Mac Hard Drive Space Software

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by consnarliseibina 2021. 6. 6. 21:01

We clean our rooms and clothes so why not our Macs? But who can waste the entire day digging through folders and files? There are so many places like music, videos, apps and email downloads, and countless more locations on your Mac where junk and clutter accumulates. In 2020 cleaning your Mac is easier than ever. Which is why millions of people download free and low-cost Mac cleaning software.

Mar 30, 2019 8. Drive Genius. Drive Genius is labeled a “Mac monitoring software.” It’s a whole suite of tools that provide powerful disk diagnostics. It’s hard to list a thing that this software doesn’t do. You can scan for malware, secure-erase files, customize icons — it’s dozens of apps in one body. Jun 25, 2018 Our resident Mac Help guru, Peter Cohen, previously told us about the 'Other' storage category on Mac computers and what it catalogs: In short, you're seeing space taken up by plug-ins, documents, and caches stored by OS X. It's worth noting that these files aren't normally harmful or wasteful to your computer's system; most are intended to help your Mac run efficiently, and ideally, you. Jan 11, 2014 Looking at the storage summary panel is a helpful way to determine if a Mac is running low on drive space, to figure out what file type is consuming the space and give you an idea on how to free up space, and the panel can also be helpful for determining if an upgraded hard drive would be a worthwhile investment for the Mac.

To start off, we've made a quick comparison chart about best Mac cleaners for Mac.

Rating	Name	Features	Info
1	CleanMyMac X	Best cleaning and antimalware functionality in one tool	Link
2	Disk Doctor	Quick scan and deep cleaning of all kinds of junk	Link
3	MacBooster	Finds duplicate files and has system optimization functionality	Link

A handy cleaner may prove that your Mac is still alive and can actually perform at its best. In this article we’ve brought together some of the best Mac cleaning solutions around to clean, optimize, and maintain Macs that are available in 2020.

Top 10 best cleaners for Mac: Free and premium versions

1. CleanMyMac X

CleanMyMac X takes the first place with good reason — this cleaner combines features of both cleaning software and antimalware tool. Its Smart Scan promises a “nice and thorough scan of your Mac.” It does what it says, detecting junk like user cache files and system logs, checking your Mac for malicious software, and speeding up your MacBook. Looks like, there is a threat in my system, that I need to get rid of:

Frankly speaking, CleanMyMac X is Tesla Roadster among other Mac cleaners. And it does a great job revealing your junk and other clutter, uninstalling unneeded apps and their leftovers, and keeping your Mac’s system clean and optimized. Another pro is that CleanMyMac X is Apple-notarized, which means it’s safe for your Mac. You can download its free version right here.

Price: $39.95
Free version: Available here

2. Disk Doctor

Disk Doctor is developed in the UK and was awarded the 'Mac Gem’ award by MacWorld in 2013. CNET and other tech journalists also praise functionality. As of 2020, it still looks like a useful tool for Mac cleaning that removes junk slowing down and reducing the computing power of your Mac.

Price: $2.99
Free version: N/A

3. MacBooster

MacBooster is a popular app that is developed at IObit. It cramps so many features under one interface it hardly fits into a “cleaner” niche. What makes it different is the duplicate file remover — an extra option to free up space on Mac. According to the developer, you can altogether delete 20 types of junk files with MacBooster.

MacBooster, in its version 8 rendition, offers real-time Mac protection, which makes it also an antivirus, although, quite a basic one. For example, you can remove malicious browser cookies to evade intrusive advertisements on your Mac. It doesn’t belong to free Mac cleaner apps per se, although a free trial is available. Unlike CleanMyMac, it doesn’t allow you to remove any junk for free in its trial version. To get the taste of MacBooster, you only have to rely on a free scan.

You should know that even when you uninstall MacBooster, some parts of the app may remain on your drive.

