Best Mac Cleaner software: Boost performance and disk space with a Mac cleaner app

A heavy hitter in the clean-sweep stakes is CleanMyMac X by MacPaw. At time of writing, it’s $34.95/£29.95 for a one year subscription for one Mac. It’s also available to buy as a one-time purchase if you don’t want to get into a subscription. Plus, there’s a free version available to download if you’d like to try before you buy.

This popular utility gathers a number of useful tools all in one package, including a file cleaner that will delete junk and unnecessary cache files, optimisation and maintenance tools, an application uninstaller (so that you delete all the files that the app scatters around your Mac) and a malware remover. Version 4.12 gained Ventura compatibility and 4.11 brought substantial update to the Menu Bar, which now offers additional information, such as your laptop’s battery, temperature, and health, your hard drive’s capacity and overall health, your free RAM capacity, and your CPU load and hardware temperature. You’ll also find information, such as drive capacities, CPU speeds, system temperature, system load, and network activity readouts, all readily accessible.

A new feature in version 4.12.4 brings an alert for heavy and unexpected battery consumption.

CleanMyMac has a simple layout that offers a variety of functions. These include a general system clean that optimises space by removing temporary files that could be lingering, as well as slimming down unnecessary elements of applications and removing any odds and ends left behind after uninstalls.  

There’s also the ability to search through your Photos, Music, and Mail folders to remove and clean up waifs and strays that could be slowing down your system.

CleanMyMac is a comprehensive package, which offers several additional tools for uninstalling apps cleanly, removing various extensions, improving disk performance, and digitally shredding files that you don’t want anyone to revive.      

We have been using CleanMyMac since we had to delete a lot of files in order to install Big Sur, one of our favourite features is that fact that the tool sits in the menu at the top of the screen so we can see a simple overview of our system at all times, which also means its a simple one-click process to free up memory when RAM is getting low.

All of this functionality doesn’t come free though. There is a free trial version available on the Mac App Store and from MacPaw’s website, but it restricts the app to only remove files up to a maximum of 500MB – and in the middle of deleting files it will demand you pay the license fee for the app. You can download that limited version and scan your Mac to see just now much space you can save before committing to buying the app.

The license can be transferred to a new machine, so long as the previous installation is deactivated first. 

MacPaw is currently running a 30% discount for students – submit your university email address and receive a download code here.