---
title: "Preview before cleaning · MacMelon"
description: "Disk Housekeeper always shows a preview of what a clean will remove. You confirm the list before files move to the Trash."
url: "https://macmelon.com/glossary/preview-before-cleaning"
---

# Preview before cleaning

A required look at the files a clean will touch, before anything is removed.

A preview is the list of items an action will affect, shown while you can still refuse. For a disk cleaner, it is the difference between a path you recognize and a path you would have regretted. It is not a summary count. A count without names is how the wrong node\_modules disappears.

[Disk Housekeeper](https://macmelon.com/apps/disk-housekeeper) always previews before cleaning. That includes Smart Clean and Autopilot. Auto-Sort is previewed before the sort is applied. The default removal destination is the Trash, which is a second chance after the preview, not a replacement for it.

## Apps

[Make room for what matters. Clear clutter with confidence. ### Disk Housekeeper](https://macmelon.com/apps/disk-housekeeper)

## Related guides

[### How to free up disk space on a Mac](https://macmelon.com/guides/how-to-free-up-disk-space-on-a-mac)[### How to clean developer files on macOS](https://macmelon.com/guides/how-to-clean-developer-files-on-macos)

## Related use cases

[### Free up space on a MacBook](https://macmelon.com/use-cases/free-up-space-on-a-macbook)[### Sort Downloads with plain-English rules](https://macmelon.com/use-cases/sort-downloads-with-plain-english-rules)[### Set up Autopilot for a watched folder](https://macmelon.com/use-cases/autopilot-watched-folder-cleanup)

## Related terms

[The holding area macOS uses for files you have deleted but not yet erased. ### Trash](https://macmelon.com/glossary/trash)[Disk Housekeeper's cleaner for developer caches and node\_modules, behind a preview. ### Smart Clean](https://macmelon.com/glossary/smart-clean)[Watched-folder cleanup in Disk Housekeeper, still behind a preview. In Sentinely, the memory fixes you have approved. ### Autopilot](https://macmelon.com/glossary/autopilot)[Disk Housekeeper's sorter, driven by rules you write in plain English. ### Auto-Sort](https://macmelon.com/glossary/auto-sort)