Price: $59.95 for Premium version
Free version: Available

4. Onyx

OnyX is a french Mac cleaning solution developed by Titanium software. It weighs only 5 MB but that doesn’t mean its capabilities are limited. OnyX is a tool that programmers will have a lot of fun with. With it, you can peek under the hood of your macOS and automate a whole list of jobs, like disk cleanup and cache removal. You can even tweak the color of folders on your Mac, and even make them invisible. Deservedly, it's among best free Mac cleaners.

OnyX is one of the best Mac cleaners because it cleans many specific under-the-surface files, like inner databases and logs. If you know what is XPC cache is, you’ll probably like this app. But for us, ordinary Mac users who came here for the design and glossy buttons, OnyX will require some learning time.
Those who use OnyX say it is stable and reliable. There is no dedicated customer service (because OnyX is free software), but you shouldn’t be worried. The only likely damage is you accidentally deleting files by yourself.
Price: Free cleaner

5. DaisyDisk

DaisyDisk gives you a visual representation of your Mac folders, making it easy to see what is taking up space and delete the folders you don't need. All you need to do is select a drive, DaisyDisk will scan it, then you can delete everything that is wasting valuable space. It comes with a free and premium version.

Price:$9.99
Free version: Trial version available

6. AppCleaner & Uninstaller

If you only need to uninstall apps on Mac, AppCleaner is a good pick. AppCleaner only removes applications, plugins, and widgets, which are again, small apps. AppCleaner works in a familiar drag & drop mode. Its interface is also clean and easy to understand for a newbie.

After feeding the apps to AppCleaner, you should visit the Leftovers section of the app to erase their remains. Why we place AppCleaner & Uninstaller among free Mac cleaner tools? Because it is 100% free. Whether you will fully clean your Mac using it, is a different question.
AppCleaner & Uninstaller is created by FreeMacSoft, also the makers of LiteIcon, an icon customizer for Mac.
Price: Voluntary donation

7. Smart Mac Care

If you launch Smart Mac Care, it will look hauntingly familiar to other free Mac cleaner apps. Not only features will be called the same, everything up to the fonts, will be identical to some other app you’ve just used. That’s not a minus, though. You can still free up a lot of space with Smart Mac Care.

Smart Mac Care operates by a logic of “scans.” There is a Junk Scan, Malware Scan, Privacy Scan, etc. Just like Mac Booster, Smart Mac Care removes duplicates scattered in various locations on your Mac. There’s also a Memory Optimizer feature that promises to free up RAM on your Mac. In a word, Smart Mac Care resembles every other generic product whose only difference is in packaging. This is supported by the fact that we couldn’t find any credible third-party reviews for this app.

On another skeptical note: to uninstall Smart Mac Care you have to enter your admin password. This is not the case with other Mac cleaners we’ve used.
Price: $56.62 per year
Free version: Demo available

8. Drive Genius

Drive Genius is labeled a “Mac monitoring software.” It’s a whole suite of tools that provide powerful disk diagnostics. It’s hard to list a thing that this software doesn’t do. You can scan for malware, secure-erase files, customize icons — it’s dozens of apps in one body. What makes Drive Genius unique is, probably, its search for corrupted files and inconsistencies on your drive. If your Mac is an old one, keeping it in good health will be easier with Drive Genius.

In a free version, you can use just a fraction of tools, notably a DiskPulse utility. This is an automatic Mac health checker that notifies you before your hard drive fails. Unlike Mac cleaners that merely scan, it is able to repair damage on your disks, which makes it a real deal. Be prepared that hard drive scan may take some time, but the results are worth it. Also note that Drive Genius is not available for macOS Catalina (as of the beginning of 2020).

Price: $299 for Professional edition
Free version: Limited Lite edition is available

9. CCleaner

Originally created in 2004 by Piriform, CCleaner comes with a free and professional version, focusing on businesses and business customers. CCleaner is a cross-platform tool, for PCs, Macs, Android, and it has a Cloud, Network and Technician tool, depending on what you need and the platform/software you use.

