If your Mac is a few year old then you may well discover that it ’s not as quick on its feet as it used to be – it may take a recollective time to start up properly , or to open up and launch apps , or you may find that you ’re getting word of advice about run out of disk space when you stress to install new apps and software . It ’s relatively rare for your Mac ’s physical ironware – such as its internal hard - drive or unanimous - state drive – to really malfunction , but you may sometimes find that your drive is simply stuffed to the gill with old apps and files that are clogging up your organization and decelerate everything down .
Storage Settings
Apple does provide some help for these problem , and the macOS includes a identification number of built - in options that can help if you need to domesticise some of your Mac ’s warehousing . In Ventura ( 13.0 ) and later versions of the macOS you’re able to go to the Apple Menu to reach the System preferences dialog box , select General and then choose storehouse . For older versions of the macOS you involve to launch the Apple Menu , blue-ribbon About This Mac , and then select memory .
The Storage mount control panel gives you a break - down of how much memory your Mac ’s drive has , how much has been used , and even the amount of blank space take up by different types of files . you could see how much place is take up by all your personal and work - related papers , your Photos and Music library , as well as Mail messages and other types of files . I was surprised to find that my MacBook had a whopping 30 GB of file pose in the Trash ( Bin ) , so I could catch back 30 GB of storage just by remembering to empty the Trash more often .
fortuitously , the Storage preferences panel does include a identification number of option for make do your Mac ’s memory board – include an choice to empty the Trash mechanically once a month . There ’s also an Optimize Storage characteristic that delete motion-picture show and tv set shows that you ’ve already observe on Apple TV , and you may also save distance by go a flock of your files off your Mac up into iCloud Drive , although , of course of action , you ’ll want to sign up for an iCloud+ subscription if you require more than the 5 GB of online storage that Apple leave for free . ( We have details of Apple’siCloud storage programme here ) .
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What could go wrong?
The Storage preferences options do n’t provide much avail for other types of file , though , leaving it up to you to clean up your Mac ’s storage by yourself . It ’s not unmanageable to delete old data file and documents that you do n’t require any longer – although sometimes the hard part is simply think where you left them all in the first place . It ’s also easy to edit previous apps , simply by dragging them from the Applications folder into the Bin . However , most apps also go away turn of data and other file floating around on your Mac ’s thrust as well , and these can still take up a circle of space even after you ’ve deleted the main app itself .
There ’s also one other bent of files that take up a lot of space that Apple really does n’t want you to bear on at all . That , of course of action , is the macOS – the Mac operating system itself . The macOS mainly survive in the system of rules folder on your Mac ’s hard thrust , but it can also create peck of data point files during daily use that can be found in various other locations on your Mac . Looking at the Storage configurations jury on my MacBook tell apart me that the macOS itself only takes up about 10 GB of storage – but there ’s another 20 GB of ‘ system data ’ file also store on my Mac as well . I could in all probability save several gigabyte of storage space bydeleting some of these single file . However , Apple does n’t advance you to mess with these system of rules file yourself as there is a real possibility that you could unintentionally delete something important and possibly even stop your Mac from working properly at all .
What does CleanMyMac X do?
CleanMyMac
This is where a prick such asCleanMy Maccan come in handy . CleanMyMac was develop by MacPaw specifically to clear out sometime System Indian file , unused apps and documents that might be slowing your Mac down . It also include additional prick to remove malware and fine - tune your Mac ’s performance . It ’s deserving cite that the current translation 5.x is called CleanMyMac and runs on macOS 11 ( Big Sur ) or later , but the previous edition 4.x was address CleanMyMac X , and can still be download for use on older versions of the macOS .
you may bribe CleanMyMac directly from theMacPaw website , with several options usable . you could either corrupt it for a one - clip fee of $ 119.95/£101.95 or compensate an one-year subscription of $ 39.95/£30.95 . There are also multi - user licenses available , as well as educatee discounts and volume license for business exploiter . MacPaw tell that CleanMyMac has been notarized and approved by Apple , so it should be safe to download from the web . There ’s also a version available from the Mac App Store as well , but that version of the plan lack a few features that are available in the full version that you corrupt directly from MacPaw , as Apple prefers to invalidate feature of speech that delve too deeply into the macOS itself .
CleanMyMac X is one of our favored Mac cleaner apps that we ’re review and compare in our roundup of thebest Mac cleaner apps .
How to use CleanMyMac
Smart Scan
Foundry
CleanMyMac bring home the bacon a wide stove of different tools , but they ’re organized into five main family , which are listed in the sidebar on the left - script side of the app ’s main window . These categories are Cleanup , Protection , Performance , Applications and My Clutter ( the icons for each class are n’t pronounce , but there ’s a tool tip that appears when you vacillate your mouse over each ikon ) .
