Mac desktop widgets: Mac Health, memory, batteries, free space and files

The six OneMacTools widgets at a glance

None of the widgets has buttons. Clicking one opens OneMacTools, where you can act on what it shows.

How to add OneMacTools widgets to your Mac desktop

1. Open OneMacTools at least once, so its widgets are registered and it starts writing their data.
2. Right-click an empty part of the desktop and choose Edit Widgets…. (Or open Notification Centre by clicking the date and time in the menu bar, scroll to the bottom and click Edit Widgets.)
3. In the widget gallery, search for OneMacTools or find it in the list of apps.
4. Choose a size with the buttons under the preview, then drag the widget onto the desktop or into Notification Centre — or click it to add it.
5. Click Done.

To change a widget's size later, right-click it and pick a size. To remove it, right-click and choose Remove Widget. You can add the same widget twice in different sizes, for example a Small Mac Health next to a Large one.

In the gallery, the previews show sample data until OneMacTools has written your own readings.

Mac Health widget

The main widget. Its top line is the same one-line summary Mac Health shows in the app — such as All calm — next to a coloured dot: green when all is well, orange for a warning, red for a problem.

• Small: the headline, then CPU as a percentage, Memory in use, Free disk space and, on a laptop, Battery percentage.
• Medium: the same four readings as tiles, each with a bar, plus the CPU temperature beside the headline, in the unit you chose in the app.
• Large: adds Using the most memory, the five apps with the largest memory use.

If you're wondering why the Mac feels slow, the Large size usually answers it at a glance; for the full picture open Mac Health, or ask Ask “what slowed my Mac down this morning?”. Temperatures and fans are covered in CPU temperature and fan monitor.

Memory and Batteries widgets

Memory

Shows how much memory is in use in large type, a bar of used against total, and a line such as of 32 GB · pressure normal. When macOS is under memory pressure the line reads under pressure and the bar turns orange. Below it are the apps using the most memory: two in the Small size, three in Medium. What memory pressure means is explained in the why is my Mac slow guide.

Batteries

On a MacBook, shows the battery percentage with a charging symbol when it's charging, then Charging, the time left (for example 4 h 10 min left), Plugged in or On battery, and Health as a percentage of the battery's original capacity. The percentage turns red at 20% or below when you're not plugged in. On a desktop Mac it says Mac on mains power.

Underneath, up to three connected devices with their battery level — AirPods, Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse and other Bluetooth devices that report one. A device at 20% or below is shown in red, so you know to charge it before a call. More in battery health monitor.

Free Space widget

Shows your startup disk's name (for example Macintosh HD), how much is free in large type, free of the total, and a bar of how full it is.

Two extra lines appear when there's something to say:

• Mac Clean Up can free … — once Mac Clean Up has scanned, the space it found you could reclaim, such as old installers, big videos and old screenshots. Home runs a quick scan the first time you open it after launching the app, so this usually fills in on its own.
• … sets of copies (…) — when Files is on and has fingerprinted your files, how many sets of identical copies it found and how much space they take.

The widget doesn't delete anything. Click it to open OneMacTools and review what to clear. For the general picture, see how to free up space on Mac.

Every Cloud and Recent Files widgets

These two come from Files, OneMacTools' index of your Mac and clouds. Until Files is turned on they show Turn on Files in OneMacTools to see every cloud here.

Every Cloud

Lists each source Files covers — such as OneDrive, This Mac, iCloud Drive and Google Drive — largest first, with how much it holds and a bar showing its share, plus the total at the top. The Small size lists three sources, Medium four and Large up to eight.

Recent Files

The newest files across every source: the name, where it lives (for example Google Drive › Clients › Invoices), a cloud icon for files that are online only, and how long ago it changed. Medium shows three files and Large eight. It's a quick way to see what's just arrived in a shared folder without opening each cloud.

Turning Files off clears these widgets' data, and they go back to asking you to turn it on.

How often the widgets update

Widgets can't read OneMacTools' data directly, so the app writes a small summary to a shared folder on your Mac and asks macOS to refresh the widgets. The timing works like this:

macOS has the final say on how often widgets refresh, so a widget can lag a few minutes behind the app — use the menu bar readouts or Mac Health when you need live numbers. If a widget's data is more than 30 minutes old, it adds a small line such as Updated 2 hours ago so you know.

The Mac Health widgets get readings only while OneMacTools is running and Record Mac Health history is on in Settings › History (it's on by default) or you've set up Mac Health alerts. If they say Open OneMacTools to start Mac Health, open the app. Turn on Open OneMacTools at login in the same section to keep them current after a restart.

Privacy and battery use

The widget data stays on your Mac. The Mac Health widgets get figures — percentages, sizes and app names; the Files widgets get only file names, locations, sizes and dates, never their contents. Nothing is sent anywhere; see the privacy policy.

The widgets add very little work: they reuse readings Mac Health is already taking, data is written at most once a minute, and redraws are rate-limited by OneMacTools and by macOS. If you'd rather have readings in the menu bar than on the desktop, see menu bar system monitor. To learn what each reading means and keep a longer record, see performance history and alerts.

Questions

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