01 WinDirStat doesn't run on macOS
WinDirStat is a Windows application. You can technically run it
inside a Windows virtual machine or a compatibility layer, but
spinning up Windows just to see which folder ate your SSD is a
lot of ceremony for a five-minute job. What you actually want is
a native Mac app that draws the same picture.
That picture, the cushioned treemap, started life in KDirStat on
Linux, crossed to Windows as WinDirStat, and never got a proper
native version on the Mac. We thought that was a shame, so we
built one.
02 Delve is that app
Delve draws the same squarified, cushion-shaded treemap: every
file is a rectangle sized to its bytes, shaded so folders read as
soft mounds, the biggest things impossible to miss. We rebuilt it
in Swift and Metal so it renders on the GPU and stays smooth
across millions of files, and we added the things a Mac-native
tool should have that WinDirStat never needed to: honest APFS
clone and hardlink accounting, and Spotlight, Shortcuts, and
Quick Look.
| |
Delve (Mac) |
WinDirStat (Windows) |
| Platform |
macOS 26, Apple Silicon |
Windows only |
| Visualization |
Cushioned squarified treemap |
Cushioned treemap |
| Rendering |
GPU, 60 Hz |
CPU-drawn |
| APFS clone & hardlink accounting |
Yes |
N/A (Windows) |
| Native OS integration |
Spotlight, Shortcuts, Quick Look |
Windows shell |
| Price |
Free |
Free, open source |
03 Other Mac options
We'd rather point you somewhere useful than pretend Delve is the
only choice. GrandPerspective
is a free, open-source Mac treemap that runs on older and Intel
Macs, which Delve doesn't. OmniDiskSweeper
is a free list view if you don't need the picture. And
DaisyDisk is a polished paid
sunburst at $9.99. If WizTree was your tool on Windows, the
WizTree for Mac note covers
that case. If you're on recent Apple Silicon and you want the
WinDirStat treemap done natively and free, that's Delve.
The honest take
Coming from WinDirStat, you want the treemap, the speed, and
no nonsense. Delve gives you all three on Apple Silicon, free.
On an older or Intel Mac, GrandPerspective is the free
treemap that'll actually run for you.