Q: Is there a better alternative to CleanMyMac?

Do not use Clean My Mac. That is probably the best suggestion. You Mac do not need to be cleaned with any third party "cleaner"

You don't need any such product.  Macs do a great job of maintaining themselves.  You don't need any cleaners, refreshers, optimizers, organizers, or whatever else they're called.  The only thing you need to maintain your computer in good working condition is the gray matter between your ears.  That's it.

yes, shooting yourself in the foot with a high caliber hunting rifle is a better alternative to Clean my Mac.

Mac OS does a great job of keeping itself clean. Windows; that's another story, called Clean my Windows, or Windex I think.

How to maintain a Mac

Make two or more backups of all your files

One backup is not enough to be safe. A copy of a backup doesn't count as another backup; all backups must be made directly from the original data.

Keep at least one backup off site at all times in case of disaster. Backing up to a cloud-data service is one way to meet this need, but don't rely exclusively on such backups.

In fact, don’t rely on any single backup method, such as Time Machine.

If you get an indication that a backup has failed, don't ignore it.

Keep your software up to date

In the App Store or Software Update preference pane (depending on the OS version), you can configure automatic notifications of updates to OS X and other Mac App Store products. Some third-party applications from other sources have a similar feature, if you don’t mind letting them phone home. Otherwise you have to check yourself on a regular basis.

Keeping up to date is especially important for complex software that modifies the operating system, such as device drivers. Don't install such modifications unless they're absolutely necessary. Remove them when they are no longer needed. Before installing any Apple update, you must check that all system modifications that you use are compatible. Incompatibility with third-party software is by far the most common cause of difficulties with system updates.

Don't install crapware

...such as “themes,” "haxies," “add-ons,” “toolbars,” “enhancers," “optimizers,” “accelerators,” "boosters," “extenders,” “cleaners,” "doctors," "tune-ups," “defragmenters,” “firewalls,” "barriers," “guardians,” “defenders,” “protectors,” most “plugins,” "virus scanners,” "disk tools," or "utilities." With very few exceptions, such stuff is useless or worse than useless. Above all, avoid any software that purports to change the look and feel of the user interface.

It's not much of an exaggeration to say that the whole "utility" software industry for the Mac is a fraud on consumers. The most extreme examples are the "CleanMyMac," "TuneUpMyMac," and “MacKeeper” scams, but there are many others.

As a rule, you should avoid software that changes the way other software works. Plugins for Photoshop and similar programs are an obvious exception to this rule. The Mac App Store has extensions for the Photos app, and perhaps others, that should be safe. Safari extensions, and perhaps the equivalent for other web browsers, are a partial exception. Most are safe, and they're easy to get rid of if they don't work. Some may cause the browser to crash or otherwise malfunction. Some are malicious. Use with caution, and install only well-known extensions from relatively trustworthy sources, such as the Safari Extensions Gallery.

Only install software that is useful to you, not (as you imagine) to the computer. For example, a word processor is useful for writing. A video editor is useful for making movies. A game is useful for fun. But a "cache cleaner" isn't useful for anything. You didn't buy a computer so you could clean caches.

Never install any third-party software unless you know how to uninstall it. Otherwise you may create problems that are very hard to solve. Do not rely on "utilities" such as "AppCleaner" and the like that purport to remove software.

Don't install bad, conflicting, or unnecessary fonts

Whenever you install new fonts, use the validation feature of the built-in Font Book application to make sure the fonts aren't defective and don't conflict with each other or with others that you already have. See the built-in help and this support article for instructions.

Deactivate or remove fonts that you don't really need to speed up application launching.

Avoid malware

"Malware" is malicious software that circulates on the Internet. This kind of attack on OS X was once so rare that it was hardly a concern, but it's now increasingly common and dangerous.

There is some built-in protection against malware, but you can’t rely on it—the attackers are always at least one day ahead of the defense. You can’t rely on third-party "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" products for protection either. What you can rely on is common-sense awareness—not paranoia, which only makes you more vulnerable.

Never install software from an untrustworthy or unknown source. If in doubt, do some research. Any website that prompts you to install a “codec” or “plugin” that comes from the same site, or an unknown site, is untrustworthy. Software that doesn't come from the Mac App Store, such as Adobe Flash Player, must come directly from the developer's website. No intermediary is acceptable, and don’t trust links unless you know how to parse them. Any file that is automatically downloaded from the web, without your having requested it, should go straight into the Trash. A web page that tells you that your computer has a “virus,” or that anything else is wrong with it, is a scam.

In OS X 10.7.5 or later, downloaded applications and Installer packages that have not been digitally signed by a developer registered with Apple are blocked from loading by default. The block can be overridden, but think carefully before you do so.

Because of recurring security issues in Java, it’s best to disable it in your web browsers, if it’s installed. Few websites have Java content nowadays, so you won’t be missing much. This action is mandatory if you’re running any version of OS X older than 10.6.8 with the latest Java update. Note: Java has nothing to do with JavaScript, despite the similar names. Don't install Java unless you're sure you need it. Most people don't.

