What about Clean My Mac 3?

By all means, search the web for other reviews and user-experience.

Unless the review is done by a known authority, I don't waste my time reading reviews which, quite often, are paid for by the company wanting a good review of their product. Just search the web and you can have a job as well. You don't even need the product. I believe the going rate is/was $5 per review.

And you should know how your computer and its OS function and/or whether it needs "cleaning" before subjecting it to such unnecessary c**p; some of these actually work so well that they remove needed system files as well which will not have desired results.

A warning though… This tool helps you delete stuff on your Mac, and deleting stuff can be painful if you delete the wrong thing.

Exactly - what I said. You do not need such help.

Good luck.

I like to keep my Desktop clean and tidy. And I like the remnants of old, unused apps cleaned away too, even if it doesn't really matter. It's just me. (Maybe it's my OCD!)

So do I. I do not need any third party anything to do that. I do not populate my desktop with hundreds of icons. Depending on what they represent, I file them in appropriate folders. I've used dozens of Macs for 25 years and have never had a problem - and I do clean my car regularly.

And, when apps are uninstalled the correct way, there won't be enough "remnants" to worry about. Some apps require uninstallers for just that reason.

And yes, I've had a bad experience with pop ups and it took me 5 hours to get my Mac back to normal. I don't see the necessity to spend 20 minutes to post it the details here. These are technical questions & answers forums for Apple software/hardware and are not intended to become review sites for third party software; wasting this much time on this is absurd. I prefer to spend/volunteer my time helping someone with a problem.

If you have come to categorise CleanMyMac in a class of software that typically promotes itself via deceptive fear-based Internet marketing (you know the culprits—those nasty flashing pop-ups which tell you that some critical issues have been discovered on your computer and the software must be purchased to avoid catastrophic disaster), then of course you're going to want to warn people away from it

You're pretty big on ascribing motives to others (1):

No. That's not why I warn people away from it. I warn people away from it because it's expensive, unnecessary and dangerous. As I said, designed to separate the unwary from their money. I made no mention of their marketing techniques. Odd that you should select that as my imagined objection.

You're pretty big on ascribing motives to others (2):

Likewise, those with positive experiences should be entitled to post too. For some reason though, others seem to take issue with me doing just that

I keep asking this question: how come there is such a disparity on the forum, where only new posters are the ones boosting this app? It's a heck of a coincidence, no?

Most users probably have more chance of damaging something through manual tinkering in the Finder, or by copying and pasting Terminal commands they found on the web.

Any evidence to support this assertion? Folks can and do damage their OS in this way, but these apps - and you yourself admit this - facilitate this. But more? Can you offer any evidence? Love to hear it.

And I like the remnants of old, unused apps cleaned away too, even if it doesn't really matter. It's just me. (Maybe it's my OCD!)

Pardon me but I've added emphasis there for you. See the point? An app that does things that you don't need to do...

Did you know that not all log-in items appear listed under System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items?

Oddly, I'm reasonably familiar with the OS. Been using it a long time now.

Hands up who has never had to trash a preference file to fix something broken on their Mac? Hands up who doesn't find themselves digging around in that hidden Library folder from time to time? If your hand isn't up, I'm guessing you either don't use your Mac all that much, or you have someone else to troubleshoot problems for you.

Now that you mention it, I can't recall the last time that deleting a Pref file was the solution to anything. It used to be troubleshooting 101 mind, but that's a while ago now. Heck, I even remember the Extensions Manager. I'd add that deleting a pref file for an app that's been deleted was never a solution to anything that I can recall. You now, I have been known to wander through the Library folder, why, even before it was hidden, that's how old I am. But you have no right to evaluate my use of my computer. Just because you like to fiddle with things doesn't mean anything except you like to fiddle with things. Back to that dismantling your car analogy (and yes I noticed how you cheekily tried to infer that it related to removing software when it referred to the whole "clean install" thing, naughty). You may like to dismantle your car, doesn't make you any good as driver, navigator or anything else.

Terrence, the implication of your comment wasn't lost on me as you can see, but unfortunately a more direct reply was deleted by the forum admin for being too 'aggresive'. I'm happy to leave it there

There's no comment intended on your integrity, I simple ask the same question over and over. Before you can convince me the earth is flat, you'll need explain why everyone else thinks its round. What's the mistake they're making? "I've never had a problem" doesn't do that. How come we've seen so many reports from users of this app - and others like it - on here? Folks who've damaged the installation of their OS using it? Start by explaining that...

Kalsta wrote:

locating large, non-critical files if and when space is running low on a disk

uninstalling software properly (including all associated Library files)

deleting or disabling login items (this is incredibly easy and useful for troubleshooting, and lists far more items than are visible in System Preferences. It's also a far more user-friendly interface.)

