A little clarity. A lot more control.

DiskPress for Files is the iPhone and iPad app built on the same compression and deduplication engine as DiskPress for Mac. It helps supported local files in the Files app use less physical storage without changing their contents or making you unpack archives. Optimize a selection once, save folders with their own modes, or use Apple Shortcuts on supported iOS versions. There is no continuous folder monitoring or CLI.

It is available now on the App Store. Check the listing for current pricing, regional availability, and requirements.

The app requires iOS or iPadOS 14 or later and supported, writable local APFS storage. Shortcuts actions start with iOS 16, and advanced background actions require iOS 27. The same requirements apply to iPadOS.

It is a separate app from DiskPress for Mac. A standalone Mac purchase, Setapp access, or the Storage Saver Duo Mac bundle does not include it. See the iPhone and iPad terms.

For all three apps, Storage Saver Trio includes DiskPress for Mac, App Archiver for Mac, and DiskPress for Files for iPhone and iPad. Unlike the Mac-only Duo, Trio includes the iPhone and iPad app. Check the bundle listing for current pricing, availability, and system requirements.

Only supported, writable local files on APFS that you authorize through the Files picker. Choose a supported folder inside "On My iPhone" or "On My iPad", not that top-level location itself. You can optimize a saved location, use Optimize All for included locations, or select files and folders for one-time work.

This is a local-file optimizer, not a photo or video optimizer. DiskPress for Files cannot optimize your Photos library, iCloud Drive, other cloud or network providers, installed apps, or protected system and app paths. Your photos and videos in the Photos app are not processed.

A file appearing in Files, or being downloaded by a cloud provider, does not make its provider location a supported target. Some local folders also restrict the operations optimization needs.

When selecting individual files, the app may also need permission to access their containing folder for safe replacement and recovery. Common already-compressed formats are excluded by default and may offer little saving anyway.

You can create and schedule workflows in Apple's Shortcuts app. DiskPress for Files does not continuously monitor folders, and has no CLI or menu bar controls. Saving a folder alone does not make DiskPress watch it.

On iOS or iPadOS 26 or later, a run started in the app may continue in the background when the system grants permission. On iOS or iPadOS 27 or later, Shortcuts can run saved folders or subfolders in the background and receive a completion summary. The system may stop background work or require an unlock. This does not add automatic monitoring.

On older systems, or when continuation is not permitted, return to DiskPress to resume paused work. See Shortcuts actions and requirements. Choose DiskPress for Mac for continuous folder monitoring or command-line workflows on your Mac.

First authorize a supported local folder in DiskPress and save it as a location. Choose its optimization mode and exclusions. Its Automation section includes Add Location Shortcut and setup help. Create, share, and schedule the workflow in Apple's Shortcuts app.

On iOS or iPadOS 16 or later, actions can list saved folders and Start Location Optimization opens DiskPress to begin work using the folder's settings. It does not wait for the optimization result.

On iOS or iPadOS 27 or later, Optimize Saved Location can run the saved folder or a relative subfolder in the background and return a completion summary. Optimize Authorized Folder accepts a path inside a previously authorized saved location. Copy Folder Path is available in the folder's Automation section on these versions. Background work may be stopped by the system or require an unlock.

A path alone never grants access. Shared shortcuts do not transfer folder permissions, so the recipient must authorize their own local folder. Container paths can change, making a saved location more reliable than a pasted absolute path. See the Shortcuts overview.

On iOS or iPadOS 27 or later, Compress File Copy accepts a file from another Shortcuts action or a shortcut enabled in the share sheet. It returns a separate copy and leaves the original untouched. The result is a normal file with native filesystem compression when eligible, not a ZIP archive.

Compression settings and exclusions apply, so some copies remain uncompressed. The output is kept in DiskPress/Shortcut Results until you move or delete it. Keeping both the original and the result can use additional storage. This action does not reclaim space from the original or optimize its source provider.

Saving or sharing the result through another app or provider may remove compression and its storage savings. File contents remain readable. This does not make your Photos library, cloud locations, or protected paths supported optimization targets. See how compressed copies work.

