Quickstart

Get up and running with SquirrelDisk in minutes

This guide will help you install SquirrelDisk and analyze your first disk in just a few minutes.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure your system meets the minimum requirements:

• Windows: Windows 10 or later (64-bit)
• macOS: macOS 10.15 Catalina or later (Intel or Apple Silicon)
• Linux: Ubuntu 20.04 or later, or any modern Linux distribution with GTK 3.0

Installation and First Scan

1. Download SquirrelDisk

   Visit the GitHub releases page and download the installer for your platform:

   • Windows: Download the .exe installer
   • macOS: Download the .dmg disk image
   • Linux: Download the .deb package (for Ubuntu/Debian)

   SquirrelDisk binaries are not code-signed. You will see security warnings on first launch. This is expected behavior for open-source applications. See our installation guides for details on how to bypass these warnings safely.

2. Install the application

   Run the installer you downloaded:

   Windows:

   1. Run the .exe installer
   2. When Windows Defender SmartScreen appears, click More info
   3. Click Run anyway to proceed with installation

   macOS:

   1. Open the .dmg file
   2. Drag SquirrelDisk to your Applications folder
   3. Right-click the app and select Open (you’ll need to do this twice)
   4. Click Open in the security dialog

   Linux:

   sudo dpkg -i squirreldisk_*.deb
   

   For detailed platform-specific installation instructions, see the Installation section.

3. Launch SquirrelDisk

   Open SquirrelDisk from your Applications folder, Start menu, or application launcher. The app will display a list of all available disks and storage volumes on your system.

   You’ll see each disk with:

   • Disk name and mount point
   • Total capacity
   • Used and available space
   • Visual indicator for removable drives
4. Select a disk or folder to scan

   You can scan an entire disk or a specific folder:

   • Quick scan: Left-click a disk to scan with the default settings (filters out very small files for faster results)
   • Full scan: Right-click a disk to scan every file and folder (slower but more complete)
   • Folder scan: Use the folder picker to select a specific directory

   Start with a quick scan of your largest disk. You can always run a full scan later if needed.

   The scan will begin immediately after you select a disk or folder.

5. Monitor scan progress

   During the scan, you’ll see real-time progress information:

   • Progress bar: Shows percentage of disk analyzed
   • Items scanned: Number of files and folders processed
   • Total size: Cumulative size of all scanned items

   Scan times vary based on:

   • Disk size and speed
   • Number of files and folders
   • System performance

   A typical 500GB disk with moderate file count takes 10-30 seconds to scan.

   You can cancel the scan at any time by clicking the Back button.

6. Explore the results

   When the scan completes, you’ll see the interactive sunburst chart visualization:

   • Click on any segment to zoom into that folder
   • Click the center circle to zoom back out to the parent folder
   • Hover over segments to see file/folder names and sizes
   • Use the sidebar to see a sorted list of items in the current folder

   The sunburst chart uses color and size to represent disk usage:

   • Larger segments = more disk space used
   • Colors differentiate between folders at the top level
   • Darker shades = deeper folder levels

   Look for surprisingly large segments that might contain files you no longer need.

7. Delete unwanted files

   SquirrelDisk makes cleanup easy with drag-and-drop deletion:

   1. Drag files or folders from the sidebar or chart to the deletion area at the bottom
   2. Review your selection - the deletion area shows how many items you’ve selected
   3. Click Delete to permanently remove the selected items

   Deletion is permanent! Files are deleted directly, not moved to Trash/Recycle Bin. Make sure you’ve selected the right items before clicking Delete.

   After deletion, the chart updates automatically to reflect the freed space.

Tips for Effective Cleanup

Now that you know the basics, here are some tips to help you reclaim disk space effectively:

Look for duplicate downloads

Check your Downloads folder for duplicate installers, images, or documents you’ve downloaded multiple times

Clear caches

Application caches (browsers, build tools, package managers) can consume gigabytes of space

Remove old projects

Development projects with node_modules, build artifacts, or virtual environments can be surprisingly large

Archive media files

Move photos, videos, and music you rarely access to external storage or cloud services

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues during installation or your first scan:

The app won't launch or shows security warnings

This is expected for unsigned open-source applications. Follow the platform-specific instructions in the Installation guide to bypass security warnings safely.

Scan is taking a very long time

Large disks with millions of files can take several minutes to scan. If the scan appears stuck:

• Check the progress indicator to confirm it’s still scanning
• Cancel the scan and try a quick scan instead (filters out very small files)
• Close other applications that might be using disk I/O

Some folders are missing from the results

SquirrelDisk excludes certain system directories like /dev, /proc, /sys on Linux and may skip folders where you don’t have read permissions. On macOS, you may need to grant Full Disk Access in System Preferences → Security & Privacy.

The chart looks confusing or too crowded

SquirrelDisk automatically aggregates very small files (less than 0.5% of the current view) into a “Smaller Items” group to keep the chart readable. Click on larger segments to zoom in and see more detail.

Next Steps

User Guide

Learn advanced scanning and navigation techniques

Features

Explore SquirrelDisk’s powerful features in depth

Join the Community

Get help and share feedback on Discord