There ’s also one other option available when you first launch the app , called Smart Care . This allows the app to mechanically scan your Mac and make hypnotism for all the different types of filing cabinet that you’re able to delete to save distance , as well as other options for boosting your Mac ’s public presentation . When the app has finished scan your Mac it displays the results as a set of five ‘ tiles ’ , which reflect the five master class of puppet within the program , so let ’s take a closer look at those now .
Cleanup
Top of the list in the sidebar is the Cleanup class . There are four tools in here , with each tool represented by a ‘ roofing tile ’ that shows a quick summary of its results and the files that it has establish . One of the most important prick is System Junk , which deals with those cryptical ‘ system information ’ files that can be see scattered around various locations on your Mac ’s drive . Fortunately , CleanMyMac know where to look for these data file – and , most importantly , it knows how to erase system junk without sham important filing cabinet that your Mac demand for run properly .
There ’s a Trash Bins tool that can empty your main Bin , but – if you give it permission – it can also quickly clear out the tripe bins that are included within apps like Photos or Mail too . The app can also locate multiple versions of ‘ binary ’ ( programs ) and document that may be taking up superfluous space .
Review Your Results
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Each roofing tile within CleanMyMac show you a warm summary of the files that it has found , and you may quickly edit those file merely by pressing the ‘ uncontaminating ’ button . However , there ’s also a ‘ Review ’ clit for each roofing tile that lets you delve a trivial deeper and shows you more item about the individual files that it has set up . I ’ve got quite a few cache files left over from various games , so I can just go out front and come to the ‘ Clean ’ button to get rid of those mechanically .
Protection
The 2d set of tools within CleanMyMac is designed to protect both your Mac and your privacy . Again , there ’s a set of roofing tile that summarise the results for different pecker , which include malware shelter , temporary file depart by Safari and other browsers , and alias linked to recently opened apps and document . CleanMyMac can scan your Mac for malware , but it ’s worth stress that it does n’t provide the same auspices as consecrated anti - virus apps such as BitDefender or Norton , so it ’s deserving consider alternative if you really are disquieted about viruses on your Mac .
Read abouthow good CleanMyMac is at dealing with viruses .
Intego ’s Mac net Securityis our recommendation in ourround - up of Mac antivirus apps .
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Performance
functioning is the main reason most of us determine to clean up our Macs , so this is a fundamental set of tools . The three tiles here recommend a number of upkeep tasks that can facilitate to keep thing running swimmingly . They also check for Login items that launch whenever your bit on your Mac , and item that may ladder in the background without you realizing . As you probably know , there is a standardised choice for showing Login and Background items in your Mac ’s System options , but pressing the Review release in CleanMyMac may provide a little extra detail that may not show up in System options – such as the fact that I have about 14 unlike Adobe apps running in the background on my MacBook .
Applications
You do n’t involve CleanMyMac to narrate you when there ’s an update usable for the macOS , of course , but it can leave additional information about various apps that have update uncommitted , or apps that you may have try on to remove in the recent past times . There ’s a tile that lists ‘ App Leftovers ’ , which are filing cabinet left behind when you cancel the main program file itself ( with my game library being a big wrongdoer here once more ) . There are also files that are sometimes left behind during the installation of novel apps . CleanMyMac can also bring home the bacon reminders about honest-to-god applications that have n’t been used for a while , which you might be able to delete to rid up some space .
My Clutter
We all have rafts of old files that we no longer need stored on our Mac drive , but sometimes it can be hard to remember where they all are . CleanMyMac can read individual folders that you peg down so as to place matching files , old downloads that you do n’t need anymore , or peculiarly prominent files that are taking up a lot of space . It can discover duplicate photos too – although it will call for for permission to read your Photos library before doing so . Again , the tiles in CleanMyMac give you a speedy sum-up of the files that it ’s ascertain , and you could campaign ‘ Review ’ to surf through the various files in more point before deleting them .
Memory hogs and more
One feature article of CleanMyMac that is sometimes overlook is the pulldown menu that appears in your Mac ’s main bill of fare bar . This is available even when CleanMyMac itself is n’t running , so it ’s a just fashion of quickly check to see if there are any problems on your Mac . Again , there ’s a serial of tiles that ply quick summaries for detail such as your laptop computer ’s barrage health and run temperature . It can show you the amount of memory and processor might being used by various apps , and permit you speedily shut down any apps that are hogging too much memory . It can even curb the speeding of your wi - fi meshwork and tell you how much data you ’ve downloaded late .
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