If you are running out of disk space, then macOS Sierra has a number of new features that help manage disk space. Go to Apple menu > About this Mac > Storage. You can easily identify the biggest files. There are a number of options to manage them. You can move files to iCloud, delete movies and TV shows that you've already watched, empty the trash (which some people never do), or just manually go through the biggest files and prune them. In the past, I would have recommended a hard drive upgrade, but that is not possible on modern Macs. The best option is an external hard drive, in addition to a Time Machine drive, to archive important files.

While you can use an "app zapper" or "clean up" tool to delete files, it is not possible to use them to "properly" uninstall software. The only correct way to uninstall software is to use vendor-provided uninstallers or uninstallation instructions. There is no way any tool could keep track of every version of every 3rd party app and know what files it installs where. That is just not possible and I don't care how many people tout their favourite "app zapper" that claims it is.

It is true that there is a new mechanism for Login Items that are not shown in System Preferences. However, there is no way that an app can remove another app's login item. The APIs that Apple provides for these new Login Items simply doesn't allow that. Apple doesn't even provide a way to list those login items. The only valid way to delete them it to properly uninstall them. With modern, well-designed apps, this can be done by just throwing the app in the trash. You don't need a "clean up" tool to do that. If that procedure doesn't work, then it is highly likely that a "clean up" app could not do it either. They might work for easy cases, but not difficult ones. But if the app is easy to install, why do you need a 3rd party helper?

etresoft wrote:

If you are running out of disk space, then macOS Sierra has a number of new features that help manage disk space. Go to Apple menu > About this Mac > Storage. You can easily identify the biggest files. There are a number of options to manage them. You can move files to iCloud, delete movies and TV shows that you've already watched, empty the trash (which some people never do), or just manually go through the biggest files and prune them.

Good to know—another leaf taken from iOS's book. (I'm still on El Capitan because I'm currently stuck with discontinued project management software that isn't compatible with Sierra. I'm looking forward to High Sierra if/when I can find a replacement, particularly APFS.)

In the past, I would have recommended a hard drive upgrade, but that is not possible on modern Macs. The best option is an external hard drive, in addition to a Time Machine drive, to archive important files.

Yes. This is one of the reasons I'm holding onto my 2011 MBP for as long as I can. I can do the SSD upgrade myself. I very much dislike the increasingly disposable design path Apple has been going down in recent years.

While you can use an "app zapper" or "clean up" tool to delete files, it is not possible to use them to "properly" uninstall software. The only correct way to uninstall software is to use vendor-provided uninstallers or uninstallation instructions. There is no way any tool could keep track of every version of every 3rd party app and know what files it installs where. That is just not possible and I don't care how many people tout their favourite "app zapper" that claims it is.

Fair comment. Yes, a vendor-provided uninstaller would always be first preference. Having said that, CMM does a remarkable job of finding stuff. I'd encourage any of you guys to trial it, put it through it's paces and report back. I understand the fear of it damaging something, but like I said before, it doesn't delete anything until you tell it to. If you only scan and drill down (don't press 'Clean'), you can test it without risk.

It is true that there is a new mechanism for Login Items that are not shown in System Preferences. However, there is no way that an app can remove another app's login item. The APIs that Apple provides for these new Login Items simply doesn't allow that. Apple doesn't even provide a way to list those login items. The only valid way to delete them it to properly uninstall them.

Hmm, okay. My knowledge about this may be more limited than yours. I do know that there are multiple locations for login items now (LaunchAgents folders and others). I also note that some apps don't even use these, so finding them manually could be quite painful. All I know is that CMM finds 13 login items on my system, when only 2 show up in System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items. It also has a switch alongside each one for enabling and disabling each. I tested it on a few of them, and found that it works well on some and not on others. So there is, as you anticipated, a weakness with this functionality. In any case, it enables you to quickly locate each file in the Finder and deal with it manually if you choose. I still think that's pretty cool.

Kalsta wrote:

I do know that there are multiple locations for login items now (LaunchAgents folders and others). I also note that some apps don't even use these, so finding them manually could be quite painful. All I know is that CMM finds 13 login items on my system, when only 2 show up in System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items. It also has a switch alongside each one for enabling and disabling each. I tested it on a few of them, and found that it works well on some and not on others. So there is, as you anticipated, a weakness with this functionality. In any case, it enables you to quickly locate each file in the Finder and deal with it manually if you choose. I still think that's pretty cool.

Those are launchd tasks, not login items. There are about 10 different types of auto-launch tasks, ranging from old, deprecated things to launchd tasks and modern login items. I think it is educational to see all of them just so you know how many different processes are running when diagnosing a problem. I do not recommend manually disabling any of those. 3rd party software is not going to be tested with some portions of it turned off. There is no way to know what will happen.

