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If you need Mac cleaning software to remove junk files and boost the performance of your Mac computer, you are on the right page. While there are many Mac disk cleanup tools in the market to let you do this, not many handpicked storage cleaners are safe and worth considering.
This article will provide the list of the most popular paid and free Mac cleaners and a comparison table, helping you choose the best app to clean your Mac.
Best Mac cleaner app – comparison table
| Features |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free version | ✔ (free for 2 days with unlimited features) |
✔ (free for limited features) |
✔ (after providing payment details only) |
✔ (free for limited features) |
✔ (free for limited features) |
| Price | $29.95/year | $29.95/year | $39.95/year | $61.80/year | $14.99/year |
| Delete cache files | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Delete browser cache | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Uninstall apps | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Find and remove duplicate files | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Remove language files | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – |
| Get rid of screenshots | ✔ | ✔ | – | ✔ | – |
| Find and remove installation files | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – |
| Manage startup programs | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – |
| Find hidden files | ✔ | – | – | ✔ | ✔ |
| Clean up email files | ✔ | – | ✔ | ✔ | – |
| Analyze disk space usage | ✔ | – | ✔ | – | ✔ |
| Auto app updater | – | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Virus and malware scanner | – | – | ✔ | ✔ | – |
Video: Best Mac cleaner software
1. MacCleaner Pro review
- Cost: $29.95 per year
- Compatibility: macOS 10.13 or later
Pros:
- ✓ Duplicate Files Finder Regardless of how and why duplicate files were created, this program helps you find these duplicate files and helps you remove them all with a click of a button. When it comes to photos, the app is capable of finding images that look similar.
- ✓ Disk Space Visualizer One thing that most other cleaner tools lack is a detailed disk space visualizer. With this feature included in MacCleaner Pro, you can find out exactly what’s occupying space on your disks. You get the disk usage data in an interactive design which makes it easier for you to digest the given information.
- ✓ Clear Browser Cache Files It’s a headache to go into each browser on your Mac and remove the cache. This Mac cleaner provides a cache removal feature, that helps you remove all your caches from all your browsers in a few easy clicks.
Cons:
- 𐄂 Two days trial period The only downside of this program is that it only offers two-days trial period. However, this should be enough for most Mac users to decide whether they want to go ahead with this tool.
2. CCleaner review
- Cost: $29.95/year
- Compatibility: macOS 10.10 or later
Pros:
- ✓ Automatically Update Software A possible reason your Mac runs slower is that you have too many obsolete apps on your machine. CCleaner includes a software updater that finds your old apps and updates them for you. This way, you don’t need to manually hit up the App Store to find and install app updates.
- ✓ More Privacy in Web Browsers If you’re concerned about your web browsing history, CCleaner includes a feature that cleans up your history after you’ve finished with your web surfing. This way, you’re assured the other people using your Mac won’t see what websites you’ve visited.
- ✓ Improve Boot-Up Time CCleaner includes a startup programs manager to help you improve your boot time. Using this option, you can specify what apps are allowed to launch when you turn on your Mac. You can disable the apps that you don’t want here and your Mac will boot up faster.
Cons:
- 𐄂 No Comprehensive Cleaning Suite A major downside of this tool is that it doesn’t include a comprehensive cleaning option. You need to use a cleaning option for each of your files, instead of having a single-button that finds and removes all the junk stuff with a single-click.
3. CleanMyMac review
- Cost: $39.95/year
- Compatibility: macOS 11.0 or later
Pros:
- ✓ Mass Remove Junk Files If your Mac has lots of cached data, it’s a pain in the neck to find and remove all those unnecessary files from your computer. Luckily, this Mac cleaner includes a mass junk remover that deletes all your redundant files with a few clicks. This means, even if you have thousands of junk files, the app will delete them all in a single-click.
- ✓ Malware Prevention Many cleaning tools don’t offer a virus and malware scanner but this one does. You can use the scanner to scan your Mac, find any virus or malware, and get help to remove them from your Mac.
Cons:
- 𐄂 Too Costly Many Mac users might find the price to be a bit on the high side, and it actually is. You can find many other Mac cleaning software for much less on the market.
