Mac Clean Up Free

28 February 2021

Does your Mac feel a little slow and unresponsive?

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Or is it displaying a 'Your disk is almost full' error message?

That could be because there are excessive junk files occupying your Mac's storage disk.

Junk files take many shapes and forms. They also have varying sizes (some are tiny files while some may run into gigabytes) and are scattered across several folders on your Mac. Manually locating and removing these unwanted disk-consuming files can be exhausting and futile.

Thanks to Mac cleaning and optimization software, you can give your Mac's storage a clean sweep and free up space within seconds. So, here are our top picks of the best Mac cleaner software in 2021.

Best disk cleaner for Mac

You'll find tons of applications out there offering disk cleanup for Mac. Choosing the best one that matches your needs can get difficult. This is why we compiled this list containing ten of the best cleaning software for Mac.

RatingNameFeatures / RemarksMore Info
1MacKeeperBest all-in-one solution to clean your Mac.
Found the most junk files.
Removes viruses, malware, and blocks ads/trackers.
Provides 24/7 monitoring on your Mac for data breaches.
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2CleanMyMac XOffers a “Smart Scan” feature that cleans and optimizes your Mac in one click.
Comes with a “Shredder” that lets you remove locked items and junks without facing any (Finder) errors.
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3CCleaner for MacMonitors junk files in real-time and offers privacy protection.
“Smart Cleaning” feature automatically notifies you when there are junk files to clean.
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The Mac cleaners reviewed in this article all found varying gigabytes of junk files on our test device — a 128GB MacBook Pro running macOS Big Sur. Here’s a result of our findings.

  • MacKeeper 5 - 8.29 GB of junk files
  • CleanMyMac X - 7.18 GB of junk files
  • DaisyDisk - 2.10 GB of junk files
  • CCleaner - 3.49 GB of junk files
  • Cleaner One Pro - 8.20 GB of junk files
  • Onyx - 3.80 GB of junk files
  • AVG Cleaner - 3.17 GB of junk files
  • Mac Cleaner Pro - 4.00 GB of junk files
  • Avast Cleaner for Mac - 3.50 GB of junk files
  • Disk Doctor - 5.00 GB of junk files

This is the latest version of the MacKeeper software. MacKeeper 5 boasts of improved functionalities, refreshed design, and an easy-to-navigate interface. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Mac newbie or a pro—you’ll get a hang of MacKeeper easily.

MacKeeper is an all-in-one software with a bunch of built-in cleaning tools that’ll get rid of junks and redundant files eating up your Mac’s storage. As a bonus, you also get an antivirus, duplicate finder, an ad blocker, and a variety of other privacy protection utilities.

There’s a 'Find & Fix' section where you can check the status of your Mac's storage, security, and overall performance at the click of a button.

MacKeeper also has an Auto-scan feature that’s enabled by default. So you don’t have to set a reminder or schedule to get your Mac scanned for vulnerabilities — MacKeeper does that automatically in the background.

As a cherry on top, MacKeeper also comes with a built-in 'Update Tracker'. This tool checks your Mac for outdated software and updates them accordingly.

Computer

You can also use MacKeeper’s “Smart Uninstaller” tool to uninstall apps and remove their respective leftover files.

  • Price: From $14.95 (1-month plan).
  • Download: Available here.

CleanMyMac X offers a suite of tools that removes junk files and malware from your Mac. The software has a clean interface and you’ll find everything you need to clean and optimize your Mac on the right sidebar.

Mac

There’s also a 'Smart Scan' feature that thoroughly scans your Mac and cleans unneeded junk, neutralizes potential threats, and boosts your system performance.

Like MacKeeper, CleanMyMac X also lets you effectively manage applications on your Mac. You can use the utilities in the Applications module to uninstall applications, remove system extensions, and find outdated apps and update them accordingly.

The Maintenance module will free up disk space on your Mac’s disk, repair broken file permission, and compress the size of your (Time Machine) backup.

CleanMyMac X is a paid cleaning tool but you can use the trial version for free. However, you should note that the trial version comes with a 500MB cleaning limit.

  • Price: From $39.95 (1-year subscription).
  • Download: Available here.

CCleaner is a household name in the cleaning software industry, and the company has one of the best Mac cleaning software.

