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Prithvi-Web edited this page Jun 12, 2026 · 1 revision

Welcome to the Treemap wiki!

TreeMap Wiki 🟩🟨🟥

Welcome to TreeMap! This wiki covers everything you need to know about using the app.

Table of Contents

  1. Getting Started
  2. The Three Views
  3. How to Scan
  4. Dashboard View
  5. Treemap View
  6. Grid View
  7. Clean Up
  8. Keyboard Shortcuts
  9. Tips & Tricks
  10. FAQ
  11. Troubleshooting

Getting Started

System Requirements

  • macOS 10.12+
  • Windows 10+
  • At least 100 MB free disk space for the app itself

Download & Install

macOS:

  1. Download TreeMap-1.0.0-arm64.dmg from Releases
  2. Open the .dmg file
  3. Drag TreeMap to your Applications folder
  4. Open Applications → TreeMap

Windows:

  1. Download TreeMap Setup 1.0.0.exe from Releases
  2. Run the installer
  3. Click through → Finish
  4. TreeMap opens automatically

First Launch

The very first time you open TreeMap, your OS might show a security warning (because we don't have a paid developer certificate). It's harmless:

  • macOS: right-click TreeMap → OpenOpen
  • Windows: click More infoRun anyway

After the first click, it opens normally every time.


The Three Views

TreeMap has three ways to look at your disk. Switch between them using the tabs at the top.

📊 Dashboard

Shows your system info, current scan, and quick stats. Start here.

🗺️ Treemap

A visual map where every file is a colored rectangle, sized by how much space it takes. Drill in by clicking.

📋 Grid

A grid of file squares, size-proportional. Great for browsing and multi-selecting files to delete.


How to Scan

  1. Open TreeMap
  2. On the Dashboard, you'll see "Scan a Folder" with a path input
  3. Click Browse... to pick a folder, or type a path directly
  4. Click Start Scan
  5. Watch the progress bar — TreeMap is walking every file
  6. When done, you'll see "Scan complete — X files found"

Tip: Start with a smaller folder (like Downloads or Desktop) to test it out. Scanning your entire home folder can take 1–2 minutes on first run.


Dashboard View

The main control center.

What You See

  • System Info Ring — shows how much of your disk is used (the blue arc)
  • Disk Stats — total space, free space, used space
  • Scan Controls — path input, Browse button, Start Scan button
  • Quick Stats — number of files, folders, largest file, last scan time
  • File Types Donut Chart — breakdown of space by file extension (top 8)
  • Largest Files List — your top 10 biggest files with a size bar

What You Can Do

  • Trash a file — hover over it in the Largest Files list, click the 🗑️ icon
  • Browse folders — click Browse... to navigate the file system
  • Rescan — click Start Scan again to refresh the data

Treemap View

A visual map of your disk. Each rectangle = a file or folder, sized by bytes.

How to Read It

  • Big rectangles = big files/folders
  • Teal = small (< 1 MB)
  • Amber = medium (1 MB – 1 GB)
  • Red = large (> 1 GB)
  • Darker = deeper in the folder tree (subfolders)
  • Outlined rectangles = folders (not files)

How to Use It

  • Click a folder — zoom in to see what's inside it
  • Right-click — open a context menu:
    • Open in Finder/Explorer — show it on your desktop
    • Copy path — copies the full path to clipboard
    • Move to Trash — delete it (recoverable)
  • Breadcrumbs at top — click to go back up the folder tree
  • Escape key — go back one folder level
  • Hover — see a tooltip with file name, size, and date modified

Pro Tips

  • Drill into your Downloads folder to spot old stuff
  • Look for big red rectangles to find space hogs
  • The outline frames show you folder structure at a glance

Grid View

A grid of file squares, each sized by how much space it takes.

How to Use It

  • Click a folder — navigate into it
  • Shift+Click or Cmd/Ctrl+Click — select multiple files
  • Double-click a file — open it in the default app
  • Right-click — same context menu as Treemap (open, copy path, trash)
  • Sort dropdown — change the sort order (Size, Name, Date, Type)
  • ← button — go up one folder level

Selection Toolbar

When you select files, a toolbar appears at the bottom:

  • Shows X items selected and total size
  • Move to Trash button — delete them all at once
  • Clear button — deselect everything

Clean Up

The 🧹 Clean Up button opens a modal to find and delete files matching your rules.