Don't fill up your disk or SSD

A common mistake is adding more and more large files to your home folder until you start to get warnings that you're out of space, which may be followed in short order by a startup failure. This is more prone to happen on the newer Macs that come with an internal SSD instead of the traditional hard drive. The drive can be very nearly full before you become aware of the problem.

While it's not true that you should or must keep any particular percentage of space free, you should monitor your storage use and make sure you're not in immediate danger of using it up. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of free space on the startup volume for normal operation.

If storage space is running low, use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper to explore the volume and find out what's taking up the most space. Move seldom-used large files to secondary storage.

Relax, don’t do it

Besides the above, no routine maintenance is necessary or beneficial for the vast majority of users; specifically not “cleaning caches,” “zapping the PRAM,” "resetting the SMC," “rebuilding the directory,” "defragmenting the drive," “running periodic scripts,” “dumping logs,” "deleting temp files," “scanning for viruses,” "purging memory," "checking for bad blocks," "testing the hardware," or “repairing permissions.” Such measures are either completely pointless or are useful only for solving problems, not for prevention. Permission repair is not even possible in OS X 10.11 ("El Capitan") or later.

To use a Mac effectively, you have to free yourself from the Windows mindset that every computer needs regular downtime for maintenance such as "defragging" and "registry cleaning." Those concepts do not apply to the Mac platform.

A well-designed computing device is not something you should have to think about much. It should be an almost transparent medium through which you communicate, work, and play. If you want a machine that needs a lot of attention just to keep going, use a PC, or collect antique cars.

The very height of futility is running an expensive third-party application called “Disk Warrior” when nothing is wrong, or even when something is wrong and you have backups, which you must have. Disk Warrior is a data-salvage tool, not a maintenance tool, and you will never need it if your backups are adequate. Don’t waste money on it or anything like it.

Nothing is better than CleanMyMac. Literally. Nothing. You are much better off using nothing. Any app that claims to "clean" or "optimise" your Mac is basically a trick to part the gullible from their money.

francoontarienOttawa wrote:

 

Hi Linc Davis,

 

I thank you for your generous information as you have been to me a good source of information and help in the past.

I want to share with you that CleanMyMac was strongly suggested by a Mac Club in our region so I took their advise and installed it on my iMac.

Other

My query was to see if there could be a better product that Apple would recommend.

 

Apple's App Store sells MacPaw Inc's Clean my Drive and other apps but not CleanMyMac.  CleanMyMac is recommended to speed up a Mac such as: « Caches, logs, apps, widgets, language packs, plugins, hidden trashes, and large files. » Apparently it would be possible to do this manually but that requires knowledge on how and where to do this on our Mac without destroying essential data. This app seems to do a great job doing that, in my humble opinion, having seem the benefits on other users as well in improving their performance, reducing the beach ball spinning at length.

 

Your last paragraphs, you indicate that the Mac platform isn't like a PC and does not need any routine maintenance. I know from experience that my Macs have slowed down and I don't want to bring my Mac to the Mac Store regularly for assistance which doesn't come cheap.

If so, what to do, for example, when the beach ball keeps spinning?

 

I thank you in advance for you advice.

Cheer!

I'm going to be honest with you; I don't really care what perceived benefit you think you're getting by using that program.  CleanMyMac is garbage, and you've essentially been swindled out of your money.  You need to uninstall it, because as you just pointed out, all the things it claims to do, you can do manually....and manually won't cost you any money.  The problem with programs like CleanMyMac and the equally as insidious MacKeeper, is that it lulls you into a false sense of security.  You think it's doing all this maintenance on your hard drive, maintenance that either doesn't need to happen, or if it does, can be done by you easily, and yet it's ruining your computer.  Never, ever, EVER allow a third-party program to delete files off your computer when you have not personally verified that what it says can go should go.  Programs like that many times delete files that are essential to the running of your operating system and you won't know this until things start going south and you can't understand why.

All you need to do is do a search of these forums for people complaining about the problems CleanMyMac/MacKeeper caused on their systems if you don't want to take my word for it.  I would never advise someone against installing or continuing to use a product if I wasn't 100% certain that their continued use of the program was a problem.

francoontarienOttawa wrote:

 

Thank you for your frankness.

I have searched other forums and found mixed reviews.

Some commented about OnyX being a better solution even in this Support community.

It is hard to know the truth when one researches the Web.

The questions for you is : how does one do things manually when one is not a computer techie?

Cheers!

Most people here, if you ask, will post step-by-step instructions for clearing out caches, getting rid of unnecessary files left behind by uninstalled programs, logs, all of it.  Heck, we'll even tell you how to change your desktop wallpaper if you want us to!  Macs are far more user-friendly than PCs in the sense that taking care of piddling things like that is a relatively painless process.  I'm by no means a computer techie; I don't possess a degree in Computer Science, I don't work on or with computers for a living, I've only ever been an Apple user for 4 ½ years.  My knowledge of computers, be they PCs or Macs, comes from Google, asking a lot of dumb questions, and trial and error.  When people post questions here about getting rid of malware/adware on their systems, we always give them two options; download Malwarebytes or do it manually, and the manually option always comes with a link to instructions on which folders to go to and which files to delete.  We do that because we understand, not everyone is comfortable crawling around their hard drives looking for two or three specific files to nuke.