CCleaner offers a cleaning utility that analyzes your Mac’s storage to hunt out cache files, browser cookies, and other junk files. It scans both system and third-party applications, leaving no stone unturned.

Asides from cleaning junk files, CCleaner also offers other performance optimization tools to instantly free up Mac memory. For example, you can use the 'Startup' tool to change your Mac's startup programs and optimize your Mac's startup speed.

The built-in “Duplicate Finder” will also help free up extra space by removing duplicate files located in similar or different folders on your Mac.

CCleaner is available for free, but there's a professional version that costs $19.95. The free version has the essential tools you need to get your Mac's storage spick and span. Likewise, it has no limit on the quantity of junks you can clean from your Mac.

However, if you fancy advanced features like automatic erasure of browser history, real-time monitoring of junk files, and automatic updates, you'll need to upgrade to the professional version.

  • Price: $19.95 (1-year subscription).
  • Download: Available here.

OnyX is free and gets the job done, it's not the most beginner-friendly app to clean up your Mac. The app's functionalities, utilities, and settings aren't out in the open, so it'll take some getting used to. When you get a hang of it, however, cleaning your Mac becomes a breeze.

OnyX has a deep-cleaning Storage management tool. You’ll find this in the Applications tab of the app’s Utilities section. The tool will uninstall unsupported applications, remove TV programmes and shows you've already watched, and delete junk items and cache files — all in a bid to save as much disk space as it can.

You can use OnyX for free, forever. However, make sure you download a version that’s compatible with your Mac’s operating system from the developer’s website.

  • Price: Free.
  • Download: Available here.

DaisyDisk does away with all the fancy stuff and takes a straightforward approach towards junk removal.

At the click of a button, DaisyDisk will scan your entire Mac disk in less than a minute and categorize your data into an interactive, color-coded map. Data labels are also displayed at the top-right corner of the app for easy identification.

To preview the content of the category, click on a data label or its corresponding color on the map to preview the content of the category. If you find a suspiciously large file consuming your Mac’s storage, all you need to do is drag the file to the Delete queue located at the bottom-left corner of the app.

This is one of the best apps to perform a disk cleanup on Mac. The simplicity and disk-scanning speed are two of its highlight features.

The only downside is that DaisyDisk isn't beginner-friendly. It shows you things eating up your Mac's storage but it doesn't tell you which ones are junk files or malware. You'll have to find and delete them yourself.

  • Price: $9.95 (One-time payment).
  • Download: Available here.

Formerly known as Dr. Cleaner, Cleaner One Pro (developed by Trend Micro) is another reliable app to clean up your Mac, particularly if you have a lot of duplicate photos.

It deep-cleans your Mac's storage by removing junk files, duplicate files, similar photos, and so on. There’s also a 'Big Files' tool that lets you preview and delete big files (between 10MB and 500MB) consuming excessive disk space.

The Smart Scan feature will check for vulnerabilities affecting your Mac’s performance and suggest actions to get them fixed.

Cleaner One Pro also comes with a menu bar tool that displays a quick overview of your Mac's CPU usage, memory usage, network status in real-time.

  • Price: $14.95 (1-year subscription).
  • Download: Available here.

Avast is renowned for its antivirus software but its Cleanup tool for Mac is just as good.

The app will clean up your Mac by removing junk files, duplicate documents, and applications that you barely use.

Avast Cleanup uses a unique image-detection technology to scan your photo gallery for bad images that are under-exposure, over-exposed, or blurry.

Everything you need to declutter your Mac is clearly spelled out on the app's dashboard. There are no hidden tools or menus. Simply launch the app, grant it access to your Mac's disk, scan for unwanted files, and choose what you want to keep or delete.

You can download Avast Cleanup for free but there’s a catch: the trial version works in scan-only mode. To clean your Mac with the app, you’ll need to sign up for an Avast Cleanup Premium subscription; Avast may provide a 60-day subscription-free trial period.

  • Price: $47.99 (1-year subscription).
  • Download: Available here.

This Mac system cleaner offers two main tools: a Disk Cleaner and a Duplicate Finder.

