Auto Rules

Auto Rules are clean-up rules that Storage Studio writes for your Mac in particular. Instead of one fixed list for everyone, it looks at what's actually on your Mac (app caches, developer caches, logs, big folders) and decides how safe each one is to clear. Only the safest kind is applied automatically. Everything else waits for you to approve it.

Open the Auto Rules window by clicking Auto rules on the Home screen, or from Settings → Rules → Auto Rules → Review….

How a rule is chosen

Storage Studio looks around your Mac and sorts each thing it finds into one of four safety levels. The levels are decided by fixed rules, not guessed. When Apple Intelligence is available, it only words the summary at the top of the window.

%% caption: How Auto Rules decides what to do with each thing it finds
flowchart TD
  A[Something found on your Mac] --> B{How safe is it?}
  B -->|Level 1: a cache that rebuilds itself| C{Is Suggest only on?}
  C -->|No| D[Applied automatically]
  C -->|Yes| E[Suggested - needs your approval]
  B -->|Level 2 or 3: probably safe, or your own files| E
  B -->|Level 4: external or system location| F[Never made into a rule]
  E -->|Approve| G[Applied]
  E -->|Dismiss| H[Dismissed - reclaim anytime]

Each row shows a plain reason, such as App cache — your apps rebuild it automatically, so it's safe to clear. Rules aren't created for tools you don't have, so a Mac without developer tools sees no developer rules.

The window

• Suggested — needs your approval: click Approve to apply a rule or Dismiss to turn it down.
• Applied automatically: rules that are in use. Dismiss stops applying one.
• Dismissed — reclaim anytime: rules you turned down. Restore brings one back as a suggestion.
• Suggest only — never apply automatically: turn this on and nothing is applied without your approval.
• Open Rule Editor… goes to Settings → Rules, where you can change the age on any rule.

When there's nothing to review, the window says You're all set. The refresh button at the top (Re-scan now) looks again straight away; otherwise Auto Rules reviews your Mac about once a day.

What Auto Rules never does

• It never deletes anything itself. Approving a rule adds it to your rules. The rule then runs with Free Up Space under the same protections as every other rule: the hard floor that protects files changed in the last 7 days, the Never delete personal files — only move them switch, and skipping anything that's in use.
• It never deletes personal files. Folders like Documents, Desktop and Downloads are only ever suggested as moves to your external drive.
• It never touches external drives or system locations.
• It never overwrites your own rules. Rules you added yourself are kept, and Auto Rules doesn't create duplicates of them.

Auto Rules shows up in Job Insights as Cleanup rules.

See also: Developer caches and build folders · Clearing app caches safely · Rules: moving folders automatically · Smart Care