SwiftCleaner

SwiftCleaner is a macOS app that helps you find and clean up likely unused code in Swift projects.

It analyzes your source files, builds a declaration/reference map, and highlights symbols and files that look unused. You can then review results in an integrated editor and apply cleanup actions directly from the app.

Why This App Exists

Swift projects grow fast. Dead code, abandoned files, and legacy APIs accumulate over time, and cleaning them up safely is hard.

SwiftCleaner is built to make this process practical:

• show likely unused declarations with usage counts and locations
• highlight likely unused files
• detect Swift files that exist on disk but are not in any Xcode project
• let you clean up step-by-step with explicit confirmation and write permissions

How It Works

1. Select or drag a project folder into SwiftCleaner.
2. SwiftCleaner scans Swift files and parses declarations/references.
3. Results are shown in three navigator modes:
   • All Symbols
   • Unused Symbols
   • Unused Files
4. Select a symbol or file to jump to source.
5. Inspect usage details and apply cleanup actions (single item or bulk).

What SwiftCleaner Detects

SwiftCleaner tracks:

• classes, actors, structs, enums, protocols, type aliases
• functions, methods, properties, variables, enum cases

It also analyzes:

• .xcodeproj membership (when present)
• storyboard/xib custom class references
• top-level declarations with no detected references
• Swift files with no active declarations (for example, comments/imports only)

Safety Rules to Reduce False Positives

SwiftCleaner marks some declarations as implicitly used when static analysis alone is not enough:

• @main / main entry points
• references found only inside #Preview blocks
• package declaration in Package.swift manifests
• superclass overrides
• runtime-connected members (IBAction, IBOutlet, NSManaged, objc, dynamic)
• enum cases in CaseIterable enums
• @Published members on ObservableObject types
• members declared in NSManagedObject extensions
• XCTest classes and test... methods
• Codable CodingKeys patterns
• protocol requirement implementations
• preview provider types

By default, public and open declarations are excluded from the unused list (you can include them via the UI toggle).

Cleanup Actions

For unused symbols:

• Ignore (hide from unused list for this project without editing code) Use Reset Ignored in the toolbar to restore ignored declarations.
• Comment Out
• Add MARK (// MARK: Unused ...)
• Delete

For unused files:

• delete selected/all unused files
• optionally remove .xcodeproj file references too

Editor and Review Workflow

SwiftCleaner includes an in-app source editor with:

• syntax highlighting
• line numbers
• undo/redo/save/revert
• usage location navigation
• open selected file in Xcode

Permissions and Access

SwiftCleaner is sandboxed.

• Analysis runs with read access to the folder you selected.
• Write access is requested only when you choose a modifying action.
• Once granted for a project folder, the app can reuse that permission for later edits in the same project.

Statistics

A separate Statistics window tracks cleanup activity:

• commented items/lines
• marked items/lines
• deleted items/lines
• overall totals and per-project totals

First Public Release Notes (2026.1)

This first public release includes:

• complete project scanning and unused-symbol detection
• Xcode project-aware file cataloging
• disk-only Swift file detection
• storyboard/xib custom class reference detection
• integrated declaration navigator + code editor workflow
• single and bulk cleanup actions
• unused file deletion with optional .xcodeproj cleanup
• cleanup statistics window and command menu entry

Notes

• Results are based on static analysis and runtime heuristics. Always review before deleting.
• For best safety, run SwiftCleaner on a clean git branch so changes are easy to inspect or revert.