If you wanted, you could print out the instructions and keep them by your computer so if you need to refer back to them, you'll always have them with you.  We post here of our own volition, for free, to help people who we think we can help.  If you need assistance with something, just ask!  We'll walk you through it and even provide screenshots if we can, so you'll know what you should be seeing on your own computer at home/work.

I just do not agree with Linc Davis. There are many safe useful third party apps out there. To say never install will discourage many honest developers. I have found many useful. Yes one has to careful. Read reviews. Note where software is coming from. But never? I use Onyx, MacPilot Etrecheck, and Tinkertool all the time. Popclip, Sizeup, and Bartender I find very useful

There are many safe useful third party apps out there. To say never install will discourage many honest developers.

But that's not what he said.

This

Only install software that is useful to you, not (as you imagine) to the computer. For example, a word processor is useful for writing. A video editor is useful for making movies. A game is useful for fun. But a "cache cleaner" isn't useful for anything. You didn't buy a computer so you could clean caches

is a very good piece of advice. The number of occasions when a computer user needs a cache cleaner are vanishingly small. As in once-in-ten-years small. Yet there is a whole industry out there dedicated to this pointless activity.

The questions for you is : how does one do things manually when one is not a computer techie?

Cheers!

Here's a question for you: How do you know that you need to do those things if you are not a computer techie?

I've never "cleaned" my Mac manually or automatically. Still runs great.

You are just trusting that the developers of programs like CleanMyMac actually know what they are doing.

The things that programs like CleanMyMac do are rarely if ever needed. You don't often need to do the things it does automatically, and you certainly don't need to do any routine "maintenance" short of backing up your data.

Terence Devlin wrote:

 

But that's not what he said.

Yes, that is exactly what he said.

Linc Davis wrote:

 

It's not much of an exaggeration to say that the whole "utility" software industry for the Mac is a fraud on consumers.

Obviously, there are frauds and scams all over the internet, including on Apple Support Communities. Sadly, the extent of the scam is usually proportional to its effectiveness. There is plenty of evidence of that right here in this thread. Generally, most helpers here on Apple Support Communities do a good job of identifying the scammers and calling attention to lesser-known, but very useful, 3rd party software. But it is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of misinformation that is posted across the internet.

francoontarienOttawa wrote:

 

My query was to see if there could be a better product that Apple would recommend.

 

Apple's App Store sells MacPaw Inc's Clean my Drive and other apps but not CleanMyMac.

Bonjour francoontarienOttawa,

There are no Apple tech support personnel in this forum. The only people providing help in this forum are other Apple customers like yourself. We are certainly generous with our recommendations, but we are not Apple.

Just because Apple sells something in one of its App Stores doesn't mean that Apple recommends it. Apple will accept any software from a developer that pays the $99 and compiles with the terms of the developer agreement. Even then, there is a huge amount of useless software and scam ware in the App Store. There is even a fair amount of malware found from time to time.

CleanMyMac is recommended to speed up a Mac such as: « Caches, logs, apps, widgets, language packs, plugins, hidden trashes, and large files. »

Not quite. CleanMyMac is "marketed" to do all of those things.

Apparently it would be possible to do this manually but that requires knowledge on how and where to do this on our Mac without destroying essential data. This app seems to do a great job doing that, in my humble opinion, having seem the benefits on other users as well in improving their performance, reducing the beach ball spinning at length.

No. There is no need for any 3rd party "clean up" software. There isn't even any need to do any such clean up manually either. The operating system will do anything it needs to do by itself without any help. Only some of the features of these kinds of "clean up" programs are safe. Some operations are guaranteed to corrupt your operating system.

Your last paragraphs, you indicate that the Mac platform isn't like a PC and does not need any routine maintenance. I know from experience that my Macs have slowed down and I don't want to bring my Mac to the Mac Store regularly for assistance which doesn't come cheap.

If so, what to do, for example, when the beach ball keeps spinning?

It is true that the Mac doesn't need any routine maintenance. However, it is also true that Macs have slowed down. I maintain virtual machines to test EtreCheck on all supported versions of OS X since 10.6 "Snow Leopard". They all run fine in a virtual machine up until Yosemite. When I ran a Yosemite VM inside a Yosemite VM it was practically unusable. Then, when I upgraded to El Capitan, the Yosemite VM officially became too slow to be useable.

If you are having problems with a spinning beach ball, you can start a new question that describes your problem and under what circumstances it occurs. People will give you suggestions on how to fix it. However, in my opinion, people are just doing that out of habit more than anything else. Yosemite and El Capitan are simply not designed for older machines. They are designed for modern Macs with ample RAM and an SSD. They will run on older machines, but not well. In the past, people used to recommend going through all of your background tasks to identify which ones are problematic. People still do that, but the slow-down imposed by Yosemite and/or El Capitan will dwarf any problems caused by incompatible 3rd party software. The only guaranteed solution is a RAM and/or SSD upgrade or a new machine.