Successfully optimized files retain their contents, names, and locations. Native filesystem support reads them without a separate DiskPress reader, even after the app closes. APFS clones remain separate files, so editing one does not change the other.

Savings depend on file contents, existing compression, duplicates, settings, and filesystem overhead. Already-compressed media can save little or nothing. Deduplication savings are estimates, not a promise of the same increase in available space. Edits, copies, or replacements can change the savings.

Choose mostly stable files, keep an independent backup, and allow cancellation or recovery to finish. Optimization rewrites files and adds storage writes, so avoid repeatedly processing busy folders.

No. DiskPress for Files makes no Internet connections and has no analytics, telemetry, file uploads, or separate app account. Settings, permission bookmarks, file metadata, Activity, and recovery records stay on your device.

You decide whether to export and share an Activity or diagnostic report, or pass folder information, completion summaries, and output files to a shortcut. Review these for private details. Other actions or services in your workflow control what they store or transmit.

Opening a website link uses your browser and that website's privacy practices. Apple separately handles App Store services and any system analytics you choose to share. Read the iPhone and iPad privacy details. The Setapp framework and Mac integrity-diagnostic behavior do not apply to DiskPress for Files.

DiskPress is a native Mac utility that reduces the physical storage used by supported files. It combines transparent, lossless file compression with APFS clone-based file deduplication in one optimization workflow. Your files keep their contents and paths and remain readable by normal apps.

Choose files for a one-time optimization, save folders for regular use, or enable background monitoring. The built-in CLI gives scripts and AI agents the same optimization engine.

Cleanup usually frees storage by removing files, such as unused apps or caches. That is useful when you no longer need the contents, but caches may be recreated and you may want to keep your files.

DiskPress changes how supported files are stored instead. It does not empty your caches, uninstall apps, or ask you to delete duplicate copies. It is a different tool for a different need, not a replacement for every kind of cleanup.

DiskPress uses the compression format macOS already understands, with LZFSE-compressed data and native filesystem metadata. macOS transparently returns the original bytes when an app reads a compressed file. There is no ZIP to open, special reader to install, or cloud service involved.

Before committing a compressed replacement, DiskPress checks its contents and metadata. It only keeps results that meet the configured minimum savings.

No. DiskPress is not a duplicate file remover. Both files stay available at their existing paths. After verifying identical contents, DiskPress replaces a duplicate with an APFS (Apple File System) copy-on-write clone. Each file keeps its own name and metadata.

The files share the same physical data blocks, including compressed data, instead of storing those blocks twice. Metadata still takes some space, so a clone avoids another full copy of the data, not every storage cost. Sharing requires compatible files on the same APFS volume and does not work across separate drives. Matches can span different saved locations.

You can edit or delete either file without changing the other. APFS stores changed data separately while continuing to share unchanged blocks, so later edits can use more space. DiskPress does not use hard links. See how APFS clones differ from hard links, with a 10 MB example.

DiskPress deduplicates with APFS clones, not hard links. Both can share storage, but edits behave differently.

Hard links are different names for the same file. Changing its contents in place through any of those names changes what all of them read. They are not independent copies. An app that saves by replacing the file instead can break that link.

APFS clones are separate files sharing data blocks. Editing one does not change the contents of the other. Copy-on-write stores new versions of the blocks being written while leaving untouched blocks shared.

Take an uncompressed 10 MB file and create an APFS clone on the same volume. Both files still have a logical size of 10 MB, but together they initially share about 10 MB of file data, plus metadata, rather than using 20 MB.

If an app changes only 100 bytes in place, APFS does not need to duplicate the whole 10 MB. The total becomes roughly 10 MB plus the newly written blocks and metadata, not exactly 10 MB + 100 bytes. Storage is allocated in blocks, not individual bytes.

This illustrates clone sharing, not compression. Actual growth depends on how the app saves. Rewriting or replacing the whole file can lose much more sharing, and editing compressed files can expand them.

Read Apple's documentation on APFS clones and hard links.

