher'ever you want to put it onto your file system. Next, run the application by clicking on the icon.
GrandPerspective-1_0_0-local.dmg
This is the localized version of GrandPerspective. It includes support for languages other than English.

The localized version has not yet been released. This will be done once all localized resources have been updated. The target date is four weeks after the main release. In the meantime, here is the link to the most recent localized release: GrandPerspective-1_0-local.dmg
GrandPerspective-1_1_0-src.tgz
This contains the source code of the application. It consists of the Objective C source code, as well as various auxiliary files, such as the nib files that are used to construct the GUI. You need this file if you want to create a localization in a language that is not yet supported.

Subscribe to the GrandPerspective announcement mailing list if you want to be notified about new releases.

Support

You can support GrandPerspective by giving feedback, providing localizations, making a donation, or getting the word out. If you need support, you should first check the extensive help documentation that comes with the application. Should that does not help, you can try the Help forum.

Feedback

You can provide feedback about GrandPerspective in various ways:

You can browse and submit bug reports.
You can also browse and submit feature requests.
For other feedback, you can use one of the forums for GrandPerspective.

Localization

GrandPerspective is fully internationalized. This means that it can be localized to support languages other than English. I can manage the translation into Dutch, but for any other language, I will need your help. So, hereby a call for volunteers. If you want to help out with making GrandPerspective available in your mother tongue, or any other language you speak fluently, find out how you can help.

Donations

You can show your appreciation for GrandPerspective and support further development by making a donation.

In order to make a donation you need an account at SourceForge.net, which is a website that provides hosting facilities for Open Source projects. SourceForge provides developers of Open Source software free of charge web site hosting, file download functionality (with mirrors across the world), mailing lists, source code management systems, bug tracking systems, user forums, etc. Donations are also handled by SourceForge and they receive a small percentage themselves. Given the amount of infrastructure that SourceForge provides free of charge, that's more than fair. Getting a SourceForge account is free, and comes without any strings attached. So, here's how to make a donation:

Create a SourceForge account, if you do not already have one.
Make a donation.

Related software

GrandPerspective is certainly not the first of its kind. Tree maps have been around for a while, and their application to file systems is not novel either. A few other disk usage visualisation tools that employ tree maps are:

Sequoiaview, which is the one I bumped into first, because as it happens it was developed in Eindhoven, which is where I currently live.
KDirStat and WinDirStat I need to mention, if only because they are also hosted on SourceForge. I haven't tried them though.
Disk Inventory X is noteworthy because it also runs on Mac OS X.

So, why GrandPerspective? Well, as you may have guessed it's a fun little coding project and I needed to pick something to code on my new Mac Mini. Having said that, it does have a few things going for it. Firstly, GrandPerspective is developed specifically for Mac OS X, which narrows the immediate competition down to Disk Inventory X, as far as I'm aware. Secondly, GrandPerspective has its own way of visualising directory trees. The layout algorithm that is used is simple and effective, but novel to the best of my knowledge. Also, the file rectangles are drawn to be as clear and unobtrusive as possible. Whether you like it or not is a matter of taste, but you've got a choice. Thirdly, GrandPerspective will intentionally be kept as basic as possible. It should do one thing only, and do it well. That means it is a lean and mean application. GrandPerspective's memory requirements and the size it occupies on disk are pretty minimal. For those concerned about disk space, the latter must count for something, right? Finally, it has a cute logo that will enhance anyone's Dock. ;-)

In the limelight

Various web sites have helped to get the word out about GrandPerspective. Thanks to all.