I have my own program that does many of those same tasks. I am currently working on a major upgrade and I have a fair amount of angst over which features I can provide and which ones I should provide. For example, I have a fantasy about being able to turn off a bunch of the new launchd tasks and maybe getting Sierra to run as fast as the pre-Yosemite operating systems ran. But on the other hand, I know what users will do. They are not careful and they do not take reasonable precautions. I can't enable some feature that could possibly do damage. Just the liability insurance alone would be more than I could afford. I suppose if my company was in China or the Ukraine, I wouldn't worry as much.

Ultimately, I think one of the reasons you find so much resistance to things like antivirus and "clean up" apps is due to the nature of this forum. We are helping people troubleshoot and fix their computers, which are already running one of the most complicated software systems ever built. We really don't want to have to worry about entirely new levels of complexity introduced by substantial modifications to said complex software system. It is hard enough as it is without introducing factors that essentially create a unique operating system that no one has ever attempted to run before.

Had it been that easy...

The Mac comes with a set of tools: "Time Machine" for backup and "Disk Utility" for keeping your disk and file system on this consistent. ALL the browsers I use allows me to set the "cache size" , bluntly, if you have a fast connection, this can be very minimal. Malware: You cannot just run code on a Mac as you can on Windows - but you may run malware on a Mac, just as on Windows. There is a difference between "can" and "may". You can use a hammer to wreck your Mac if you want to do that. So what is the purpose of "Clean my Mac"? Does it come with soap to make it nice and shiny - I use a damp cloth for that, and maybe that can come up with things that makes it look nice and clean longer. When it comes to MacOS, there are tonnes of things - tuning that can be done, buffer sizes, priority - you have these tools on Linux and they should be simple to port but nobody has done that. "Erase unused files" - yes, most of my files are unused for years, but when I need them, they are there. Unused OS files? I doubt there are much. So the purpose of these "Virus scanners" and "Cleaning Tools" is (a) to get people to pay for them, and well (b) obtain information about those that use them so they then will pay.

E.g. I suspect I have some leftover from one of them I tried, because my disk suddenly runs slow and memory is not released, causing the amount of RAM that is made available to the OS ("wired") to be absolutely minimal, while the RAM holds GB of disk buffers and compressed libraries. Well, MacOS comes with some scripts "daily", "weekly" and "monthly" that does just that - every day, every week.

I miss a tool that allows me to see in the activity monitor which of the processes are developed by Apple, those developed for them and are part of a product, and I do not have to look in the Memory for "Files opened" and chase a file in the MacKeeper or "CleanMyMac" file hierarchy - should say "CleanMyMac" and let me kill it, and erase it should it not be in the path of "/Applications"

I also want to be able to trigger the Firewall to log every site that is accessed and name and blame who accessed the site - more than just "Safari" - but the windows that Safari displayed - and then what was accessed from this. Format this neatly in the "Console" so I can copy and paste it into a abuse report to the sites, and stop having to explain how I managed to trace that it was "them " that forwarded the link to the site. Not everyone can debug DNS - give us a tool!

The Linux tools are Java based and use buffers and counters that is available on MacOS. But then Apple has a policy about Java and Flash...

I'm quite staggered at the amount of vitriol towards CleanMyMac on this thread. Statements like "CleanMyMac is malware for sure" is not backed up factually and the suggestion that OS X is not lacking a decent uninstall utility is frankly, ridiculous. Throwing an app in the trash does not remove everything from a Mac by a long stretch.

In the past week alone, Gruber and the MacCast have explicitly supported the latest version of CleanMyMac 3. To lump this app with the likes of MacKeeper is, at the least, unfair and I would argue, misguided. And this is coming from someone who hasn't even bought the app (yet.) I've downloaded version 3 to take a look and I see how this app could be beneficial to a lot of users, including someone like me who's been using Macs for more than 20 years.

Neil

Good heavens, Neil, that is minimal compared to some threads.

I am often amazed at how many Etrecheck reports (very useful aid, I might say) show Clean my Mac present ... and after it's removal there is an immediate and substantial improvement in the machine's performance. Kind of says it all, doesn't it?

First, a very proper comment, claims are often made without proof / evidence of malware.

However: One of them (MacKeeper) installed a demon on my Mac, that did not disappear when I uninstalled / removed MacKeeper as "application". Apple should use "Brew" from Linux - "apt-get" that will trace and log everything that is installed and will verify dependencies - but also identify "other activities" such as "what else is installed" and list this as "dependent".

I had a "Memory Cleaner" from the same vendor, and this tuned my Mac consistently wrong, increased available swap by manipulating disk cache that removed the benefit of SATA3 transfer / SSD. All of these "tools" will need network access, and when confronted by this, they claim they collect usage statistics. However, we work with "ransomware" and any application that use the net, open ports and connect to a remote server is a security threat. When they on top of that has problems with explaining what they do except "collecting statistics" (I have an email exchange with them where this is claimed) I wonder what statistics they collect, but know that they can encrypt my disks and demand ransom to decipher it, and I demand straight answers. If something is adjusted, tell me! Learn from Linux, and if you cannot or will not explain, expect to receive my suspicion: Something funny is going on.

