CleanMyMac X

It may seem a little strange having a CleanMyMac review on a site for photographers. The truth is though, this useful app is a huge help in freeing up hard drive space on your Mac, which can lead to quicker and smoother image editing.

When we shoot digitally, we are tied to our computers whether we like it or not. Our images seem to be getting bigger and bigger, and that eats up valuable hard drive space, that&#;s often hidden inside your Mac photo editing software or its linked folders.

Many of us have switched to solid-state (flash) drives due to the increase in performance, but prices remain high, especially when pre-installed in Mac desktops and laptops.

Highly Recommended

CleanMyMac X

Essential app for photographers to revitalize their Mac computers for optimal performance

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Needless to say, our hard drive space is precious. While a Macbook Pro will still be running well after 5 years, it’s likely that storage space will have dwindled&#;

If you can recover this lost hard drive space, there’s less need to keep upgrading hardware.

In this review of CleanMyMac X, we&#;re going to look at what it does, and what that means for your Mac.

You don&#;t have to have any technological Mac know-how to use CleanMyMac X &#; it can be as simple as opening the app and clicking the Scan button on the Welcome page.

For those who want to give their Mac a more thorough clean and tune-up, there are options for maintenance, optimization, malware removal, privacy settings, and shredder, among other things.

Let&#;s see what CleanMyMac X can do for photographers here in

What is CleanMyMacX?

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ClaenMyMac X is like a spring clean for your Mac computer, removing unnecessary files and maximising your hard drive space, optimising your system and making everything work smoother and last longer.

It replaces dozens of separate optimization tools for the Mac, such as a macOS cleaner, a performance monitor, a malware remover, and more.

You can recover tons of wasted harddrive space that lurks in iTunes, Mail, Photos, and even locate gigabytes of large hidden files.

The Safety Database identifies junk from important files. You&#;re in complete control of what CleanMyMac X deletes, and the Smart Assistant will guide you through regular disk cleanups to keep everything running as smooth as the day you bought your computer.

(If you&#;re more interested in recovering deleted files, check out our Disk Drill review.)

CleanMyMac is particularly useful for Macbooks with limited storage space, which is often the case with expensive non-replaceable SSDs.

CleanMyMac X Review

Rating: 8/10?

• 1 - Does not work
• 2 - Barely functional
• 3 - Severely lacking in most areas
• 4 - Functions, but has numerous issues
• 5 - Fine yet leaves a lot to be desired
• 6 - Good enough to buy on sale
• 7 - Great and worth purchasing
• 8 - Fantastic, approaching best-in-class
• 9 - Best-in-class
• 10 - Borderline perfection

Price: $+

MacPaw&#;s CleanMyMac X is a one-stop-shop app that keeps your Mac spick-and-span even if you&#;re not keen on getting under the software hood yourself. The user-friendly UI makes its host of features a breeze to utilize when you need to and easy to hide away when you don&#;t. Here&#;s what you should know.

When was the last time you cleared out your Mac&#;s storage? If the answer is anything short of weekly, you&#;d benefit from the simple-to-use sanitization of CleanMyMac X. Click a few buttons, get a clean Mac.

Here's What We Like

• Suite of features
• Clean UI
• Functionality transparency
• Quick and efficient

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Setup and User Interface: Neat and Tidy

To set up CleanMyMac X, download the installer from MacPaw for free and drag the .dmg file to your Applications folder. Wait for it to finish installing, then run CleanMyMac X.

With the beautifully-crafted and easy-to-navigate UI (User Interface) in front of you, setup is nearly complete (and already finished if you&#;re using the free version). If you have a license to activate, do so by clicking the Unlock Full Version button. Now select Activate Now and enter the license key you received&#;if you&#;re interested but have yet to buy the full version, click Buy Plan to browse current deals and prices (more on this later).

You&#;re all set up and ready to spruce up your Mac. Similar &#;cleanup&#; apps tend to veer off into complicated and shady software practices, failing to inform you of what they&#;re doing to your personal computer. CleanMyMac X is far on the other end of the spectrum.

