Aug 27, 2021 Having an free Mac virus cleaner installed on your Mac is one of the most important things that you should do and have on your Mac. This is for your Mac to become safe and protected from any malware infestations. Antivirus software has the ability to remove any threat and suspicious files, folders, or applications on your Mac. While shortlisting the best free Mac cleaner app 2021, it is important that you pay close attention to the performance-boosting features that it claims to provide. Our curated list of Mac cleanup tools below will help you compare all the renowned cleaners available in the current marketplace. Jun 01, 2021 Clean Me is an open source cleaner for Mac that started as a personal project and gradually evolved into a compelling alternative to the best disk cleaners for Mac. It can clean everything from the Trash folder to downloaded mail attachments, document revisions, app, user, and system caches, spotlight indexing data, system logs, and more. Learn how to clean your Mac desktop computer. Mac Pro, Mac mini, and iMac. If your iMac has nano-texture glass, learn how to clean the nano-texture glass on your Apple display. First, shut down your Mac and unplug the power cord along with other connected devices. Then use a damp, soft, lint-free cloth to clean the computer's exterior. Dec 29, 2020 No.5 Free Mac cleaner: Dr. Cleaner – Free memory, disk, system cleaner. Cleaner is one free Mac cleaning app to offer Memory Optimization, Disk Cleaning and System Monitoring to keep your Mac optimized for the best performance. Smart and accurate selection for duplicates scan and remove on Mac with OS X 10.6.6 or later.
So you’ve had your Mac for a while, and things don’t feel as fresh and clean as they used to? Although Macs don’t require a lot of maintenance for cleaning, those temporary files, app leftovers, and system cache do accumulate. These files may slow down your machine and take up a lot of valuable space. In this article, we share quick and easy ways to clean up your MacBook. If you want to clean up your Mac manually, jump to the section linked below. Let’s get started!
How to clean your Mac automatically
Here’s a simple diagram to explain the most common types of computer junk, sorted by size. Some of these, like Trash bin files, are easily reachable, while others are stored away in hidden system folders. Sadly, there’s no easy way to clear them up without special skills.
If you don’t feel like spending the next several hours cleaning your Mac manually, you can use a powerful cleaning tool CleanMyMac X to find and remove all the clutter your Mac contains. It knows which files are useless, how to find and remove them completely. CleanMyMac X 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.
- Run the app and go to System Junk.
- Click Scan.
- Press Clean to get rid of all junk.
Done! Now your Mac looks much better!
How to Clean Mac Hard Drive Manually
If you never performed an automatic or manual system cleaning — it means that your Mac has been collecting unnecessary files and clutter for years. You can quickly clean up your Mac with these easy steps.
1. Clean up cache
You’ve probably heard “Remove your cache” as a web browser troubleshooting tip. In fact, your Mac stores a lot of information in files called caches, allowing fast access to that data and reducing the need to get it from the original source again. Unfortunately, those files take a lot of space on your Mac, and instead of speeding things up, they slow your computer down. Therefore, if you want to give your system a boost, clean your Mac from the cache files.
There are two ways to do that: you can delete them manually or use a MacBook cleaner like CleanMyMac X to do the job for you. Of course, the second way is an easy and fast one. However, if you decide to clean up the cache manually, check out a comprehensive guide on “How to Clear Cache on a Mac.”
2. Uninstall apps you don’t use
The applications you’ve installed on your Mac take up space, of course. And over time when your Mac becomes full of different apps, it may start running slowly. How to clean MacBook? In the first place, you need to remove the apps you no longer use or need. To do this, right-click on the app you want to remove and choose Move to Bin.
You may be surprised to find out that sending an app to the Trash will not uninstall it completely because the app leftovers still remain on your Mac taking up a lot of storage. So, if you want to be a responsible Mac user, you need to uninstall applications the right way. Here’s a step-by-step guide on “How to Uninstall Apps on a Mac.”
Extra step: Trim down your login items
Login items are applications that run automatically upon startup. Nowadays, every second app tries to become as prominent as possible and get into your Login Items. First of all, you may not even know what they are (not all of them appear in the Dock). Secondly, such apps consume memory. That's enough reason to get rid of extra login items you don't need.
- Open System Preferences.
- Go to Users & Groups.
- Choose your nickname on the left.
- Choose the Login Items tab.
- Check startup programs you want to remove.
- Press the “–” sign below.
You’re done.
3. Clean out useless duplicates
Identical photos, music tracks you’ve added one time too many, saved and re-saved PDF files… all of that sits on your Mac and gobbles up storage. The storage that could be used for better purposes.
So how do you quickly weed them out? The fastest way is to use Gemini 2: The Duplicate Cleaner.
- Download and launch the app
- Click “Scan for Duplicates”, and watch as it quickly fetches them from different corners of your Mac.
- Once the scan is done, hit Review Results and check which copies you want to remove.
- Click Smart Cleanup to delete everything you’ve selected.
That's it. Now your Mac should be completely duplicate-free.
