ZerX

What ZerX will never delete

ZerX can see the files you allowed access to, so the rules below are enforced in the deletion layer and covered by tests, not just hidden in the interface.

Scope allowlist

Only the folder you granted, normally your home folder, can be touched. The rest of the disk is shown for the picture, not for deletion.

Hard blocklist

Keychains, Preferences, Application Support (except specific caches and iPhone backups listed on the Safety page), iCloud, Messages, Mail, Photos, Safari, .ssh, .gnupg, .aws, .kube, shell rc files. Any folder containing a protected path is protected too.

One gate

Every deletion passes through a single checkpoint that normalizes the path and re-checks it after resolving symlinks. A symlink into a protected folder doesn't get through. Covered by tests.

Always protected

  • ~/Library/Keychains
  • ~/Library/Preferences
  • ~/Library/Application Support (except the caches and iPhone backups listed below)
  • iCloud Drive (Mobile Documents)
  • ~/Library/CloudStorage (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive)
  • Messages
  • Mail
  • Photos libraries
  • Safari
  • Cookies
  • ~/.ssh
  • ~/.gnupg
  • ~/.aws
  • ~/.kube
  • shell config files (.zshrc, .bashrc, .profile)
  • the system volume and other volumes

Any folder that contains a protected path is protected too.

Containers: contents yes, folder no

Documents, Downloads, Desktop, Library/Caches and other standard folders can be emptied item by item but never deleted themselves.

App caches ZerX can offer inside Application Support

Google Drive content cache, VS Code and Cursor caches, Discord, Slack, Spotify, Adobe Media Cache, iPhone backups (MobileSync). Each is a separate checkbox; if the owning app is running, ZerX asks you to quit it first. Nothing else inside Application Support can be touched.

Trash, then your call

Items move to the Trash by default and can be restored in Finder until you empty it. Permanent deletion is a separate setting, off by default, and requires confirmation; it cannot be undone. Empty the Trash separately in Finder to reclaim space. The App Store version cannot delete Time Machine snapshots.