How to Use It

  1. Click 🧹 Clean Up (top-right)
  2. Choose your rules:
    • Older than [X] days — find files not touched in a while
    • Larger than [X] MB — find big files
    • Extensions — type file types (e.g., "log, tmp, dmg")
    • Duplicates only — files with the same name and size elsewhere
  3. Click Find matching files
  4. A list appears with checkboxes — uncheck any you want to keep
  5. See the total space you'll recover at the bottom
  6. Click Move X items to Trash to delete them all
  7. A toast notification tells you how much space you freed

Important: Everything goes to the system Trash — you can undo from your Trash bin at any time.


Keyboard Shortcuts

Action Shortcut
Rescan current folder ⌘R (Mac) / Ctrl+R (Windows)
Delete selected files ⌘⌫ (Mac) / Ctrl+Delete (Windows)
Go back / close modal Esc
Open in Finder/Explorer ⌘↓ (Mac) / Ctrl+↓ (Windows)

Tips & Tricks

🎯 Finding Hidden Space Hogs

  1. Scan your home folder
  2. Sort by Size in Grid View
  3. Look for big folders (Downloads, Documents, .cache)
  4. Drill in and look for old project folders, duplicates, or temp files

🧹 Safe Cleanup Workflow

  1. Use Clean Up with "Older than 180 days" to find ancient files
  2. Preview the list — uncheck anything you're unsure about
  3. Move to Trash
  4. Check your system Trash to confirm they're there
  5. Empty Trash only when you're 100% sure

📊 Understanding Extensions

  • .log = log files (usually safe to delete if old)
  • .tmp = temporary files (safe to delete)
  • .dmg = macOS installer images (safe if you've already installed)
  • .zip / .rar = archives (check before deleting — might be backups)

⚡ Speed Tips

  • Scan smaller folders first (Downloads, Desktop) — faster feedback
  • Avoid scanning system folders like /System or C:\Windows
  • Close other apps if the scan feels slow (frees up RAM)

FAQ

Q: Is TreeMap safe?

A: Yes. It scans files but never modifies them without your explicit click. Deletes go to Trash, not permanent deletion. Open-source code on GitHub — you can audit it.

Q: Why does it say "unidentified developer"?

A: We didn't pay Apple/Microsoft for a developer certificate ($99–$300/year). It's completely safe — just a cosmetic warning. One click past it, and it opens normally forever.

Q: Can it scan external drives?

A: Yes. Use Browse... to navigate to any drive (USB, external SSD, network drive) and scan it.

Q: How long does a scan take?

A: Depends on folder size:

  • Downloads (small): < 5 seconds
  • Home folder (large): 30 seconds – 2 minutes
  • Entire disk (huge): 2–5 minutes

Q: Can I undo a trash operation?

A: Yes — everything goes to your system Trash. Open Trash, find the file, right-click → Restore (or just drag it back out).

Q: Does TreeMap send data anywhere?

A: No. It runs entirely on your computer. No tracking, no cloud sync, no ads.

Q: Can I scan while the app is running?

A: Yes. The app keeps the last scan in memory, so you can look at one folder while scanning another.


Troubleshooting

"Permission denied" error while scanning

Some folders (especially /System on macOS) are protected. TreeMap skips them automatically. If you need access, you may need to grant the app permission in System Preferences → Security & Privacy.

The app is slow / freezing

  • Close other apps to free up RAM
  • Try scanning a smaller folder first
  • If scanning a huge folder (1M+ files), be patient — it can take 5+ minutes

Scan progress stops at 100%

The app is still calculating folder sizes (summing up children). Wait a few more seconds.

"Path not found" error

The folder you're trying to scan was deleted, moved, or inaccessible. Pick a different folder with Browse....

Trash isn't working on Linux

TreeMap uses gio trash (part of GLib). Make sure it's installed:

sudo apt install libglib2.0-0  # Debian/Ubuntu
sudo dnf install glib2         # Fedora