4. Empty the Trash
Even though you’ve deleted the files, they reside in your Trash bin taking up a lot of storage on your Mac. They are just waiting to be removed completely. If you want your precious hard drive space back, you need to empty the Trash.
Here’s how to clean your MacBook from the trash:
- Click and hold on the Trash can icon in the Dock.
- Click Empty and then Empty Trash.
The process is quite simple, right? There is even a more effortless way to clear Trash. CleanMyMac X scans your Mac for junk and lets you remove all trashed files. To do that, launch CleanMyMac X and press Scan. When the scan is completed, click Review Details to see what exactly CleanMyMac X has found.
I’ve already cleaned Bin a couple of weeks before, but over some time, almost a gigabyte of trashed files has accumulated. Now, I can simply click Back to Summary and then Run to clean Trash and system junk.
5. Reduce clutter
Apple has already thought about the clutter that can be generated on the Macs and provided a possible solution. Here’s how to reduce clutter on your Mac:
- Go to the Apple menu.
- Choose About This Mac and then Storage. Here you can see how much free space is left on your computer.
- Then click Manage.
Here’re some recommendations for saving space on your Mac. You can choose Review Files to examine apps, documents, and other files that are stored on your Mac.
You can choose any file in every category (Applications, Bin, Documents, etc.) and click Delete to remove it and optimize space. Look through other recommendations and make the necessary changes to use your Mac’s space more efficiently.
6. Delete large and old files
It has always been a rule of thumb among computer geeks, that you should keep a minimum of 15-20% of free space on your main hard drive. This is just a rough estimation, but the more free space you have, the faster your Mac works. A computer magazine once performed a test on this, which concluded that the difference in speed can reach as much as 35%. If you work with heavy graphics or video rendering, even more free space is recommended.
How to have more free space? Delete large and old files.
The first way is totally manual and requires you to find them one by one, while for the second way, you just need to make two clicks and CleanMyMac X will do the job for you.
How to clean up Mac with CleanMyMac X:
- Download CleanMyMac X (a link to a free edition of the app)
- Launch the program.
- Go to the Large and Old Files section on the menu.
- Click Scan.
- Review the details, select what to clean, and then click Clean.
That’s it!
7. Remove old iOS backups
Having your files backed up is a wonderful thing. But over time your Mac becomes overloaded with old backups that take gigabytes of storage on your hard drive. That’s why you should consider removing the old iOS backups you no longer need. Wineskin mac os high sierra download.
Each backup remains stored on your computer and is accessible via iTunes. To delete the old backups, you need to do the following:
- Choose the Apple menu and then select About This Mac.
- Go to the Storage tab and click Manage.
- Here, choose iOS Files.
- Select the backup you want to remove and click Delete.
- Confirm and you’re done!
That’s it! The backup files are gone from your Mac forever.
8. Wipe out Language files
Unused language localizations take up about1 GB of storage space. Mac applications come with language files for every language they support. It allows starting using the app in that language immediately. Cool, right? Not always. Just consider: when was the last time you used the app in Bengali or Korean? Since you don’t speak those languages, such files just waste space on your Mac. You need to remove the unnecessary language files and clean MacBook from that clutter.
How to delete the language files? Go to Finder > Applications, then right-click the app which language files you want to remove and choose Show Package Contents. Open the Resources folder and then find folders ending with “.lproj.” Every folder contains language files for one particular language. Note that for every app you should manually find and select the files to remove. But there is an automatic way to delete the language files that will save you tons of time — CleanMyMac X. Just download the application (for free) and it will do the job for you.
9. Delete old DMGs
Disk images (DMGs) often take up valuable space on your Mac. Here’s how to perform a Mac cleanup and get rid of those files:
- Open Finder and type “.dmg” in the search bar.
- Then delete all files that have .dmg extensions. Don’t forget to remove them from Trash as well.
CleanMyMac X allows you to locate and delete DMGs quicker. With its System Junk module you can remove unused disk image with a single click of a button:
Just press Clean and it’s done!
10. Sort your Downloads folder
Do you also download things and never get rid of them? Then, your Downloads folder probably needs a good old sort out. If you’re too scared to face that enormous pile of files, here’s a quick trick: sort all your downloaded items by date added. Then, scroll till the end of the folder, and you’ll see the dusty files that have been there for a while. Command-click to highlight multiple files and send them to the Trash.
11. Tidy up your desktop
Many people use Desktop as their primary destination for files. But this could be tricky because your OS treats every file on a desktop as an active window. When items on your desktop are too many, Finder gets substantially slower. This leads us to the most compelling advice in this article — cleaning up desktop does miracles!
Rather than just leaving every file on your desktop, organize them into folders. The latest macOS does that automatically thanks to the Stacks feature: right-click your Desktop and choose Use Stacks. Now all your files are grouped and you can delete them with a click. You can also use Google Drive, Dropbox, or any external storage device to save your files and keep your desktop tidy.
12. Clean your Mac’s keyboard
Our last but not least advice is to wipe your Mac’s keyboard. As you use your keyboard daily, it quickly gets dirty. Moreover, all those crumbs may live under the keys forever!
