skyvanguard Disk Cleanup
Overview
Identify disk space consumers and safely reclaim storage. Prioritizes safe, reversible cleanup actions and always shows what will be deleted before acting.
Process
Step 1: Assess Current Disk State
Overall disk usage:
| Platform | Command |
|---|---|
| Windows | Get-CimInstance Win32_LogicalDisk | Select DeviceID, @{N='Size(GB)';E={[math]::Round($_.Size/1GB,1)}}, @{N='Free(GB)';E={[math]::Round($_.FreeSpace/1GB,1)}}, @{N='Used%';E={[math]::Round(($_.Size-$_.FreeSpace)/$_.Size*100,1)}} |
| Linux | df -h | grep -v tmpfs |
| macOS | df -h | grep -v devfs |
Identify largest directories:
| Platform | Command |
|---|---|
| Windows | Get-ChildItem C:\ -Directory -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | ForEach-Object { $size = (Get-ChildItem $_.FullName -Recurse -File -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Measure-Object -Property Length -Sum).Sum; [PSCustomObject]@{Path=$_.FullName; 'Size(GB)'=[math]::Round($size/1GB,2)} } | Sort 'Size(GB)' -Descending | Select -First 10 |
| Linux | du -sh /* 2>/dev/null | sort -rh | head -15 |
| macOS | du -sh /* 2>/dev/null | sort -rh | head -15 |
Step 2: Identify Cleanup Candidates
Check each category and calculate reclaimable space:
Temporary files:
| Platform | Location | Command |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | User temp | (Get-ChildItem $env:TEMP -Recurse -File -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Measure-Object Length -Sum).Sum / 1MB |
| Windows | System temp | (Get-ChildItem C:\Windows\Temp -Recurse -File -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Measure-Object Length -Sum).Sum / 1MB |
| Linux | /tmp | du -sh /tmp |
| Linux | /var/tmp | du -sh /var/tmp |
| macOS | User caches | du -sh ~/Library/Caches |
Package manager caches:
| Platform | Command to check | Command to clean |
|---|---|---|
| Windows (Chocolatey) | du -sh C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\cache 2>/dev/null |
choco cache remove |
| npm | npm cache ls 2>/dev/null || du -sh ~/.npm/_cacache |
npm cache clean --force |
| pip | pip cache info 2>/dev/null |
pip cache purge |
| apt | du -sh /var/cache/apt/archives |
apt clean |
| yum/dnf | du -sh /var/cache/yum 2>/dev/null || du -sh /var/cache/dnf |
yum clean all |
| Homebrew | du -sh $(brew --cache) |
brew cleanup |
| Composer | composer clearcache --dry-run 2>/dev/null |
composer clearcache |
Container/Docker waste:
# Docker disk usage
docker system df 2>/dev/null
# Dangling images
docker images -f "dangling=true" -q 2>/dev/null | wc -l
# Stopped containers
docker ps -a -f "status=exited" -q 2>/dev/null | wc -l
# Unused volumes
docker volume ls -f "dangling=true" -q 2>/dev/null | wc -l
Log files:
| Platform | Command |
|---|---|
| Windows | Get-ChildItem C:\ -Recurse -Include *.log -File -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object {$_.Length -gt 100MB} | Select FullName, @{N='Size(MB)';E={[math]::Round($_.Length/1MB)}} |
| Linux | find /var/log -type f -size +100M -exec ls -lh {} \; 2>/dev/null |
| Linux | journalctl --disk-usage |
Old downloads:
| Platform | Command |
|---|---|
| Windows | Get-ChildItem $env:USERPROFILE\Downloads -File | Where-Object {$_.LastWriteTime -lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-30)} | Measure-Object Length -Sum | Select @{N='Size(MB)';E={[math]::Round($_.Sum/1MB)}} |
| Linux/Mac | find ~/Downloads -type f -mtime +30 -exec du -ch {} + 2>/dev/null | tail -1 |
Trash/Recycle Bin:
| Platform | Command |
|---|---|
| Windows | (New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application).NameSpace(0x0a).Items() | Measure-Object -Property Size -Sum | Select @{N='Size(MB)';E={[math]::Round($_.Sum/1MB)}} |
| Linux | du -sh ~/.local/share/Trash 2>/dev/null |
| macOS | du -sh ~/.Trash 2>/dev/null |
Step 3: Present Cleanup Plan
## Disk Cleanup Plan
### Current State
- Drive [X]: [used]GB / [total]GB ([percent]% used)
- Status: [OK / WARNING / CRITICAL]
### Reclaimable Space
| Category | Size | Risk | Action |
|----------|------|------|--------|
| Temp files | [X] MB | None | Delete all |
| Package caches | [X] MB | None | Clear cache |
| Docker unused | [X] MB | Low | Prune dangling |
| Old logs | [X] MB | Low | Rotate/truncate |
| Old downloads (>30d) | [X] MB | Medium | Review first |
| Trash/Recycle | [X] MB | Medium | Empty |
| [Other] | [X] MB | [risk] | [action] |
| **Total reclaimable** | **[X] GB** | | |
### Recommended Order
1. [Safest first - temp, caches]
2. [Low risk - docker, logs]
3. [Medium risk - ask user]
Step 4: Execute Cleanup (with permission)
For each approved action:
- Show exactly what will be deleted
- Show the command
- Wait for user confirmation
- Execute
- Report space recovered
Safe cleanup commands:
| Action | Windows | Linux/macOS |
|---|---|---|
| User temp | Remove-Item $env:TEMP\* -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
rm -rf /tmp/* 2>/dev/null |
| System temp | Remove-Item C:\Windows\Temp\* -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
N/A |
| npm cache | npm cache clean --force |
npm cache clean --force |
| pip cache | pip cache purge |
pip cache purge |
| apt cache | N/A | sudo apt clean |
| Docker prune | docker system prune -f |
docker system prune -f |
| Journal logs | N/A | sudo journalctl --vacuum-size=100M |
Step 5: Verify Results
After cleanup, re-run disk check and show comparison:
### Cleanup Results
| Metric | Before | After | Recovered |
|--------|--------|-------|-----------|
| Used space | [X] GB | [Y] GB | [Z] GB |
| Free space | [X] GB | [Y] GB | +[Z] GB |
| Usage % | [X]% | [Y]% | -[Z]% |
Rules
- NEVER delete user documents, photos, videos, or project files
- NEVER empty trash without asking (user might want something back)
- ALWAYS show what will be deleted before acting
- ALWAYS ask permission before each cleanup category
- Start with zero-risk items (temp, caches) before anything else
- If disk is >95% full, flag as CRITICAL and prioritize
- Don't delete logs that might be needed for ongoing troubleshooting
- Warn before deleting Docker volumes (may contain data)