Software That Cleans Up Mac

It knows which files are useless, how to find them and remove completely. CleanMyMac has everything to finish the 3-hour task of a Mac cleanup in under 5 minutes. It will even clean up the junk you didn’t know about and give your computer a speed boost. How to clean up system storage on Mac with CleanMyMac X: Download CleanMyMac X for free here.

Software To Clean Up Mac
Best Software To Clean Up Mac Hard Drive
Software That Cleans Up Machine

In my opinion, only about 20 percent of an app’s features should be considered premium features that users should have to pay for. However, In most cases, users really only need the other 80 percent of features which should be free. But, to get those useful 80 percent of features, users have to dig into their pockets and pay for the 20 percent of features they don’t really need.

For CleanMyMac, a disk cleaner, which part is the 80 percent you should have gotten for free? Is there an app that provides that 80 percent?

Of course, there is. I’d like to recommend Trend Micro’s Cleaner One Pro, a free app that’s comparable with CleanMyMac.

Let’s see what functions CleanMyMac provides to its subscribers that Cleaner One Pro also provides, while pointing out features in CleanMyMac that might create problems or aren’t that necessary for the average user.

1. System Junk

“System” as defined by CleanMyMac includes user cache files, system log files, as well as the application language packs. The latest version of Cleaner One Pro supports the cleanup of user cache and system files, but stops at removing application language packs due to safety considerations: for certain software, there might be program errors once the language pack is removed. Moreover, a single language pack is very small and does not significantly affect the entire disk space.

2. Photo Junk

When iPhoto users synchronize their phone camera with the computer terminal, it creates residual cache files that speed up photo browsing for the user, but also increases the burden on disk by using up space.

We can say that this kind of space consumption is a double-edged sword, since browsing is speeded up. But for infrequent iPhoto users, this feature is somewhat superfluous. You get this feature as one of CleanMyMac’s value-added services, while Cleaner One Pro merges this function into the iTunes cache-cleaning function, because this function is too simple to separate out for display.

3. Mail Attachments

When using the Mail app on the Mac, you can accumulate a lot of attachments over time. As you can see, these attachments are located in CleanMyMac, but did you know there is a risk when cleaning mail attachments? Once you have removed a mail attachment and are unable to sync to your mail server, you cannot get them back. In Cleaner One Pro, we designed mail caches into the Junk Files feature which does not affect your mail attachments.

4. Large Files

Large file scanning is a very useful feature. Users tend to ignore what they have downloaded, such as large software installation packages or movies. These large files can account for half of the disposable space of the disk. This function can indeed become a paid-for function, as it is with CleanMyMac, but in exchange for the support of its users, Cleaner One Pro provides this valuable function for free. With Cleaner One Pro you can also lock some files that you don’t want to remove in case you want to make sure you do not delete important files.

5. Disk Map

We think it is user-friendly to help you manage all the files on your hard disk using a visual map, so we added the Disk Map feature into Cleaner One Pro for free. However, no functions like this can be found in CleanMyMac.

Disk Map quickly scans your drive and builds an amazing visualization of all the files and folders on your computer, allowing you to easily navigate the system and find the content that takes up the most space.

In addition, all folders and files under the home folder are listed out by size. As for some system-required critical files, deleting them would provide a prompt that those are important and are not allowed to be removed. With the Disk Map feature you can also find out when a file or folder was created, modified or last opened. Furthermore, hovering your mouse on one folder then clicking the magnifier icon will direct you to the file location.

Conclusion

Is Cleaner One Pro worth trying? Absolutely, yes! Don’t hesitate. It not only cleans up your disk space but also solves other Mac issues you might have. In addition, we are also the least expensive cleaning app on macOS. If you still cannot afford it, you can call your friends or family to share the cost. Thanks Apple for letting us share wonderful applications together via family sharing. Regardless if you are new to the Mac or an advanced user, Cleaner One Pro will be a good choice for you. While Cleaner One Pro can help you free up a lot of space, please don’t forget to back up your important files, in case an unfortunate event happens like your hard disk malfunctions. We regard customers’ data security as the most important thing. I hope you will have fun with Cleaner One Pro in the future!

Waiting for You

Thanks for taking the time to read my article. How do you like Cleaner One Pro? Do you have any other questions or suggestions? We are trying our best to meet more needs of our users. Leave your comments here. We are always happy to hear from you.

There is a multi-billion dollar business built around selling PC and Mac cleaning software. They come in all shapes, sizes and prices and tout the necessity to clean, tune, and fix your computer so that it runs smoothly and efficiently. I’ve even written about many of these programs myself on Help Desk Geek and Online Tech Tips.

But do you really need all that software? Are there any real gains or is it just a bunch of fluff? Well the answer is, it depends. Sometimes a third-party program can provide a valuable service if you know how to use it.

However, I have found that most of the utilities recommended on the Internet are full of options and settings that can end up harming your computer more than helping. Not only that, a lot of the utilities themselves install malware onto your system, wreaking havoc.

When you talk about cleaning up a computer, whether it be a Mac or a PC, it could refer to any number of things. Let’s break down what each of those categories are and see if it makes sense to use them or not.

Registry Cleaners

A long time back, I wrote a typical 10 best registry cleaners article and basically doled out a list of popular and semi-popular registry cleaners without really explaining anything.

What does a registry cleaner actually do? Well, it basically (and theoretically) is supposed to remove unused or old entries, thereby “speeding” up your computer.