Reviews and recommendations

MacDevCenter.com: "My new favorite little bit of freeware for OS X."
lifehacker.com: "Download of the day"
FreeMacWare.com: "This is a great Mac app on principle alone - it's both functional and really cool!"
MacUser.com: "A really pretty graphical representation. ... Very cool."
MacUser.com: "GrandPerspective is a welcomed utility in my book"
MacWorld.com: "With a quick glance at GrandPerspective, I was able to find nearly 9GB of virtual litter on my boot drive."
PCWorld.com and MacWorld.com: "My favorite tools for finding [space-hogging files and folders you're not aware of] are Eriban's free GrandPerspective and ID-Design's $13 WhatSize."
mac.elated.com: "It's a fantastically quick and intuitive way to find those giant files that are sucking up your disk space."
FreeMacAppADay.com: "GrandPerspective is an awesome utility"
ars technica: "As this screenshot shows, some files are enormous. See that big red blob? That's my laptop's hibernation file."
Non Coding Region: "One of the coolest free utilities I have used in a while."
AppYourMac.com: "GrandPerspective is an essential application that will keep your hard drive free of unnecessary files"
ILoveMacApps.com: "This is a very good application. It does its job perfectly."
MAC.BLORGE.com: "Another good utility to prep your files and applications for running on a MacBook Air is GrandPerspective."
TimBomb.net: "I've used other tools, but this one makes it trivial to locate unusually large files as well as unusually large directories with one picture."
Zolton.org: "Pretty spiffy - eh?"
kayray.org: "one of my favorite utilities for OS X"
DoseMagazine.com: "Great little app for Mac users who have huge hard drives that are... full all of a sudden"
MacResearch.org: "a very effective way to immediately see what is eating up your file system"
MacApper.com: "GrandPerspective is great for people who would rather have a visual representation of their hard drives"
MacTricksAndTips.com: "A great tool for [identifying big files and folders to delete] and I suggest you use it."
forwheelers.net: Recommends GrandPerspective as a great Mac application.
APLawrence.com: "A simple and very direct application."
Jemima's Chevron blog: "I downloaded GrandPerspective on a whim, and ended up finding and deleting about 3 GB of cruft from my hard drive."
Should've Asked Me: "Very handy for spotting the space-wasters when you're doing spring cleaning."
I Heart To Blog: "I was astonished to find files I didn't even know existed on my machine!"
BestBizWare.com: "I really enjoy using this program to see the big picture"
DavidJDuran.com: "Fortunately, there is a GREAT tool to help you squeeze the most out of your drive, GrandPerspective"
DavidLowry.co.uk: "Really good way to find big files that you should be rid of"
gentry i/o: "Ah, finally a visual way to keep the ol' mac hard drive clean..."
Aspirations of a [Phronemophiliac]: "Good for rooting out space hogs."
AaronFreedman.com: "GrandPerspective works very well and is a great aid to cleaning up your hard drive."
Tim-Mansfield.com: "Check it out. Cool tool."
TheAppleBlog.com: "It's a great little utility, a must have for your laptop."
Rhonabwy.com: "This critter is going to be a fairly constant companion..."
WakingUpCosts.net: "a nifty freeware application for OS X"
MacBook.pro and TidBITS.com : "With GrandPerspective it's trivial to see when a couple of very large files are responsible for the disk filling up."
MacWorld.com: "One easy way to locate other large files that you can delete, move, or skip when migrating to your MacBook Air is to use a program like the free GrandPerspective."
techtyrantnews.com: "It's probably one of the most useful applications I have."
MakeTechEasier.com: "GrandPerspective has a nice live highlighting feature that is actually very helpful with navigation."
LUX.ET.UMBRA: "a neat little open source tool for MacOSX."
Silver Clipboard: "lets you quickly find what's been hogging the most room and causing those scary 'you are about to run out of space' warning messages."
Roumazeilles.net: "Recommended"
MarkusZeller.com: "Scanning is really fast, so that you even could scan the root of any mass storage device."
MichaelVanPutten.com: "[one] of my favorite free OS X applications."
Karenism.com: "If you don't have it, you should download it now."
hochit.com: "What a great tool!"
Farsong Blog-o-matic: "Great for finding the giant things that just sit there wasting space."
OgasaWalrus.com: "it is a very useful tool for checking for files hogging space on your Mac."
MacWork.com: "It's native and really fast."
AppleLinks.com: "quite entertaining"
NosillaCast: "I don't think any Mac user should be without this program". Listen to the PodCast
MacTipper blog (Warning: page may crash Safari): "Really nice"

Videos

BradOFarell: "Coolest Mac program ever"
themacbookone: "One of the Best apps I have seen"
MacTipper: "Really, really nice"
OSX509: "It's a really neat app"
cjdanilecki: "great application"
thedevilofpower: "Just get it, it's really good"
PwnageTutorials: "Those are like little ants" (this is the funniest of them all)
callsignHUSKER (Warning: also featuring slightly disturbing footage with guns and babes): "It really should be built into the computer. A great way to see everything on your computer."
jimmyrcom: "The coolest program I have never seen"
bhd11120: "It's pretty cool. I like it."
InstrumentManiac: "Very good program. [...] I have been using it to find where I can save space on my computer."
giorgio1apple: "It's a very nice app."
iTalkApple: "Once it's done scanning you get a really cool looking window"
CBGFilms: "It's a really good application"
machelptips: "It's just a really good application if you want to clean up your computer"
iMacWorld: "It's a great way to show what you're using and delete the useless stuff"
MacGuy1000
themacbookexpert
TerryCPiano

Software catalogs

Awards

Softpedia.com has rated GrandPerspective 5/5.
Macworld.com has listed GrandPerspective as a "Best of Gem" in the Enhancers and Troubleshooters category.
MacTricksAndTips.com names GrandPerspective as one of the Top 100 Essential Mac Applications.

And now... something completely different

Still here? Well, then you might also be interested in checking out other stuff I have made:

Get the grand perspective,
Narrow the field of focus,
Retain a sense of control.