The former will scan the nook and cranny of your Mac for hidden files (application caches, junk files, unnecessary downloads, and so on) taking up disk space. The Duplicate Finder, on the other hand, will dig out identical files and folders.

The overall disk cleaning process is simple and effortless. The Duplicate Finder supports a drag-and-drop functionality that lets you find duplicate files in specific folders on your Mac. Simply drag the folder to the Duplicate Finder section and leave the rest to the AVG Cleaner.

  • Price: Free.
  • Download: Available here.

Disk Doctor is one of the few junk cleaners that removes a wide variety of unnecessary files from your Mac: application caches, message attachments, temporary files, application leftovers, partial or uncompleted downloads, application log files — you name it.

The app automatically scans your disk and groups unneeded files into 20 different categories. You can preview the files and choose what to keep and what to delete.

The app ships with a light interface by default but you can switch to a dark theme if you want. Disk Doctor is strictly a paid app; it costs $2.99 and is available on the App Store.

We advise that you download and use the Free Demo version of the app before making a purchase. That way, you can easily decide if it’s worth the investment or not.

We should mention that the Free Demo version only allows you to scan your drive. You cannot use it to remove junk or optimize your Mac's storage.

  • Price: $2.99 (One-time payment).
  • Download: Available here.
Best mac clean up software

Think of MacCleaner Pro as a full-fledged file manager with disk cleaning and system optimization capabilities.

On the app’s dashboard, you’ll find an overview of your Mac’s storage color-coded into several file types and categories: system files, duplicate files, applications, documents, movies, and so on. Click on any of the categories to view the items occupying significant disk space.

In addition to removing junk files, there are additional tools that can help you fix issues affecting your Mac’s performance. The Speedup Tool, for example, will rebuild the Spotlight index, disabling startup apps, and free up RAM.

The built-in App Cleaner will also reset malfunctioning apps, manage browser extensions, remove unwanted/unused applications and delete their leftover files.

MacCleaner Pro’s junk cleaner and system optimization tools are available to all users. On the other hand, you’ll need to purchase the app to use pro tools like the duplicate finder, app uninstaller, and disk analyzer.

  • Price: $44.99 (One-time payment).
  • Download: Available here.

FAQ

What is the best Mac cleaning software in the market?

MacKeeper does a pretty good job. It is lightweight and you need not have any technical knowledge to use it. The interface is easy to understand and you can swiftly find junk files at the click of a button. It also comes with performance-optimization features that allows you to monitor your Mac.s memory and other resource-intensive processes in real-time.

Do Mac cleaners really work and won't slow down my Mac?

Yes, cleaning software really does help to declutter your Mac. We tested all ten applications in this article and they performed brilliantly. A cleaning software may consume CPU resources and slow down your Mac if it’s registered as a Login Item — an app that opens automatically when you boot up your Mac.

We should also mention that Mac cleaners will not slow down your Mac while scanning for junk files. If a Mac cleaner slows down your Mac's speed or performance, you may have too many apps open and running in the background. Close apps that you aren't using and try again.

Are Mac cleaner apps safe to use?

Mac cleaner apps from trusted developers are safe to use.

Mac clean up free

However, some malicious Mac cleaning software has a history of stealing users' data. Therefore, make sure you perform your due diligence and only use cleaners from reputable software companies.

Thanks to the technology & other entertainment sections, users have got many options to choose from. Thus, the user will experience that his/her drive is getting filled up quicker than he/she expected. From those favorite music tracks to high quality video files & pictures (moments that you captured), everything takes up space on the disk.

And since the allocated space is limited, you will start running out of options & start deleting the files to create more space. Filling up more space can also result in slowing down the overall speed of your Mac which can be a major concern one must be worried about. Obviously, you want to make the Mac run faster and for that, you can start with freeing up disk space on Mac.

How to Free Up Disk Space & Make Mac Run Faster

If we are damn sure about the problematic place, finding the solution becomes easier. For example, in this case where the Mac started working slower than before after the disk space was getting filled up, we need to free up disk space by cleaning out the garbage. Simple. Yeah!! Cleaning out the unnecessary things from your system will start freeing up disk space which eventually will make things smooth for other programs on your Mac. Now there can be as many ways as you can think of to clean up Mac disk space, but letting it happen automatically helps better than anything. Here also, you can find hundreds of software that claim to be the best in business and you need to narrow down your research to the most reliable, effective, & rich-featured software only. That’s why we will be discussing here about the most powerful & advanced tools to free up disk space and make Mac run faster.