It gives you an overview of what each feature does and allows you to dive deeper into the details if you so desire. You can see exactly what CleanMyMac X is removing, installing, or updating, and opt-out of any of it with the tick of a checkbox. Of course, if you&#;d rather forego the reading and just click one button to have your Mac cleaned and optimized, you can do that too.

Tip: Some CleanMyMacX operations require you to grant full disk access to the app (this is optional). You can do so by clicking Grant Access and following the on-screen instructions.

I also appreciate the straightforward, clearly visible navigation menu that sits atop the application. CleanMyMac X never feels like a maze you&#;re trying to find your way through; you know exactly where you are and what you&#;re using at any given time.

For even further ease of use, when the application window is minimized, you can use the CleanMyMac X icon on your Mac&#;s top toolbar to monitor your Mac&#;s health performance and storage (this is easy to hide or close and non-invasive of other screen elements).

Feature Overview: Everything You Need and Then Some

The suite of functionality in CleanMyMac X is impressive. This isn&#;t just a piece of software that clears your temporary files and browsing history and then claims your Mac is faster by an order of magnitude.

CleanMyMac X can help you update your macOS version and applications, clear RAM, remove pesky apps that try to stay open in background processes, and much more all from one UI. If you&#;re not sure what you should start with, consult the Assistant in the top-right corner for suggestions.

Smart Scan

&#;Smart Scan&#; is your one-click clean-up tool. Click Scan and let CleanMyMac X work its magic. The app will see what it can do to clean up your disk space, protect your Mac from any potential threats it&#;s facing, and speed up its performance.

Clicking on any of the icons will generate further details about the actions that will take place when you click Run.

Smart Scan is best for a quick weekly cleanup to make sure your Mac stays in tip-top condition&#;if you want more in-depth cleaning, see the other tabs.

Cleanup

&#;System Junk&#; aims to speed up your Mac by removing temporary files (user cache files, system log files, etc.) and resolving bugs that slow it down. As with most other processes on CleanMyMac X, you just click Scan, Review Details if you want to, then select Clean to free up disk space.

&#;Mail Attachments&#; clears up the email downloads and attachments stored on your local machine (any attachments will still be available via your inbox) to make room on your drive.

&#;Trash Bins&#; empties out the files you&#;ve moved to various trash bins but haven&#;t cleared yet. These are still taking up storage space on your Mac&#;get rid of them in two clicks with CleanMyMac X.

Protection

&#;Malware Removal&#; scours your Mac for any unusual or malicious activity and provides a full report of every file it deems suspicious. After scanning my Mac, one single threat was detected. Immediately interested and somewhat concerned, I checked the full report to discover the nasty, barbaric cyber weapon unleashed on my MacBook Pro &#;it was Adobe Flash Player&#;s install file.

While the malware tool picked up something harmless on its radar, I would rather it mark an innocent app as potentially dangerous than fail to inform me when a real threat appears. Still, if you&#;re concerned, you may want to look into running another antivirus app for your Mac.

&#;Privacy&#; takes care of your online footprint by clearing browser history, allowing you to edit application permissions (do you know what apps are allowed to access your camera?), displaying all cookies from every browser you use, and performing other similar functions.

I&#;m a big fan of how much control CleanMyMac X gives you during cleaning. If you want to delete all saved cookies from Safari, you can click one button and do so. But if there are just a few you want to get rid of, scroll through the list and tick off individual items.

Speed

&#;Optimization&#; monitors the applications that run on startup, helping you disable any that have become particularly bothersome. It also aggregates apps that consume vast amounts of processing power, known as &#;Heavy Consumers.&#; If any apps are significantly slowing your Mac down, they&#;ll show up here.

&#;Maintenance&#; is an extremely useful tab and somewhat unique to CleanMyMac X. Here, you can free up RAM, run maintenance scripts that rotate system logs, re-index Spotlight Search, repair disk errors, and more. Read through the tooltips to decide what processes are best to run on your Mac.

