diff --git a/src/engine/databasesanitizer.h b/src/engine/databasesanitizer.h
--- a/src/engine/databasesanitizer.h
+++ b/src/engine/databasesanitizer.h
@@ -81,6 +81,10 @@
 private:
     DatabaseSanitizer(const DatabaseSanitizer& rhs) = delete;
     DatabaseSanitizerImpl* m_pimpl;
+    const QPair<QPair<QString, QString>, QPair<QString, QString>> colors{
+        {QStringLiteral("\033[1;31m"),QStringLiteral("\033[0m")},
+        {QString(), QString()}
+    };
 };
 
 Q_DECLARE_OPERATORS_FOR_FLAGS(DatabaseSanitizer::ItemAccessFilters)
diff --git a/src/engine/databasesanitizer.cpp b/src/engine/databasesanitizer.cpp
--- a/src/engine/databasesanitizer.cpp
+++ b/src/engine/databasesanitizer.cpp
@@ -25,7 +25,9 @@
 #include "idutils.h"
 
 #include <KLocalizedString>
+#include <QPair>
 #include <QFileInfo>
+#include <unistd.h>
 
 namespace Baloo
 {
@@ -175,7 +177,7 @@
                 devinfo.items = usedDevices.values(dev).count();
                 result.append(devinfo);
             } else {
-                qDebug() << "Ignoring device" << devinfo.id;
+                qDebug() << "Ignoring unmounted device" << devinfo.id;
             }
         }
         return result;
@@ -240,18 +242,25 @@
     const auto sep = QLatin1Char(' ');
     QTextStream out(stdout);
     QTextStream err(stderr);
+    const bool useColors = isatty(fileno(stdout));
+    QPair<QString, QString> color;
     for (const auto& info: infos) {
         if (!(accessFilter & IgnoreAvailable)) {
-            out << QStringLiteral("%1").arg(info.accessible ? "+" : "!") << sep;
+            color = (useColors && !info.accessible) ? colors.first : colors.second;
+            out << QStringLiteral("%1%2%3")
+                .arg(color.first)
+                .arg(info.accessible ? "+" : "!")
+                .arg(color.second)
+            << sep;
         } else if (!info.accessible) {
             out << i18n("Missing:") << sep;
         } else {
             Q_ASSERT(false);
             continue;
         }
         out << QStringLiteral("device: %1").arg(info.deviceId)
         << sep << QStringLiteral("inode: %1").arg(info.inode)
-        << sep << QStringLiteral("url: %1").arg(info.url)
+        << sep << QStringLiteral("url: %1%2%3").arg(color.first).arg(info.url).arg(color.second)
         << endl;
     }
     err << i18n("Found %1 matching items", infos.count()) << endl;
@@ -267,14 +276,16 @@
     QTextStream out(stdout);
     QTextStream err(stderr);
     int matchCount = 0;
+    const bool useColors = isatty(fileno(stdout));
+    QPair<QString, QString> color;
     for (const auto& dev : usedDevices) {
         if ((accessFilter & IgnoreMounted) && dev.mounted) {
             continue;
+        } else {
+            color = !dev.mounted && useColors ? colors.first : colors.second;
         }
         matchCount++;
-        // TODO coloring would be nice, but "...|grep '^!'" does not work with it.
-        // out << QStringLiteral("%1").arg(dev.mounted ? "+" : "\033[1;31m!")
-        out << QStringLiteral("%1").arg(dev.mounted ? "+" : "!")
+        out << QStringLiteral("%1%2").arg(color.first).arg(dev.mounted ? "+" : "!")
             << sep << QStringLiteral("device:%1").arg(dev.id)
             << sep << QStringLiteral("indexed-items:%1").arg(dev.items);
 
@@ -285,9 +296,7 @@
                 << sep << QStringLiteral("mount:%1").arg(dev.fsInfo.mountpoint)
             ;
         }
-        // TODO: see above
-        // out << QStringLiteral("\033[0m") << endl;
-        out << endl;
+        out << color.second << endl;
     }
 
     err << i18n("Found %1 matching in %2 devices", matchCount, usedDevices.count()) << endl;
@@ -299,18 +308,21 @@
     const QSharedPointer<QRegularExpression>& urlFilter)
 {
     auto infos = m_pimpl->createList(deviceIds, IgnoreAvailable, urlFilter);
+    int ignored = 0;
     auto devices = m_pimpl->createDeviceList(infos, accessFilter);
     QVector<quint32> deviceIdFilter;
     for (const auto& devInfo: devices) {
         deviceIdFilter.append(devInfo.id);
     }
     const auto sep = QLatin1Char(' ');
     QTextStream out(stdout);
     QTextStream err(stderr);
+    const auto color = isatty(fileno(stdout)) ? colors.first : colors.second;
     for (const auto& info: infos) {
         if (deviceIdFilter.contains(info.deviceId)) {
             if (info.isSymLink) {
-                out << i18n("IgnoredSymbolicLink:");
+                out << QStringLiteral("%1%2%3").arg(color.first).arg(i18n("IgnoredSymbolicLink:")).arg(color.second);
+                ignored++;
             } else {
                 m_pimpl->m_transaction->removeDocument(info.id);
                 out << i18n("Removing:");
@@ -326,5 +338,5 @@
     } else {
         m_pimpl->m_transaction->commit();
     }
-    err << i18n("Removed %1 items", infos.count()) << endl;
+    err << i18n("Removed %1 items", infos.count() - ignored) << endl;
 }
diff --git a/src/tools/baloodb/main.cpp b/src/tools/baloodb/main.cpp
--- a/src/tools/baloodb/main.cpp
+++ b/src/tools/baloodb/main.cpp
@@ -46,32 +46,31 @@
     QCommandLineOption{
         QStringList{QStringLiteral("i"), QStringLiteral("device-id")},
         i18n("Filter by device id."
-        "\n0 (default) does not filter and everything is printed."
-        "\nPositive numbers are including filters printing only the mentioned device id."
-        "\nNegative numbers are excluding filters printing everything but the mentioned device id."
+        "\n* 0 (default) does not filter and everything is printed."
+        "\n* Positive numbers are including filters printing only the mentioned device id."
+        "\n* Negative numbers are excluding filters printing everything but the mentioned device id."
         "\nMay be given multiple times."),
         i18n("integer"),
         0
     },
     QCommandLineOption{
         QStringList{QStringLiteral("m"), QStringLiteral("missing-only")},
-        i18n("List only inaccessible entries.\nOnly applies to \"%1\"", QStringLiteral("list"))
+        i18n("Ignore accessible items")
     },
     QCommandLineOption{
         QStringList{QStringLiteral("u"), QStringLiteral("mounted-only")},
-        i18n("Act only on item on mounted devices")
+        i18n("Act only on items residing on mounted devices")
     },
     QCommandLineOption{
         QStringList{QStringLiteral("D"), QStringLiteral("dry-run")},
-        i18n("Print results of a prune operation, but do not change anything."
-        "\nOnly applies to \"%1\" command", QStringLiteral("prune"))
+        i18n("Simulate an operation, print the results but do not change anything.")
     }
 };
 
 const auto commands = std::vector<Command>{
     Command{
         QStringLiteral("list"),
-        i18n("List database contents. Use a regular expression as argument to filter output"),
+        i18n("List database contents"),
         QStringList{
             QStringLiteral("pattern")
         },