Reclaim City — a calm, plain-English checkup for your computer

Reclaim City — a calm, plain-English checkup for your computer
Reclaim City

A calm checkup for your computer.

Reclaim City looks around your Mac or PC, tells you in plain English what it finds, and never changes anything unless you say so. Use it yourself, or hand a rescue stick to the person you're helping.

Read-only by default. You're always in control.

Reclaim City only looks — it doesn't fix, delete, or change anything on its own. If it finds something worth fixing, it explains what that means and asks for your okay before doing anything. Nothing happens behind your back.

Older Mac with an Intel processor? Download the Intel version. Not sure? Apple menu (top-left corner) → About This Mac: “Chip: Apple M…” means the main button is right.
Your computer will show a one-time warning the first time you open it — here’s exactly what to click.

Upgrading? Reclaim City used to be called Device Rescue. Your saved progress carries over.

How it works

1

Open it up

Launch Reclaim City. It doesn't need an account, a subscription, or an internet connection to get started.

2

It looks around

It checks things like storage space, background apps, and common security settings — quietly, and without changing anything.

3

You decide

You'll see a plain-English summary. If something needs fixing, Reclaim City explains it and waits for your go-ahead.

Pick your situation

Each choice opens a step-by-step guide you can read now, at your own pace. When you open the app, pick the same situation and it runs the matching checkup for you.

The Rescue Stick

A USB drive with Reclaim City ready to run. No install, no internet, no Python. Plug it in, open the drive, and go.

  • Works on Mac and Windows — both binaries on every stick
  • Includes all 287 checks, 7 guided walkthroughs, and the quick-reference card
  • Hand it to someone and they can use it on their own
  • Nothing is uploaded — the tool works entirely offline

Perfect for the person in your life who is everyone's tech support, or for anyone who helps others with device security — counselors, IT volunteers, librarians, community organizations.

Not available yet. There’s no waiting list to join. Estimated price: $29–$39.

The same checks are in the free app today: download Reclaim City, or see every version.

What's on the stick

RESCUE-STICK/
├── START-HERE.txt
├── macos/
│   └── rescue
├── windows/
│   └── rescue.exe
└── guides/
    └── quick-reference.txt

START-HERE.txt walks the person through opening and running the tool. The quick-reference card is one page you can print.

More security tools

Reclaim City is one part of a larger set of tools for personal security and digital self-defense from The Multiverse School. They run in your browser on the school’s website, and you’ll be asked to sign in to a school account first.

Password Health Check

Assess your password practices: manager usage, breach exposure, 2FA audit, recovery keys. Includes an emergency triage flow for active breaches.

Personal Threat Model

Figure out who might target you, what they're after, and what to protect first. Builds a playbook tailored to your situation.

Scam & Phishing Autopsy

Got a suspicious email, text, or call? Dissect the pretext, identify the ask, and learn the verification steps. Builds a household scam defense card.

Ad Tracking Audit

See how much of your data is being used for advertising — across Google, Apple, Facebook, and your apps — and reduce it.

Reclaim City (Web)

The browser version of Reclaim City — walk through a device audit, check for stalkerware, and harden your settings, guided step by step.

Attack Surface Map

Map your personal attack surface: endpoints, services, credentials. For the more technically inclined.

Want to learn passwords and two-step sign-in properly? Reclaim City is a free game from the same team that walks you through them one account at a time, along with data broker opt-outs and spotting scams. You don't need an account to play.

These tools are part of The Multiverse School — a free school for AI, security, and digital self-defense.

What you'll see the first time

New apps that aren't from an app store usually trigger a few security prompts. That's normal — here's exactly what to expect and what to click.

Loading walkthrough…

Good to know

  • Works on Macs (Apple Silicon and Intel) and on Windows 10 and 11. Linux users can run the command-line version from GitHub, with its own Linux checkup guide.
  • The installer is currently unsigned, so macOS and Windows will show a security prompt the first time — see the walkthrough above.
  • Nothing is uploaded anywhere. Reclaim City looks at your computer, not the other way around.
  • The source code is on GitHub — every check is a plain Python file you can read before you run it.