In short
- Hover over the disabled Move to Trash button: MoreRoom tells you why — your data, an item to remove from its own app, or space macOS manages itself.
- Items owned by the system need an administrator. MoreRoom skips them; for apps, Finder asks for your password.
- If the message says “failed” or “skipped”, the item may be in use, locked, or in an excluded folder. Quit the app using it and try again.
The button is disabled
Hover over Move to Trash in the inspector to see the reason:
| Reason | Why | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| “This is your data: offload it instead.” | The item is labelled Your data (photo libraries, virtual machines, mailboxes…). | Remove it yourself in Finder if you really want to — or wait for offloading to an external drive, coming in a future version. |
| A hint such as “Remove it from its own app.” | Some items must be removed by their app (a sound library in Logic Pro, games in Steam, models in LM Studio…) to stay consistent. | Follow the hint in that app. |
| “macOS manages this space itself.” | Swap, the Spotlight index, downloaded macOS updates, system voices… | Nothing to do: macOS frees it when needed, or after an update or a restart. |
| The tool isn’t installed | The item should be removed by its tool (for example Xcode’s simctl), which isn’t on this Mac. |
Remove it with the tool, or reinstall the tool. |
A removal failed or was skipped
After a removal, the message says how many items failed or were skipped:
- In use: an app has the file open or locked. Quit it and try again.
- Owned by the system or another user: MoreRoom moves items as you, without administrator rights, so it can’t move them. In Uninstall Apps, such leftovers show Needs an administrator and are left in place; the app itself is moved by Finder, which asks for your password.
- Locked in Finder: unlock it in Finder’s Get Info first.
- In an excluded folder: MoreRoom never touches anything inside a folder listed in Settings › Exclusions.
- A tool’s command failed: the tool may need an update or may be busy. Run it yourself, or try again later.
Apps
- Apps that are part of macOS can’t be removed. Uninstall Apps counts them at the bottom of the list.
- If an app doesn’t quit when asked, nothing is moved: save your work, quit it, and try again.
- If Finder can’t move the app either, the app may be protected by its installer or by a management profile. Use the app’s own uninstaller if it has one, or ask the person who manages your Mac.
Free plan
On the free plan, items are removed one at a time. Buttons with a PRO badge — Add to Collector, Add All Safe Items, Goal — open the Pro sheet instead. See Free and Pro.