Even if you remove only those entries that are not needed, the performance impact is minimal. If you try to do a search for actual performance tests done before and after using a registry cleaner, you’ll find that there are very few actual tests and in the tests, there is basically zero difference in performance.

So that’s point one. The second issue is that a lot of registry cleaners will clean out the wrong entries. The only one that I have used and continue to use is CCleaner. It’s the only one that will not break your system.

There is really not another one I can vouch for completely. It’s best to download the free version to see the benefits first, but the Professional version includes real-time monitoring, automatic updates and unlimited support, which is what I recommend on any PC.

At the end of the day, registry cleaners can break your computer, offer no real increase in performance and waste your time. If you want to speed up your computer, read my articles on how to speed up boot times in Windows and five ways to speed up Windows 10.

Also, uninstall useless programs on your system. That does a lot more in terms of performance than cleaning your registry.

File Cleaners

File cleaners are tools that will do their best to remove junk or unused files on your computer. This includes temporary files, cookies, Windows hotfixes, cache files, history files, log files, clipboard data, etc, etc. In my view, there are only two decent programs for this that you would ever need: CCleaner and PC Decrapifier.

CCleaner does a great job of cleaning out files that you may no longer need. Again, I’ve never really saved a significant amount of space from using the tool, but if you really want to be super neat and tidy, that’s all you need.

On average, I save about 1 GB in space when I run it every few months. Not a huge amount, but good if you have a small hard drive. You should also read my other post on how to clean up disk space in Windows by adjusting Windows settings.

PC Decrapifier is a program that helps you uninstall crap software that comes with new PCs you buy from Dell, HP, etc. I personally recommend just doing a clean install first and then using your computer. Here’s my guide on doing a clean install of Windows 10.

Uninstallers

If you install a lot of software on your PC, you can easily uninstall it yourself. However, there is a whole category of software to help you uninstall programs. Is this necessary? Kind of. I personally try not to install anything on my main PC that I won’t be using every day.

If I want to try something or my kids want a game to play, etc., I use a secondary machine and install all the junk. That machine then gets wiped every few months and starts all over again. I also use a virtual machine and load other software there.

If you don’t have a second PC or don’t know how virtual PCs work, you might have software on your system that you don’t want anymore. Most software will have uninstallers to properly remove all the files, but a lot of times they leave stuff behind. On top of that, some programs simply do not come with uninstallers, which is really annoying.

In those cases, I only suggest Revo Uninstaller. It’s been around for a long time and does the best job. It’s not free, so I would only spend the money if you have a lot of programs that didn’t come with proper uninstallers. Otherwise, you can uninstall them and then run CCleaner to clean out any old or unused entries from those programs.

Also, like with most of these tools, it comes with some other utilities that you really don’t need. However, it’s still OK in my book for some users as uninstalling programs is not necessarily a smooth experience in Windows.

Startup Cleaners

Startup cleaners are the really useless programs if you ask me. Windows has built-in tools to see all the startup programs on your system and there is really no need to see the startup drivers, DLLs, etc., that some of these programs tout. Beyond simple programs, it really makes no difference unless you’re a tech geek.

A lot of the programs claim they will give you descriptions and details on each of the programs and while this may be true, you really don’t need a program for that info.

Just read my article on how to change startup programs in Windows 7/8/10, then do a Google search on any startup item you’re not sure about!

I definitely do not recommend installing a startup cleaner as it’s something that can be done by the user with a little bit of time and research. Now, can disabling startup programs make a difference? Yes!

Startup programs can really slow down your PC, so it is a good idea to disable any you think you won’t need. Again, it’s like the registry because if you disable the wrong item, your computer may not work properly. Just do a little Googling before you disable something and you’ll be fine.

Duplicate File Finders

Another set of tools are geared towards removing duplicate files. I’ve had a lot of occasions where I copied the same photos or videos off my camera and then had a bunch of extra space being used because of that.

A duplicate file finder can save your some disk space if you have a lot of photos, videos, or music that might be duplicated.

Also, make sure you don’t buy anything. There are a lot of great free programs that can find duplicates, so don’t get suckered into purchasing something just to remove duplicates.

Browser/History Cleaners

For the most part, you really do not need browser and history cleaners. You can delete your own history just fine and make sure it can’t be recovered.

Most people end up buying this software because they have some shady browsing they need to hide and they get scared that someone will find it unless they use one of these tools that claim only their program can really delete your browsing history. Complete BS. Here are some previous article I wrote on the topic:

Basically, you want to delete your browsing history using the browser and clear the cache. That’s it. You don’t need any fancy tool to do that. No one has ever been able to recover my history. I even tried to recovery my own history to see if this was good enough and it was.

Internet Speed Boosters

Software To Clean Up Mac

Internet speed boosters are another useless category of software you should never install. These programs are more likely to break your Internet connection or slow it down more than speed anything up.

You want a faster Internet connection? Get a faster wireless router, clear up interference on your wireless network, and boost your Wifi signal.

There are some occasions where changing some TCP or network settings can speed up file write/read performance over the network, but that is usually for LAN traffic and not your Internet connection. Call your ISP and increase your download speed, but don’t install a speed booster!

Conclusion

Best Software To Clean Up Mac Hard Drive

As you can see from above, I don’t recommend installing too many so-called optimizers and tune-up utilities for your PC. There are a few good programs out there, but the majority suck.