Applications

&#;Uninstaller&#; breaks down all of the apps on your Mac by how much you use them, what platform they come from (App Store, Steam, etc.), and which vendor distributes them. It also shows &#;leftovers,&#; which are file remnants from apps you&#;ve previously uninstalled. You can then completely remove these apps or leftovers from one tab to reclaim your disk space.

&#;Updater&#; checks for any version mismatches between applications on your local machine and the latest edition on the App Store. If anything is out of date, you can update it here.

&#;Extensions&#; keeps tabs of your Spotlight Search plugins, Safari extensions, preference panes, and shared internet plugins. If you recently installed an extension that makes accessing your browser a headache, you can safely disable it using this tool.

Files

&#;Space Lens&#; scans your drive and shows you which apps and files are taking up the most space on your Mac. Broken down into folders like &#;Applications&#; and &#;System,&#; it&#;s easy to jump into different portions of storage and clear out the cobwebs.

&#;Large & Old Files&#; is similar to Space Lens but it displays files you haven&#;t touched for considerable amounts of time. Instead of letting these forgotten files take up storage space, get rid of them with CleanMyMac X. Again, this section is sorted into helpful folders like &#;Archives,&#; &#;Documents,&#; &#;One Year Ago,&#; etc. to help you find your way around your drive.

&#;Shredder&#; completely removes any data you deem unwanted, leaving no traces behind. This is a straightforward, handy tool for making sure you free up as much disk space as possible when deleting large applications or folders.

Performance, Results, and Comparison

My MacBook Pro uses a GB Hard Drive (HDD). HDDs aren&#;t exactly the fastest by data read/write standards. Still, CleanMyMac X works quickly and efficiently to sift through your data, read what it needs to, and ignore what it doesn&#;t.

You have control over how much disk access you provide to CleanMyMac X, and you can change it at any time. If you want to grant full disk access to run a specific module like &#;Mail Attachments,&#; you can enable it temporarily and disable it as soon as the process completes. In that case, CleanMyMac X wouldn&#;t have full disk access for long: this app is fast.

Some operations take longer, like Smart Scan (which runs multiple processes concurrently), but most scanned and cleared up my Mac within 60 seconds. No one wants freeing up disk space to become a multi-hour-long ordeal, which is what makes CleanMyMac X&#;s segmented processes so convenient&#;if you know you only need to shred a few old files, there&#;s no need to waste time sifting through your Safari cookies.

I tend to take decent care of my Mac, so it wasn&#;t slow to begin with. I didn&#;t notice any major speed improvements after running CleanMyMac X because of this&#;but I did clear up over 11GB of disk space, get a better understanding of what my online privacy footprint looks like, and gain confidence that my Mac is running nearly as smooth as it possibly can.

As for a comparison to similar applications, CleanMyMac X stands out for a few reasons. Mac &#;cleanup&#; apps aren&#;t new, there are plenty available on the market. But where I find most of them lose my interest and garner suspicion is in how little they inform the user of what process their app is running at any given time.

Take MacCleaner Pro, for example. A decent all-around app for your Mac, but it&#;s not clear what&#;s going on in the background to speed or clean up your computer.

CleanMyMac X is the opposite, and I laud their transparency in this regard. I haven&#;t come across a similar app that matches CleanMyMac X&#;s level of simplicity, efficiency, and lucidity.

Should You Buy CleanMyMac X?

I recommend CleanMyMac X if you don&#;t regularly sift through and curate your data manually. If you want to click a button or two and have more space on your Mac, CleanMyMac X is certainly the app to get it done. You&#;ll also know exactly what&#;s going on with your machine every step of the way thanks to helpful tooltips, a built-in assistant, and a progress meter.

There are a couple of payment methods for CleanMyMac X: there&#;s a 1-year subscription plan starting at $ for 1 Mac device, and a one-time purchase plan starting at $ for 1 Mac. You can also purchase plans to cover two or five Mac devices in either subscription or one-time purchase form. You can also give the free version a try, which limits functionality but gives you a decent overall feel of CleanMyMac X.