1. CleanMyMac X (Trial Version; Premium version $34.95)

Anyone who has been using the Mac for quite some time now is pretty much known to this tool called the CleanMyMac X. With the ultimate goal of making your Mac as good as new, this tool starts freeing up disk space like you have never experienced before. The tool starts narrowing down those junk & unnecessary files on your Mac & by clearing those out of your system, make Mac run faster than before. CleanMyMac X is also an advanced & powerful tool which has so many features to explore including smart scanning, malware removal, system optimization & deletion of the not-required permanently.

In order to make the Mac run faster by cleaning up disk space, the CleanMyMac X runs on three segments. Starting with cleaning up the whole device for unneeded files, it goes into the protection phase where it looks for the potential threats, if there are any. And lastly, it reaches the optimization section where everything is focused on how to make Mac run faster by using only those tasks that are necessary.

Explore the CleanMyMac X & you will know its potential as it’s been signed to boost your Mac speed by freeing up disk space.

2. CCleaner (Free; Premium version $19.95)

A quite popular & effective software to make Mac run faster is all set to free up disk space on your Mac. CCleaner is one of those tools that literally simplifies the process of how to clear disk space on Mac. With the simple interface & utmost efficiency, CCleaner has made its way to become the resolution for safe browsing. You always need to be well aware about not leaving any digital footprints and if you accidentally do, CCleaner helps you erase those search history or cookies so the details remain confidential.

Considered as one of the best tools to make Mac run faster, CCleaner keeps a close attention to your privacy aspect. Flushing away the unused or temp files that are of concern when it comes to creating space on Mac is something CCleaner is quite good at. Also, many of us don’t think of it as a storage-space-covering-content, but the deleted files (Recycle Bin) also takes up space that needs to be cleared to make space on Mac. Start exploring the CCleaner for Mac and you will be amazed to know how easily it’s freeing up space on the Mac without any hassle.

3. Dr. Cleaner (Free; Premium version $19.99)

As the name suggests, Dr. Cleaner is another addition to the list of the best software to make your Mac run faster & free up disk space. And I couldn’t agree more on the thought that Dr. Cleaner does it amazingly. Yeah!! Dr. Cleaner strongly believes in optimizing the whole device to a level where there is no space for unnecessary programs or files. Developed by Trend Micro Inc., the Dr. Cleaner tool is available in different languages including German, English, & Spanish.

When it comes to cleaning up all the junk on your Mac, Dr. Cleaner doesn’t miss any blind spots or leaves anything behind. Anything that seems unneeded for the Mac, Dr. Cleaner picks it up & puts it in the list of to-be-deleted items. And as soon as it starts cleaning up your Mac, automatically the system will experience freed up disk space. And after cleaning everything from unneeded items to unnecessary processes, your Mac will have free memory which eventually will make Mac run faster than ever before.

4. Drive Genius (Free; Professional Edition $299)

Just as the name suggests, when it comes to keeping your Mac drives clean & without any junk, Drive Genius is also an effective player. From a beginner to an expert, anyone can find his.her way to free up disk space easily, thanks to its simplest user interface. A complete MacOS monitoring software, Drive Genius gives you full control over your system. From problem resolution like malware detection to clone synchronization, everything gets covered under Drive Genius.

With over 18 powerful & useful features, Drive Genius is undoubtedly one of the most advanced software to make your Mac faster by freeing up disk space. Also, finding the duplicate files and defragmenting drives are a few features that will instantly boost up your PC speed in no time. There are many other reasons one must explore Drive Genius and one of them is that the tool runs drive testing constantly to let the user know about how the drive is performing.

5. Disk Drill (Free; Premium version $39.99)

Many of us are quite familiar with the Mac cleaning tool (Disk Drill) as it’s been in the game for quite some time. From being an excellent system cleaner to letting you know about all the alerts, Disk Drill works out quite good for your Mac. And when it comes to freeing up disk space on Mac, this tool is the perfect solution you are looking for. Disk Drill has been designed to keep majorly focused on recovering your lost data, however, Mac Cleanup is another feature where you will experience surprising things to clear disk space.