Both DiskPress and Hyperspace use APFS clones so verified identical files can share physical storage while remaining independently editable.

Hyperspace focuses on duplicate-storage reclamation, including already-compressed files, and supports Shortcuts automation. DiskPress combines file deduplication with native, lossless file compression and recurring folder monitoring. Compression can save space even when a file has no duplicate.

The distinction is the combined workflow. DiskPress compresses eligible files, deduplicates matching contents, and revisits selected folders as their contents change.

Yes. DiskPress compares eligible files across all enabled saved locations, not just within each location. Matching files must be on the same compatible APFS volume. Separate volumes cannot share file data, even if they are on the same physical drive.

For example, you might optimize a Projects folder, then add a Reference folder containing an identical copy of a file in Projects. The next optimization can let those files share storage, unlocking extra savings in locations you already optimized. Both files stay at their existing paths and remain independently editable.

Adding a location alone does not perform deduplication. With deduplication enabled, choose Optimize Now or let automatic monitoring run. Disabled locations are not processed, and exclusions and safety checks still apply.

DiskPress uses both techniques together in one optimization workflow. File compression reduces the data each file needs. File deduplication lets identical files share that compressed data through APFS clones, adding to the compression savings when both apply.

For example, take two identical, uncompressed 100 MB files stored separately in two different enabled saved locations on the same compatible APFS volume. Together they use 200 MB. If compression reduces each by 30%, compression alone would use 140 MB. With file deduplication as well, both files can share about 70 MB of compressed data. Apps still read the original 100 MB of content from either file.

That saves 130 MB out of the original 200 MB, or 65%. Compression saves 60 MB across the pair, and deduplication saves another 70 MB. The percentage is measured against the original total, not by adding percentages with different starting points.

This is an illustrative example, not a benchmark or a guarantee. It assumes the files do not already share storage and ignores filesystem metadata and allocation overhead. Actual savings depend on your files, settings, and compatibility. Snapshots and ongoing writes can also affect when macOS reports more free space. See the illustrated example.

Yes. DiskPress is needed to optimize files, not to read them. Native compression and APFS clone sharing are handled by macOS, without a proprietary DiskPress format or reader. Successfully optimized files remain accessible after you quit or uninstall DiskPress.

Another Mac with compatible macOS and filesystem support can read them without DiskPress. The app only needs to run for new optimization or monitoring. Editing, replacing, copying, or restoring files can change or remove local savings depending on the operation.

File compression can make compressible user data use up to 50% less space, but this is a possible result, not a promise for your files or your whole disk. File deduplication can add further savings when identical files do not already share storage. Our combined savings example shows how 30% compression plus deduplication can reduce the data storage for two identical files by 65%.

The outcome depends on the contents, existing compression, duplicate copies, filesystem, and settings. Already-compressed media and archives may save little or nothing. The screenshots illustrate the app with example data, not a benchmark or a guaranteed result. Deduplication savings are estimates of shared storage, and a saved-space total is not a guarantee of an identical increase in macOS available space.

The Mac App Store version supports macOS 10.15 Catalina or later. For access through Setapp, check the Setapp listing for its current macOS requirements.

APFS is the recommended filesystem for the full compression and deduplication workflow. Compression requires a local, writable volume with native compression support. Deduplication also requires clone support on that same volume.

Compatible external APFS drives can be used with permission. Network shares, NAS mounts, and read-only volumes are not optimization targets. On Catalina, current deduplication savings cannot be measured and are shown as unavailable rather than zero. Automatic login registration requires macOS 13 or later.

Same features in both Mac versions. The Mac App Store and Setapp versions include file compression, file deduplication, one-time optimization, automatic monitoring, menu bar controls, and the CLI. Choose the store that works for you.

Buy DiskPress from the Mac App Store. The listing shows the current price, availability, and requirements for your region. Apple handles the download, purchase, and App Store updates.

Or buy DiskPress on Setapp as a standalone app with a one-time payment. It is not included in a Setapp subscription. Check the listing for current pricing, purchase terms, and macOS requirements. Setapp handles the purchase, download, activation, and updates for this version.