Be sure to check if you can apply any discounts, MacPaw runs some solid deals. For example, if you&#;re switching over from another scrubbing app, you can take 40% off your order. If you can snag a discount, it&#;s absolutely worth a one-time purchase for a consistently-clean Mac in my mind.

Rating: 8/10

Price: $+

Here’s What We Like

• Suite of features
• Clean UI
• Functionality transparency
• Quick and efficient

CleanMyMac X is a powerful, feature-rich and intuitive tool for monitoring and cleaning up your Mac to optimize performance. It has a simple, intuitive interface which makes it super easy for anyone to use. In just two clicks, CleanMyMac X scans your entire system and removes gigabytes of junk to make your Mac as good as new.

Cleaning your Mac has never been easier. CleanMyMac X scans every inch of your Mac with just one click, then removes all the junk it finds to optimize your Mac performance. It only selects files that are % safe to delete, so you'll never need to worry about accidentally deleting an important file again. CleanMyMac X can even discover the files you forgot existed, gathering together all the files that haven't been opened in a long time, so you can decide what's really worth keeping.

Key features include:

• Intuitive scanning.
• Handy dashboard.
• Mac speedup and maintenance.
• Uninstaller.
• System junk removal.
• Locate hidden files.
• Disable start-up apps.
• iTunes, mail and Photos clean-up.
• Enhance privacy.
• Faster internet experience.
• Secure file eraser.
• Mac health alerts.
• Built-in safety database.
• 24/7 support.

CleanMyMac X makes it extra easy to maintain your Mac and improve its performance. It removes unwanted applications the right way, leaving no leftover pieces to weigh down your system. Optimize your Mac in ways you never thought possible and take its performance to a whole new level. It also keeps your online and offline activity private, clearing your digital footprint in just one click.

With CleanMyMac X, the health of your Mac is the top priority. It sends you alerts and notifications about the health of your Mac, including heavy memory use, low SSD life, and high disk temperature. If there's an issue, CleanMyMac X tells you exactly what's happening, and how to fix it, right away.

Overall, CleanMyMac X is an intuitive Mac clean-up, maintenance and optimization tool that's incredibly intuitive, sleek and easy to use. You can scan your entire system and remove heaps of junk files to improve performance in just two clicks. It is feature-rich and offers more advanced features than some alternative tools, offering improved effectiveness in removing junk files. It's a good price for the number of features included, and even includes a day moneyback guarantee and free version. Interested? Download CleanMyMac X today and try it for yourself.

Read the full review of CleanMyMac 3 on FileHippo.

Technical

Title:

CleanMyMac X for Mac

Requirements:

Language:

English

Available languages:

• English,
• Chinese,
• German,
• Spanish,
• French,
• Italian,
• Japanese,
• Korean,
• Dutch,
• Polish,
• Portuguese,
• Russian

License:

Trial version

Latest update:

Monday, August 29th

Author:

MacPaw Inc.

protomill.pt

SHA

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Filename:

protomill.pt

Changelog

We don't have any change log information yet for version of CleanMyMac X. Sometimes publishers take a little while to make this information available, so please check back in a few days to see if it has been updated.

Can you help?

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App Store)

Know the Pros and Cons of CleanMyMac X

One of the biggest flexes CleanMyMac X has on its competitors is how easy to use and how pretty the UI is. With just a few clicks, you can get some extra space on your Mac and observe a visible improvement in processing speed and overall user experience.

However, the major drawback is that CleanMyMac X may also boast too many features than it needs to. For instance, an email cleaner is hardly helpful since it couldn't help clean thousands of junk emails we had. The same applies to the browser cleaner; you don't need third-party software to manage your browser's privacy since it's easier to do that within the browser itself.

The extra features seem like an attempt to justify its price. It also leaves a trail of numerous mini-programs to support the main program, which can strike you as a bit messy. Still, whatever mess it creates, this utility app compensates for it with a brilliant UI, proactive features, and neat item lists.

Should You Use CleanMyMac X?

CleanMyMac X is a great tool worth checking out for yourself, but its price is an important factor to consider. The software is more expensive than its competitors but offers really good value for its money.