The premium version comes with a lot more features, including real-time alerts, free updates, and dedicated support. Although created for PCs in the early days, CCleaner does well to identify unwanted files on a Mac, so that users can select and delete the files and folders they don't need to free up space. As a cleaner for Mac, customers are pretty happy with the results of CCleaner.
Price: $19.95
Free version: Available

10. Sensei

The Sensei app is a relatively new app on the market, but it can be another useful tool for your Mac. The Sensei software developers call the app “Pro Mac Cleaner” on their website. I would call it a performance controlling tool.

Sensei presents a detailed picture of how your Mac performs. In the Dashboard, you can find out information about your MacBook, check your CPU’s current temperature, and see how much of your RAM is used. Cooling gives you exact information on your Mac’s fans' speed.

Its Clean option helps to get rid of user cache, logs, large files, etc. The Uninstaller feature allows you to delete apps from your Mac and remove their traces. It doesn’t list pre-installed apps from Apple, such as Safari or Calendar, but it shows every app you have installed on your Mac.

Surely, you can clean up your Mac manually, but using dedicated software will save you tons of time.

Price: $29 per year
Free version: Available

Frequently Asked Questions

Can’t my Mac clean itself?

Your macOS also has a built-in Mac cleaner, which Apple called Optimized Storage. Though its capabilities are limited, it gives you basic directions on where to start the cleanup. But for a thorough system cleanup and removing malware, you’ll need a dedicated Mac cleaner app.

Can Mac cleaner apps delete my important files?

Typically, best Mac cleaner apps have a protection built-in. They will usually select only those files that are safe for deletion.

Will Mac cleaners slow down my Mac?

Some cleaners try to get into your Login items, thus creating an extra burden on processor. On a flip side, the reliable Mac cleaner apps might even speed up your Mac. They remove all the outdated junk files giving your Mac an extra boost.

Mac cleaning apps you should avoid

Above we've touched the trusted Mac cleanup solutions but there are many that work on the dark side. Malwarebytes lists Advanced Mac Cleaner Pro and similar tools as unwanted applications. Here are some signs that should warn you against using scam Mac cleaners.
Signs of Mac cleaner scam:

'Your Mac is infected' intrusive message
An app is installed as part of different app
An app finds 2323 (the number is an example) threats on your Mac
Mac cleaner redirects your search page

Be safe and happy cleaning.

These might also interest you:

Our resident Mac Help guru, Peter Cohen, previously told us about the 'Other' storage category on Mac computers and what it catalogs: In short, you're seeing space taken up by plug-ins, documents, and caches stored by OS X.

It's worth noting that these files aren't normally harmful or wasteful to your computer's system; most are intended to help your Mac run efficiently, and ideally, you shouldn't ever have to clear out your Other files. Unfortunately, they can quickly clog up a computer low on storage â€” especially if you're storing a large number of iPhone or iPad backups.

Whether you're looking to free up space on your hard drive or just want to do some spring cleaning, here are some simple steps to get your Mac free and clear.

A note on what happened to 'Other' space in macOS Sierra and higher

When Apple added its storage management feature to macOS Sierra, called Optimize Storage, it reorganized what 'other' storage is and where it's located on the Mac. Much of it has been divided out through other categories so it's easier to find and remove.

The 100GB of Other storage I used to carry on my iMac is whittled down to just 5GB. You can still clean out old and unnecessary content from your Mac with macOS Sierra and High Sierra by using Optimized Storage. It's just a little easier to find those unused files than it was before.

A lot of the features of Optimized Storage remove content from your Mac and store them in iCloud. If you're concerned with how much storage you're using up in iCloud, you can customize or disable some Optimized Storage features to keep a balance between what's on your Mac and what's in iCloud.

What's this 'Purgeable' category all about?