If you were wondering how to clean Mac’s keyboard, there are no special rules here. You can try blowing the dust and other particles out of your keyboard once in a while. Disinfecting wipes and alcohol-based sprays may also prove useful. Just choose the piece of fabric and wipe the keys gently to make them clean and shiny!
All in all, be careful with your system files. Don’t delete things you’re not sure about. If you are not completely confident that you can manage the task by yourself, better use a dedicated utility like CleanMyMac X to get a fresh and clean Mac in just two clicks. Here's the video describing quick tips to clean up your Mac:
Happy cleaning!
By Gina Barrow, Last updated: February 2, 2021
All activities on Mac saves temporary and unimportant files including the things we save, bookmark, download, browse, and many more. Over time, these files tend to slow down and affect the performance of the device.
To ensure that your Mac is well-performing, you can remove all these junks manually or use a program to automatically clear out these files safely and conveniently.
To make the cleaning on Mac easier, therefore, we are going to discuss the best 5 Mac Cleaners for 2020 here. Let's check out the best free Mac Cleaner for 2021 and discover its advantages!
Tips:
What is the best free mac cleaner in 2021?
- FoneDog Mac Cleaner
- CleanMyMac 3
- Dr. Cleaner
- DaisyDisk
- Data Rescue
#1. Best Free Mac Cleaner in 2021 - FoneDog Mac Cleaner
The best Mac cleaner should have the analysis, cleanup, and optimization features to really get through the whole idea of removing unnecessary files and speed up the system.
FoneDog Mac Cleaner has the complete, comprehensive, and most effective solution, so far. It does not only boost your device's performance but rather ensures that every part of your Mac is working, stable, and at its peak level. May users are now switching to FoneDog Mac Cleaner because of these features and user-friendly interface.
FoneDog Toolkit - Mac Cleaner has all the essential tools needed to ensure that your Mac is running efficiently and effectively. It has the following powerful features:
- System Status
- Mac Cleaner
- Similar Image Finder
- Duplicate Files Finder
- Mac App Uninstaller
- Extensions Manager
- Browser Privacy Cleanup
- File Shredder
This program easily locates and deletes unnecessary files to free up space, analyze system status including the CPU status, memory, and disk usage. One of its best features is being user-friendly and no-beating-around-the-bush steps which make it one of the top choices of Mac users. FoneDog Mac Cleaner offers a free version for you to download and try!
People Also Read17 Reasons that Why Your Mac Running Slow!How to Speed up Your iMac/MacBook?
#2. CleanMyMac 3
CleanMyMac 3 by MacPaw is the third-gen utility offering useful tools. Its interface is simple yet it offers a variety of functions.
Apple Cleaner Free Download Mac
- General system clean
- Removing temporary files
- Deleting unnecessary parts of applications
- Removing any app files left after uninstalling
- Search and remove cache files or junk files
This program offers a free version for you to try too for a limited amount of file and requires purchase for a premium version.
#3. Dr. Cleaner
Dr. Cleaner is also a standout Mac cleaning software that sorts the disk usage results in categories and sub-categories after scanning. It offers 3 major features:
- Memory Optimization
- Disk Cleaning
- and System Monitoring
Its latest added features, Dr. Cleaner provides Junk Files Cleaner, Big Files Scanner, Duplicate Files Finder, Intelligent App Manager, and File Shredder.
#4. DaisyDisk
DaisyDisk primarily focuses on scanning and analyzing the disk. It scans the disk to create a map of files and folders to keep all displayed information up to date and can scan multiple disks in parallel. Its colorful interface is also compelling with features:
- Scans multiple disks in parallel and at maximum speed
- Conveniently erases files right in the app
However, when it comes to complete cleanup solution, DaisyDisk only offers single-functionality which can be a con to most Mac users looking for an all-in-one solution.
#5. Data Rescue
Data Rescue is another Mac cleaning app to look for but its strengths are more on recovering hard drive. You can use Data Rescue when you are planning to recover files from a collapsed hard drive or from a failed and deleted file recovery. Nevertheless, Data Rescue is not really a Mac Cleaner, it can optimize through and clean up poorly performing files inside your Mac and other system areas that cause performance issues.We have just discovered the best 5 Mac cleaners for 2021 above. We hope that this article has helped you in your search for finding the best software that suits your needs. Each of the software we gave has its own pros and cons based on the exact functionality you are looking for.
Surely, using dedicated software will save you a lot of time rather than manually stressing yourself in finding these culprits and space-eaters inside your device. Remember that if you are using your computer on a daily basis, you should have a regular cleanup to ensure that it is on its well-running condition.
Although doing it manually saves you money, however, the safety and convenience of your files are also to be considered especially when you are unfamiliar with how these technicalities work. Besides, you can have longer benefits of using dedicated software, where you can use the time to spend on more important things.
Have you tried using a Mac cleaner? What's the best solution for you? Let us know in the comments below!