4. MacKeeper review
- Cost: $14.95/month
- Compatibility: macOS 10.11 or later
Pros:
- ✓ Duplicates Finder It is often the case that many apps fail to find and remove duplicate files from your Mac. MacKeeper specifically includes the ability to find duplicates of your files, and you can remove these duplicates in a few easy clicks. Obviously, you get to see what duplicates the app finds, and you can review and manually delete them if you want.
- ✓ Smart Uninstaller As you probably already know, when you remove an app from your Mac, there are still leftover files of that app that remain on your Mac computer. With the Uninstaller feature in MacKeeper, you can get rid of your unwanted apps as well as all of the files associated with them. The feature also lets you view the most less-used apps, and this gives you a chance to find and delete apps that you haven’t used in a long time.
Cons:
- 𐄂 Bad Reputation MacKeeper has had a bad reputation and there have even been claims that this app actually infects your Macs with viruses. Due to the history of this Mac cleaner, people prefer to go for other similar Mac cleaners.
- 𐄂 Expensive Compared to other similar cleanup tools, MacKeeper is a bit too expensive and many people might not shell out a huge amount of money to get this app. Most premium features are hidden behind a paywall and the price tag keeps many potential clients away from this app.
5. Cleaner One Pro review
- Cost: $14.99/year
- Compatibility: macOS 10.12 or later
Pros:
- ✓ View All Statistics on a Single Interface Cleaner One Pro shows all of your Mac’s statistics on a single interface. This way, all the essential information that you need to know about can be easily viewed. This statistics screen includes information like your CPU usage, network usage, the amount of space your junk files use, and your memory usage.
- ✓ Selectively Clean Files If you don’t want to remove all junk or other files, the app lets you selectively clean up your files. You can choose what file types you want to remove. For instance, you can click on Large Files to only find and delete files that are large in size. There are various other options to play with in the sidebar.
- ✓ Clean Files for Good The tool includes a file shredder that not only deletes your files but it deletes your files so they can’t ever be recovered. When you use this feature, your files are actually gone for good and no data recovery software can restore those files at a later time.
Cons:
- 𐄂 Developers have a bad reputation In August 2018, all apps developed by Trend Micro were deleted from the Mac App Store after researchers showed they were collecting browser history, and other users’ data and sending it to a server located in China. This fact was described on various sources including Wikipedia.
- 𐄂 No Security Features Although the app has been developed by a security firm, it doesn’t actually have any security features. So, if you want to keep your Mac protected from viruses, you will need an antivirus tool.
Conclusion
Picking the best disk cleaner for Mac is extremely important as this decides whether your Mac will have a performance boost or it will stay the way it is currently. Our guide above should help you decide what is the best cleaning software for your Mac to remove any junk files and optimize your computer’s performance.FAQs
Does Apple have a free Mac cleaner?
No, Apple doesn’t provide any built-in Mac cleaning app. However, you can use third-party applications for cleaning up your system. It’s recommended to regularly perform a deep cleanup of your disk using special Mac cleanup software. This will ensure smooth system performance and help you maintain the health of your Mac.
How do I do a deep clean on a Mac?
To perform a deep cleanup of your Mac, you can use specialized third-party Mac cleanup software. Such apps allow you to easily delete junk files, identical files, remove unwanted apps and reclaim disk space to have a cleaner and faster Mac. Look at the comparison table above to find the best Mac cleaner apps. Also, you can perform a deep Mac cleanup manually. Read the article “How to clean up a Mac” to learn how to do this.
How do I keep my Mac clean and fast?
To keep your Mac clean and fast, follow these basic tips:
- Regularly delete unnecessary files, like caches, duplicate photos, large unused files, etc.
- Keep your software up-to-date.
- Monitor RAM usage by apps and quit memory-consuming apps.
- Uninstall unused apps and delete their associated files.
- Manage startup items and disable unnecessary login items.
You can use third-party cleanup software to quickly clean up junk files and free up space on your Mac.
How many times should I clean my Mac?
There is no fixed frequency of how often you should clean up your Mac. It depends on your usage habits, the volume of free storage space, and how often you notice a decrease in Mac performance. You can use third-party Mac cleaning apps to scan your disk and get recommendations to optimize your storage and make your system run faster.