If you have the money, it's best to go for the one-time payment option. But if you don't, you might save more money by opting for an alternative, like OnyX or CCleaner.

This is not a review per se, it is a discussion of the class of software to which this program belongs. As a public service to the MacUpdate community, I&#;ve found as many of these "cleaner" apps on this website as I could and listed them them below. Before you even *think* of installing any of them, PLEASE read this: protomill.pt There are now 76 (that&#;s SEVENTY-SIX) programs in the list, and it seems like new entries in the &#;Mac cleaner&#; market space pop up every day, metastasizing like a cancer. Unfortunately, more is not better. They are all of dubious value. Many have no reviews here. Many have what look to be essentially fake 5-star reviews with no useful commentary. Many -- probably the most accurate and honest -- have negative reviews, by users who have been burned by them. Most of the developers&#; descriptions boast about what a great job they do, but the truth is, there are no good, comprehensive, head-to-head reviews of these programs by impartial 3rd parties. True experts in macOS maintenance advise against using any of them, because in general they serve little useful purpose and they can easily do more harm than good. Macs simply do not need "cleaning." (See for example: protomill.pt) Some of these programs are notorious for being little more than malware. Many have "disk" in their name, although disks, especially internal ones, are now a thing of the past. (Although macOS still comes with the storage drive initialized as "Macintosh HD," a quaint relic of a bygone era.) You are well-advised to read any program documentation and make a RELIABLE BACKUP before attempting any changes. If I have missed any programs that should be on the list, please leave a comment and let me know. I will rate all these programs with one star, probably one more than they deserve. And I would appreciate comments. If you disagree, please speak up. But if all you can come up with is 5 stars and a sentence or two saying that program X is great and I don&#;t know what I&#;m talking about, please save your breath. No one here will take you seriously. And I apologize for the almost unreadable formatting, a severe limitation of MacUpdate itself, which compresses maximum text into minimum space, leaving no whitespace for readability. TTS is a an exceptional piece of quality engineering, safe when used properly, and superbly documented, with in-depth tutorials for every option. One of its many components is called "Uninstallation Assistant," which will find and remove app components, probably better -- and more safely -- than anything listed above. 2) OnyX, from Titanium Software, has a loyal following and gets good reviews here. 3) I have used Northern Softworks&#; "Cache Cleaners" in the past (the latest being "Big Sur Cache Cleaner," which I have not used) and their products were always first rate. Still, the same warnings apply. You can&#;t just go hacking into your Mac, removing files willy-nilly, not knowing what function they perform. As for the SEVENTY-SIX, listed above, it is safe to say that nobody who really knows what they&#;re doing with Macs and macOS will touch them. Don&#;t get sucked in by a pretty interface. You may very well regret it. -SB

Macs are typically effective and dependable machines you can use efficiently for many years. But just like every other piece of technology, sometimes they may get clogged with unnecessary (maybe even harmful) files, programs, and processes.

If you're looking for a way to make your Mac as efficient as you remember it, CleanMyMac X may be worth your time. But, before we dive into its features, let's quickly go over what exactly CleanMyMac X is all about.

What Is CleanMyMac X?

CleanMyMac X is a third-party utility software you can use to perform various disk cleaning, app management, and antivirus functions on your computer. It also tracks your Mac's battery (if applicable), CPU load, disk or SSD space, and memory.

This software was created by MacPaw in and has expanded to include many features since its inception. It is arguably one of the most popular cleaning tools out there. CleanMyMac X is on the App Store, meaning that it is verified by Apple and completely safe to download.

Other similar utility software includes OnyX, AVG TuneUp, and Smart Mac Care. You can discover more cleaning and optimization apps for your Mac if you're looking for alternatives.

CleanMyMac X Features

From to date, CleanMyMac X has compiled features that are now grouped into five major categories: Cleanup, Protection, Speed, Applications, and Files.

However, its standout feature is its Smart Scan, which allows you to easily identify issues on your Mac and deal with them through three paths: Cleanup, Protection, and Speed.