If you check your system storage graph in macOS, you'll probably discover a category called Purgeable. This is part of Apple's Optimized Storage service. When you move your Documents into iCloud (part of the Store in iCloud component) and your hard drive gets low on storage, only recently opened files are kept on your Mac. Older documents are stored in iCloud, while a shortcut icon is kept on your Mac (files are automatically re-downloaded to your Mac as soon as you open them). The Purgeable files are what Optimized Storage will move to iCloud and delete from your hard drive only if your hard drive starts to get full. Purgeable files also include caches and temporary files that used to fit into the Other category, which will also be deleted as your hard drive starts to fill up.

Though your Other storage might have been spread out across categories in macOS Sierra and higher, you can still follow the below steps to manually clean up your Mac and get rid of unnecessary files.

How to check your storage space on your Mac

If you are concerned with how much storage space you have remaining on your Mac computer, you can check its usage folder to see how much space each category is taking up, including Other.

Click on your desktop or the Finder icon from the Dock.
Select the Apple Menu icon in the upper left corner of the screen.
Click on About This Mac.
Select Storage.

Your Mac breaks down its storage categories as follows: Apps, Movies, Photos, Audio, Backups, and â€” that annoying, undescriptive category â€” Other.

How to remove cached files

Now that you know how much space your Other files are taking up, it's time to reduce their footprint on your Mac. You can start by removing items you don't need, including caches for your web browser, saved Apple Music streams, and photo previews.

A note on deleting cache folders: You only want to delete old and unnecessary files, as current cache files store your preferences. We strongly recommend only deleting cache files from old apps.

Click on your desktop or select the Finder icon from the Dock.
Select the Go menu in the upper left corner of the screen.
Click on Go to Folder.
Type ~/Library/caches into the text box. A list of caches from active apps will appear on your desktop.
Select the app folder you wish to remove the cache from.
Right-click (or control-click) on the app folder.
Select Move to Trash.

How to remove downloaded files

Chances are, your Downloads folder is stuffed with Other-type files, including installer packages, documents, and folders you have already made copies of somewhere else. If you want to make some room on your Mac, it may be time to clean out your Downloads folder.

Click on your desktop or select the Finder icon from the Dock.
Select the Go menu in the upper left corner of the screen.
Click on Downloads.
Select the file you wish to remove.
Right-click (or control-click) on the file.
Select Move to Trash.

If you want to save a file from the Downloads folder but don't want it clogging your drive, consider moving it to an external hard drive or flash drive, or uploading it to an online storage option like Dropbox.

How to delete old device backups in iTunes

If you tend to get new iOS devices fairly regularly, you may have unnecessary device backups stored on your computer via iTunes. Backups take up 4-5GB each, on average; there's no need to hold on to older device backups if you no longer have the device or have it stored in iCloud.

Third-party software that can help

While you don't need any third-party app to 'clean' your Mac, there are some very handy system access tools out there that make it easier to regularly remove unwanted files.

CleanMyMac 3

With CleanMyMac, you have easy access to a list of features that help you keep your Mac free of unnecessary junk. It scans your entire system and recommends files you should delete based on how old they are and whether they are considered unnecessary to your workflow. It's a lot like Apple's Optimized Storage, but with a few additional features. My favorite is the recommendation to delete all content related to an application. Sometimes, you'll end up with a couple of files left behind by an app when you delete it. CleanMyMac provides a one-button purge of everything associated with that app.

DaisyDisk

DaisyDisk scans your Mac and gives you a pie chart that makes it easy to see what files are using up the most space. You can identify files that are in the Other storage category and drag them to the delete box.

Onyx

Onyx is a robust Mac system access tool that, in-part, can delete caches, logs, temporary items, and other files that find their way into the Other storage category.

Cocktail

Cocktail is another useful system access tool that you can use to clear caches, purge memory, and manage hidden Apple app settings, which might be automatically sending files into the Other category abyss.

Questions?

Still having trouble with Other? Let us know in the comments.