I do not have time to analyse the packet log to see what is sent to them, but then I expect straight answers and they better be just as competent and qualified as me. No three letter abbreviations: i have managed Unix development, measurement and development of maintenance tools for a hardware vendor. Had anyone that worked in these divine answered such rubbish, they would have to look for somewhere else to work. My conclusion is that mumbling usually is a way to disguise a lie, and those that have to hide the truth are usually hiding much, much more.

My disk is still working at 40Mbps - 400Mbps is a thing of the past, something has made the driver "single-thread" and that was one of the three applications coming from them.

Not such a proper comment, Knuthf, In Neil Atkinson's post, 2nd Paragraph; MacCast explicitly support the latest version of Clean My Mac 3 etc, etc, etc..

MacCast. A pay for it podcast, sponsored by ... guess who?

MACPAW, CLEAN MY MAC 3.

Need I say more.

Wrong:

All applications have their "private data" in their own hidden space in the same folder as the ".app". Use Finder , Ctrl+click "Show package content" - click on "Content" and see. What remains is then the Apple supplied libraries that comes with the OS.

There is no "registry", there are no ".ini" - and the "Application" can only store "other files" in the "Library" folder - the "/Library". Here you will also find

The "/usr" and /var/usr" - are directories that MacOS will use. MacOS will create logs and temporary files. MacOS will remove them. You use "Console" to view the logs, and set the time for these to remain. After that they will be deleted. This is not Windows and those that make the applications has to use tools that enforce these ways.

Your system will not halt if a log is removed - but a system administrator will not be able to see what this contained and be able to solve problems. "Language packs" are not installed unless you need them, and bluntly, you have one keyboard layout per keyboard, but write in Pages in a dozen languages - and identify the languages you use, and only they will be installed. If you have not installed Swahili, it is a question in the installation procedure and a tick in "System Preferences". if you have installed it and use it now and then, the "Cleaning app" can suggest that you delete them, but you can use "System Preferences" - and that is safe removal.

On Linux there is "Aptitude" that will trace dependencies since one application can share libraries with others, such as "Qt". On Mac, Apple inc makes a decision about the libraries, and for the duration of the OS. They cannot add a parameter to a function call. Should "Pages" demand specific libraries, and "Numbers" use the same - on Linux you can update "Pages" and it will then detect that "Numbers" also use the same library and will rebuild both. This also applies to applications that others have coded, "Aptitude" maintain a database of dependencies. A variant of "Aptitude" is available on MacOS as "HomeBrew". On MacOS, all applications use their own set of libraries, so in theory, a critical flaw can be corrected in "Pages" and remain in "Numbers". They have to update every single one that they know has a bugs - it is not automatic, and you have to know for the applications you have supplied.

When you DELETE an application, you remove an entire hierarchy of files - but not a hidden application installed in the library that can be started by the "Launcher" or set to execute every now and then in a "crontab" entry.

The flaw is that you cannot DELETE all system libraries and user libraries - these also hold files used by MacOS.

In the past week alone, Gruber and the MacCast have explicitly supported the latest version of CleanMyMac 3.

Both sponsored by the makers of the app. The "support" is bought and paid for. Gruber's "recommendation" contains an astonishing assertion:

CleanMyMac finds up to 74 GB of junk on an average Mac system.

Do you really have 74 gigs of "junk" on your Mac? Really?

Don't get me wrong, in both cases I completely understand that they were feed/show sponsors. Neither were saying nice things because they weren't effectively being paid to (and I wouldn't be surprised if the script was written for them.) However, both parties - Gruber especially - have nothing to gain from pushing a sponsor who's app could bring untold misery and (still no proof), malware. I could not see either speaking up for MacKeeper at any price, for example.

That 74gb assertion. Yeah, that seems a little unrealistic. In my case, a looked-after and cautious MacBook Pro, still had nearly 20GB of junk (which I didn't actually trash because I was trying the trial version to see what the fuss was about.)

I accept there's a lot of dodgy and unnecessary apps out there. I'm just not convinced that CMM is one of them.

As seventy-one points out:

I am often amazed at how many Etrecheck reports (very useful aid, I might say) show Clean my Mac present ... and after it's removal there is an immediate and substantial improvement in the machine's performance. Kind of says it all, doesn't it?

This certainly matches my experience also.

What was in that 20gigs of Junk, if you don't mind me asking?

Basically if someone reports an issue the first step is a restart, the second step... is remove any and all "cleaning" or "tune up" apps and restart. Then start troubleshooting if the problem isn't solved.