System and Browser Cleanup

After clicking the Smart Scan button, CleanMyMac X allows you to review what files are fair game to throw away in your Mac's spring cleaning. We observed that the major culprit this utility app guns for are cache files. Even though you can clear system and internet caches manually, a cleaning app like this typically eases this process.

Before getting rid of your caches, please look at what CleanMyMac may have selected. Caches aren't completely useless and can make using certain features on your computer faster. After you click Review Details in the Smart Scan section, you can deselect useful cache files. In this case, we left our Apple Music cache, so we can easily stream music when connected to poor WiFi.

You should be aware that CleanMyMac's cleaner will also delete system and user logs. So, we also unticked the Zoom log folder because we still have some important information there.

While this might be neat for the more casual users, people who use information in such logs might find this an inconvenient minus for CleanMyMac X.

MacPaw's application also extends its file-cleaning services to the Mail app and the Trash in macOS.

Like Smart Scan, you can also select what you would like CleanMyMac X to delete from the Trash permanently.

Built-In App Uninstaller and Updater

If you struggle to keep track of your apps, updating and deleting them can become a chore for you. In that case, you might love the Applications segment of CleanMyMac X. Why? Because the UI is better than your Mac's.

CleanMyMac X presents a segmented and easy-to-look-at view of all your applications, where you got them from, and a big round button to press to remove them. All of which Apple doesn't offer by default in a Mac.

CleanMyMac's app management even extends to Safari extensions, allowing you to remove them without opening the Launchpad or Safari. But if you're new to Safari, you can learn how to find, install and remove Safari extensions the default way.

The Updater is also pretty nifty since it tracks your outdated apps and suggests updates. What's more, you can also use it to update your OS.

Malware Removal Tool and Menu Bar Window

The anti-malware tool in the "Protection" category is also straightforward. You can launch a quick scan to search your device for suspicious programs. But for some reason, CleanMyMac X has to install a little "helper" program to do this job.

We found the menu bar window another useful feature. You will open a window that tracks your computer in real-time if you click the little monitor icon at the top-right corner of the macOS menu bar that represents CleanMyMac X.

Here, you can quickly see statistics on your computer, from WiFi speed to disk space. You can also check your Mac's battery cycle count and health by clicking Battery in this window.

However, note that the battery health slightly differs from what Apple shows in System Preferences. While we can't be certain which one is more accurate, you can err on the side of caution and track your battery with another information source.

Is CleanMyMac X Free?

CleanMyMac X isn't free but offers a free trial version that allows you to clean MB of trash files. You can also buy the full application for:

• $ for one Mac
• $ for two Macs
• $ for five Macs

You can also buy the product and ask for a full rebate after buying it if you're not satisfied with it.

If you're not comfortable with paying outright, you can save some money and pay for an annual subscription at:

• $ for one Mac
• $ for two Macs
• $ for five Macs

First-time buyers also stand a chance to get 25% off on their first purchase. Using it on a one-time purchase instead of a yearly plan might be a good idea because you'll get more bang for your buck.

Download: CleanMyMac X (MacPaw Final Words

This useful app removes unnecessary files from your Mac and makes it run better. It achieves that with a beautifully designed interface that’s incredibly satisfying and very simple to use.

As photographers, our image editing programs are graphics-heavy and we need our Macs to run fast.

If your system is too clogged up with unnecessary files (which are usually not immediately obvious), you may experience hang-ups or crashes in the middle of an image edit &#; there&#;s nothing worse than that, especially if you haven&#;t been saving your progress!)

CleanMyMac X is an invaluable tool for photographers to free up precious space, protect your privacy, get rid of junk, and keep your Mac in tip-top condition.

I’ll finish this review off by saying that you do have to put a lot of faith in this app in order to reap the most benefit &#; there&#;s a lot that goes on behind the scenes to make your Mac run faster, and you need to leave the software to do what it does best.

If you own a Mac, click the button below to download a free trial copy of CleanMyMac X right now. Then leave us a comment below to let us know what you think of it.

Highly Recommended

CleanMyMac X

Essential app for photographers to revitalize their Mac computers for optimal performance

Check Current Price