Among many useful features, Disk Drill helps you identify those files that are taking too much space. And the process gets followed by deleting or removing them out of the system to free up disk space. Eventually, you can use that much space for new files on your Mac and your system will start running faster than before. With Disk Drill, you get to know what’s eating up space on your system & it starts trashing away those duplicate or unneeded files that are covering up unnecessary space on the Mac.

6. DaisyDisk (Trial Version; Premium version $9.99)

With the ultimate purpose of “get your space back”, the DaisyDisk is one of the highest rated Mac monitoring software. To answer your question of “What’s taking up so much space on my Mac”, it starts analysing your whole PC for the latest as well as older files. Since we all work on so many files by either creating them or downloading & in the end, there is a pile of those files that we haven’t opened for a while. And eventually, we will become alerted after getting the notification that the disk is almost full.

So in order to not experience those things on your Mac, download DaisyDisk & let this tool do its job by looking deep on your PC. Yeah!! In the easiest steps possible, DaisyDisk helps you analyse your disk in & out. After seeing the virtual interactive map, if you feel like any particular segment is covering up more space than expected, explore the area. And if you feel like the data doesn’t hold anything useful, delete the same then & there only. & you will see the real-time changes happening in front of you & this will free up disk space on your drive make your Mac run faster. Isn’t this amazing??

7. Easy Mac Care (Free; Premium version $49.95)

One of the best Mac optimization tools, Easy Mac Care helps you clean your whole system in the simplest way possible. In order to reclaim the already-occupied storage space, the Easy Mac Care has been designed to clean up disk space comprehensively. Also, just like other Mac clean up tools, Easy Mac Care helps you identify the duplicate files on your PC & flush away as early as possible. And keep yourself away from those online platforms where you might leave digital footprints.

Apart from those advanced features that help you know about the storage space and keeping it clean, Easy Mac Care also brings additional useful features. From deleting the unneeded large files from the Mac to flushing away the unwanted apps & caches from your system, the tool also takes care of junk & temp files as well. So before deleting any of those files in results, preview them thoroughly & then start deleting to free up disk space on the Mac.

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8. AVG TuneUp (Free; Premium Version 10-Devices $79.99)

AVG is a quite popular name in the field of cleaning up your device, from Macbook to mobile devices. AVG TuneUp is one of those segments from AVG that’s been helping you get rid of junk & temp files from the system. Also, all those duplicate files including pictures, music, or other media gets cleaned up to remind you that you have got too much space that was covered with unnecessary contents all over the Mac.

After using this advanced & powerful Mac cleaning software, you will know that your system has got much more to use than expected. From identifying those hidden unneeded files narrowing down those bad quality pictures, everything will be out of your system in no time. AVG TuneUp also looks for those long-before-saved details including the log files, long-forgotten downloads, & caches stored on web browsers. If you are trying to clean your Mac then do it thoroughly so that every section of the PC is getting cleaned.

9. OnyX (Free)

Being one of the most multifunctional MacOS monitoring software, OnyX has been used to keep your Mac cleaner than ever before. From deleting caches to removing all those problematic content files, everything will be cleaned easily, thanks to OnyX. Also, OnyX strongly is a reliable application that believes in providing a clean interface to many tasks that would otherwise require complex commands to be typed using a command-line interface.

Also, kind of a warning from the MacOS cleaning up tool is that OnyX has specific versions dedicated for each major version of the operating system. So before starting to use the tool, please look for the specific version & download accordingly, instead of trying a non-compatible version. So without further ado, start using this multifunctional MacOS monitoring software & start freeing up disk space on your Mac so that it will work faster than before.

Free Up Disk Space on Mac to Run Faster

Mac Clean Up Software Free

There are various reasons why your Mac is running slower than before & accordingly, you will start looking for different solutions as well. So instead of using multiple software to give your system a clean chit, start using the MacOS monitoring software as mentioned above. We have mentioned above the most advanced & powerful software to make your Mac run faster & free up disk space.

So start exploring every one of those Mac cleaning up tools & go with the one that’s working out best for you without any hassle.

Mac Computer Clean Up Free

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