If you also want App Archiver, Storage Saver Duo includes both Mac apps at a reduced price compared with buying them separately on the Mac App Store. DiskPress optimizes your files, while App Archiver handles supported apps. Check the bundle listing for current pricing and system requirements.

For all three apps, Storage Saver Trio includes DiskPress for Mac, App Archiver for Mac, and DiskPress for Files for iPhone and iPad. Unlike the Mac-only Duo, Trio includes the iPhone and iPad app. Check the bundle listing for current pricing, availability, and system requirements.

For iPhone and iPad, see DiskPress for Files availability. It is a separate app with local-file optimization and Apple Shortcuts workflows on supported iOS versions, not the Mac version or part of the Storage Saver Duo Mac bundle.

Start with a specific folder of ordinary, locally stored files you keep for a long time and change infrequently. Plain text, completed data exports, stored logs that are no longer being written, non-executable source files from finished projects, and other uncompressed data can be good compression candidates. Identical copies on the same volume may benefit from deduplication.

Leave folders with frequent new or changing files out of optimization. Keep an independent backup of important data and review the first results in Activity before enabling ongoing monitoring. See the guidance on SSD writes and suitable folders.

DiskPress rewrites files at their existing paths to optimize their storage, preparing and verifying replacements before committing them. This can add disk writes, especially during compression. SSDs have finite write endurance, so saving space is not free of a write cost. The effect depends on your drive, files, and how often new optimization work is needed.

Exclude locations that frequently receive new files, replace existing files, or regenerate temporary data. Caches, build output, active logs, and download staging folders are poor targets. Optimizing short-lived data can spend writes on savings that soon disappear.

Choose smaller, mostly stable folders for monitoring. Disable or remove unsuitable saved locations, and use exclusion rules in Settings for files you do not want processed. Recent-file protection delays work but does not remove its write cost. For active projects, wait until the files settle and use a one-time optimization.

For background on flash memory wear, read Kingston's explanation of SSD write endurance.

No. DiskPress excludes application bundles, their contents, and files with executable permissions. It is built for ordinary user files, not installed software.

Optimizing applications needs a more specialized architecture. App Archiver, also made by Ighor July, is the dedicated app for compressing, optimizing, and archiving supported Mac apps. Use DiskPress for your files and App Archiver for your apps.

A skip is often intentional. DiskPress checks permissions, volume support, file type, configured exclusions, minimum savings, and other safety conditions. It avoids symbolic links, hard-linked files, empty files, protected locations, cloud-only placeholders, and unsupported metadata combinations.

Default exclusion groups cover common archives, disk images, installers, images, audio, and video. You can adjust extension, wildcard, and regular-expression rules in Settings. File-size limits apply to compression, not every deduplication or measurement operation. Activity explains individual outcomes.

No. DiskPress protects broad roots and sensitive locations, including system folders, application folders, important parts of your Library, backups, and managed packages such as photo libraries and virtual machines. Choose specific ordinary data folders instead.

Overriding an exclusion is not permission to bypass these protections. DiskPress does not ask for administrator access to force unsupported targets through.

Cloud-managed folders and remote-only placeholders are different. A downloaded local copy can be considered when it is otherwise eligible and stored on a compatible local volume, but some cloud-managed files remain excluded for safety. DiskPress never downloads cloud-only placeholders to optimize them.

Savings affect local disk usage, not your cloud quota. DiskPress preserves file contents but commits optimization by replacing the local file after verification. A provider may treat that replacement as a change, rescan it, upload it again, or leave it alone. Behavior varies by provider and configuration, so do not assume either outcome. A provider replacing the local copy later can also undo its local savings.

Prefer stable local folders when you want predictable results. DiskPress does not control a cloud provider or compress its storage allocation.

DiskPress prepares replacements separately on the same volume, verifies logical contents and metadata, and uses an atomic replacement operation. Deduplication checks equality before making a clone. Recovery records help handle interrupted operations without guessing which copy should be kept.

