I cleared space but the drive didn't get emptier

Underbrush clears carefully, so a clean-up can free less than the list showed. The result line and the History tab say what was kept and why.

Common reasons

• Recent files were kept. Files written in the last 3 days are skipped, so apps using a cache right now keep working. Clear again in a few days and more will go.
• Files were in use. An open app holds its cache files. Close the app (for example, your browser) and clear again.
• A build was running. Package caches and build output wait while a build tool such as MSBuild, npm, yarn, cargo or gradle is running. History says "Paused because … is running". Clear again when it has finished.
• A git repository was inside. Repositories are always left whole.
• Small .json and .txt files were kept in render and media caches.
• Cloud files were made online-only, not deleted. The space comes back once the cloud app has removed the local copies, which can take a moment.

It isn't in the Recycle Bin

Underbrush deletes directly. It doesn't move files to the Recycle Bin or Trash, so there's nothing more to empty afterwards.

Still not right?

Press Rescan to get fresh numbers. If the free space still hasn't changed, contact support from ? Help → Contact support… with diagnostics included.

Related

• The piles and the safety rules
• Clean up
• History