A native macOS utility
Deadweight
Install · MMXXVI
First launch · Full Disk Access
← Back to Deadweight

Opening a free app from outside the App Store.

Deadweight is given away directly, not sold through the App Store, so macOS will pause on first launch and ask you to confirm. It’s the same prompt every independent app triggers, and it’s a two-minute, one-time thing. Here’s the exact path for macOS Sequoia and Tahoe.

✦
You do this once. After the first approved launch, Deadweight opens like any other app with no prompts, no repeats, ever.

WHAT YOU’LL SEE ON FIRST LAUNCH

Deadweight app icon
“Deadweight” Not Opened

Apple could not verify “Deadweight” is free of malware that may harm your Mac or compromise your privacy.

Move to TrashDone
Step A

First launch, start to finish

// Download to first open, exactly as macOS shows it.
Step B

Granting Full Disk Access

// The app walks you there and confirms when access lands.
Step A

Let macOS open it

1
Install it first

Open Deadweight.dmg, then drag the Deadweight icon onto the Applications folder shown in the window.

2
Double-click Deadweight

The “could not verify” message appears (shown above). Normal for any indie app, it doesn’t mean anything is wrong. Click Done, never Move to Trash (even though it’s the highlighted one).

3
Open Privacy & Security
System Settings → Privacy & Security
4
Scroll down & click Open Anyway

Near the bottom: “Deadweight was blocked…”. Click Open Anyway.

5
Confirm once more

A final prompt appears with an Open Anyway button. Click it, then authenticate with Touch ID or your admin password. Deadweight launches, and won’t ask again.

Step B

Grant Full Disk Access

·
Why it asks

macOS shields your .Trash and parts of ~/Library even from apps you’ve opened. Without access, Space Doctor can’t even see your biggest wins. It only ever reads to measure. Nothing is deleted without your confirmation.

1
Let the app take you there

Deadweight shows a short guide with an Open System Settings button that lands on the right pane. Or walk there yourself:

System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access
2
Add Deadweight

Click +, authenticate, choose Deadweight in Applications. (Already listed? Just switch it on.)

3
Toggle on & relaunch

Flip the switch on. macOS asks whether to quit the app now: click Quit & Reopen. Deadweight returns with access granted, and Scan My Mac now reaches the Trash and the system categories.

Note for Tahoe / Sequoia: the old Control-click → Open shortcut no longer bypasses this, approval lives in Privacy & Security now. If the “Open Anyway” button is missing, double-click Deadweight once more to bring it back (it expires about an hour after the block). On rare occasions macOS shows “damaged and can’t be opened” instead, this is the download quarantine flag, not a corrupt file. Open Terminal and run xattr -cr /Applications/Deadweight.app once, then launch normally.