These safeguards do not make storage operations risk-free. Keep a separate backup. DiskPress is not backup software and has no general Undo or restore-original-storage button. After a successful verified replacement, the temporary original is removed.

Yes. DiskPress adds no requirement to install it on a replacement Mac. When backup software reads an optimized file normally, macOS provides its original contents. If your backup uses an archive or backup-specific format, restore it with the appropriate backup software as usual.

File accessibility and local storage savings are separate. Compression and APFS shared storage may not survive copying or backup, depending on the method and destination. A restored backup may therefore need more space than the optimized files occupied locally. Keep an independent backup of important files.

Yes. Use Cancel in the progress window, or Ctrl+C from the CLI, and allow the operation to finish stopping. Completed optimizations stay in place. Cancellation does not roll back earlier files.

If DiskPress reports that recovery needs attention, preserve the files it identifies and follow the message. Do not delete recovery material just to clear the warning.

The first optimization pass processes eligible existing files in your chosen locations, including data that is not yet compressed. Compressing this backlog can keep the CPU busy and cause sustained disk activity. How long it takes depends on your files, your Mac, and the selected performance profile.

Once that pass finishes, unchanged files that are already compressed do not need to be compressed again. Background compression focuses on eligible new or modified files. With mostly stable folders, CPU usage is usually very low between scans and optimization jobs. Periodic scans, savings measurements, and new work still use CPU, so monitoring does not mean zero overhead. Starting optimization in another location with uncompressed files can mean another busy first pass.

Choose Low CPU, Balanced, Fast, or Fastest in Settings. Low CPU adds pauses, while faster modes allow more work in parallel. Separate battery and power-adapter settings and an optional pause on battery let you control background work.

Reading a compressed file also requires macOS to decompress its data. The effect depends on your files and workload. DiskPress does not promise a speed increase.

Drop files or folders into the main window, or pin DiskPress to the Dock and drop them onto its app icon. This starts the one-time workflow without making the selection a permanently monitored location.

You can follow progress, cancel, or choose Continue in Background. That button continues the current job without the progress window. It does not enable recurring monitoring. Use Show Progress to return to the job.

No. Adding a location saves your choice and measures its current storage. Choose Optimize Now to process enabled saved locations, or enable Monitor automatically for ongoing work.

Saved locations remain available when monitoring is off. Disabling or removing a saved location does not decompress its files or undo existing clone sharing.

Yes. Add an eligible app-data folder as a saved location and associate it with the application using the Linked App option.

DiskPress skips that location while the selected app is running. This applies to manual optimization, automatic monitoring, and CLI operations. When the app is closed, eligible files can be processed during the next optimization.

Linking an app does not override safety checks or make every data folder suitable for optimization. It also does not enable compression of the application bundle or executable itself.

Enable Monitor automatically after choosing mostly stable folders. DiskPress scans enabled locations on a schedule and uses filesystem change notifications as hints. It does not repeatedly compress a file on every write.

After the first optimization pass, compression focuses on eligible new or modified files, rather than recompressing unchanged files. See what to expect from CPU usage for the busier first pass and lighter routine afterward.

The default interval is 10 minutes after the previous scan and its work finish. You can set an interval from 1 minute to 24 hours. Recent-file protection normally waits at least 1 minute before processing newly observed or recently changed files in saved locations. Adjust both settings to fit your workload.

These delays are not a substitute for excluding busy locations. New or replaced files can still lead to more optimization writes on later runs. Read the SSD-write guidance before enabling ongoing work.

While monitoring is enabled, the menu bar shows DiskPress status, available space on the home volume, current measured savings, optimized file counts, and savings over the last 24 hours, 7 days, and 30 days.

You can open the main window, add a location, optimize now, stop monitoring, open Settings, or quit. Status can show scanning, optimization, a battery pause, an issue, or the next scheduled scan. The menu bar icon disappears when monitoring is stopped.

With monitoring enabled, choose Continue in Menu Bar when closing the window to keep DiskPress working. Choosing Quit DiskPress stops monitoring and disables its automatic login registration. Existing file savings remain.

On macOS 13 or later, enabling monitoring registers DiskPress to start at login, subject to any approval macOS requires in System Settings. A normal logout or restart preserves the monitoring preference. On older versions, start the app yourself when you want it to monitor.

Current savings are a measured snapshot across all saved locations, including disabled ones. They can include files that were already compressed or sharing storage before DiskPress processed them. Overlapping locations and shared file identities are counted only once. Use Rescan to refresh the measurement.

Recent savings record completed optimization work over time. Editing or removing a file can lower the current total without rewriting that history. Activity is a per-file log, not a second savings total, and a file can have both compression and deduplication records.

Finder's Size column is not a reliable way to check a folder's actual disk usage. It shows logical size, the amount of file content, rather than allocated storage. Compression can reduce disk usage without changing that number.

Use Get Info instead. Select any folder in Finder, press Command-I, and look for the "on disk" value beside Size. Let the calculation finish. Use that value, not the headline size or byte count, to check allocated storage.

Get Info helps you check compression, but it is not a complete measure of file deduplication savings. APFS clones share storage, so adding folder sizes can count shared blocks more than once. The on-disk figure does not predict exactly how much space deleting a folder would free.

macOS available space can include reclaimable storage as well as free space. Snapshots and ongoing writes affect when those figures change. DiskPress's disk bar describes the home volume, while saved locations can span several volumes. Deduplication savings are estimates.

Read more about why macOS disk-space measurements can be confusing.

DiskPress does not upload your files, filenames, or optimization results. File optimization works offline in both the Mac App Store and Setapp versions. Settings, authorizations, Activity, recovery records, and savings measurements stay on your Mac.

The Mac App Store version has no in-app usage analytics SDK and needs no separate DiskPress account. The Setapp version includes Setapp activation and app-usage reporting, including menu bar interactions. Setapp license checks may require internet access, and usage reports can be sent when you reconnect. Local file processing does not mean the Setapp version is telemetry-free.

If an application integrity check fails, DiskPress for Mac automatically opens a diagnostic webpage with a numeric check identifier. The website uses cookie-free Plausible analytics and can count these visits by failure code. This is separate from Setapp usage reporting.

Read the privacy policy for details about local records, diagnostic visits, website analytics, and support. The separate iPhone and iPad app has no analytics or telemetry. See DiskPress for Files privacy.

Yes. The app bundle includes a CLI for checking permissions, inspecting files, optimizing targets, and reading settings, activity, and savings. It runs without a window by default and supports newline-delimited JSON for automation.

First grant the relevant folders read/write access in Settings under Authorized Paths. The CLI cannot grant permissions, bypass safety rules, or change settings. CLI scan and optimization requests are one-time operations and do not apply the Recent File Protection delay, even when targeting a saved location. Linked-app protection and active-writer checks still apply.

CLI optimization also respects saved-location modes, including Compress Only, Deduplicate Only, and Disabled, even for individually named files. The most specific matching location takes precedence. Check these modes in the app's Locations table, since CLI reports do not currently include them.

A CLI-only launch starts no recurring monitoring. After optimization, saved-location savings refresh in the background. The CLI result can arrive before that refresh finishes, and the host stays open until its commands and the refresh are complete. See the CLI guide for commands, progress fields, and measurement status.

DiskPress performs compression, deduplication, and monitoring locally. It does not call an AI service or upload your files for optimization. It returns CLI information locally to the program that invoked it, and reports can include filenames, paths, and activity details.

Your chosen agent may transmit command output or other information under its own settings and privacy policy. Review that agent before sharing private paths or file contents, and authorize only the work you intend it to do.

I use AI to assist with translations, website content, artwork concepts, and focused development tasks. The app ideas and engineering decisions are mine. I review and test implementation changes and remain responsible for the software I release.

AI assistance is a tool in my workflow, not a replacement for understanding the code, testing its behavior, or maintaining the app. I explain that process in How to Use AI Without Losing Control of Your Code.