According to MacKeeper's website, the steps are simple: quit the app and drag it to the trash. If you're running an older version of MacKeeper, you may need to remove its menu bar icon first. From the Apple menu, choose Go Applications. In the window that appears, double-click the MacKeeper icon. From the MacKeeper menu choose Preferences.
If you own a Mac, you know the importance of taking care of it and keeping it clean. If you don’t, you soon will when it starts running slower. Like a PC, your Apple Mac computer is susceptible to all sorts of problems if you don’t give it a bit of TLC.
- This contributes to the nuances between CleanMyMac and its competitors (like MacKeeper), securing its place among the best Mac cleaning software out there. Dropbox If you’re a DropBox user, the drop-down status overview of CleanMyMac will let you know the space available on your cloud storage in real-time.
- Both CleanMyMac vs DaisyDisk are extremely popular as far as Mac cleaning/optimizations go, with both CleanMyMac vs DaisyDisk 2021 – The Best Tool To Clean Your Mac Revealed!
Why it’s important to keep your Mac clean
The Mac is a special computer. It was designed to be a computer for art, design, and creation. It is created with the most high-quality parts possible and packaged like a work of art. Apple and Mac users know the amount of work and design that goes into the creation of an Apple or iMac computer. They appeal to a wide range of people who demand high-quality tools to do their work or to play and create with.
But if you don’t spend some time cleaning your Mac and keeping it clear of registry errors, you may find that it has become like a cranky child. It’s no wonder Steve Jobs named his first computer “Lisa” after his daughter. Perhaps he thought of his computers like his children because he was so devoted to his work. But the amount of maintenance that computers require does remind one of what some have to do to keep their children happy and thriving.
Why is my Mac running slow?
If your Mac is running slow, there may be some reasons for it. Some of the most common reasons are listed below:
- Full hard drive– One of the most common reasons that your Mac may not be running as easily as it used to is that your hard drive is full. If this is the issue with your Mac, you may need to organize your media files, come up with a better system to use for your computer jobs, and clean up the trash. This is not easy, and you may need some tools to help with this procedure.
- Outdated operating system– Your operating system may be pulling your Mac down. Perhaps it should be updated to the next version, or you should think about reformatting your drive.
- Startup issues– Some of the issues with your Mac may be due to startup programs that interfere with the processes of your Mac. You can disable some of these programs to free up some of your Ram and increase your speed. This may work for you. If not, you’ll need to use software to clear up space and speed up your drive.
- Background programs– If you have background programs running, this can slow down your Mac also.
- Old hardware– If your hardware is old, it may slow down your Mac or cause issues with your software or operating system.
- Software issues– The most common type of problems associated with a slow computer are software-related. Consider the last thing you installed and see if you should uninstall it or if it is conflicting with your other software or hardware.
What are the best programs to clean my Mac?
When it comes to software, it’s hard to say what is the best for any one purpose. Often, you just have to try it out to see what it can do for you and see if you experience any problems. In this post, we’ll review two software programs that help you keep your Apple Mac computer clean. They both have their strong points, but you should look at the specs of both of them and then decide what will work best for you.
Clean My Mac Review
The Clean My Mac software is a nifty cleanup tool that focuses on clearing out the junk and creating a fresh slate to operate your Mac on. This robust software has powerful scanning power that digs up all the junk and features a user-friendly interface that helps you get rid of everything that is keeping your Mac from doing the best job for you.
Impressive features
Some of the impressive features we like about Clean My Mac software include
- User-friendly interface
- Smart one-click cleaning
- Alerts to let you know when your Mac needs cleaning
- Locating bad software or conflicts with your OS
CleanMyMac 3 offers some new features that fix errors and help you to monitor and cure health issues common to the Mac. Most users reported on the site that they experienced a high percentage of improvement and achieved maximum speed by using this tool to fix system errors on their Mac machines.
Compatibility
It is compatible with Mac OS 10.7 or later. Check the software specifications to find out more about how it may work with your particular system before you install it.
Cost
The CleanMyMac software is currently $39.95 for a single user license. It seems to offer a lot of bang for the buck when it comes to optimizing and cleaning your Apple Mac computers.
MacKeeper Review
MacKeeper software is another Mac cleaning solution. Like CleanMyMac 3, MacKeeper offers some robust tools for tidying up your Mac to get it working better. If a sluggish Mac is your problem, you may find MacKeeper to be a great solution.
This software also cleans up registry and old apps, reorganized lost files, and performs many of the tasks that a good computer cleaning tool should do. The Top 10 Sites Review site says it is the best software to use if you want to protect your Mac from theft from outside sources.
Impressive features
- Cleans up junk and fragmented files
- Protects your computer from theft
- Deletes unneeded or unused apps and files
- Helps restore your Mac health by finding problems you don’t know about
Compatibility
It works with the Mac OS 10 or later systems. Check the website links we provided to find out which OS it works best with.
Cost
MacKeeper costs $14.95 per month for the basic version. They also have a variety of pricing and payment plans to choose from that help you save money. Many people prefer a one-time payment such as is offered by CleanMyMac. But if you don’t mind paying monthly for the service, MacKeeper will work fine for your budget.
What about VPNs?
There is a growing concern about online privacy these days and with good reason. VPNs help to address this issue with their ability to let users surf in total anonymity as they shop, get on social media, and do business online. VPN stands for “virtual private network, ” and in essence, it allows you to make a direct connection with sites on the internet without being able to be “tracked” or discovered by the bots.
When you are comparing these two types of software for Mac, inquire as to whether they will work with your VPN or if they offer this service.
If you care about your privacy and data, you will want to invest in a VPN at some point. While you may think it is inconvenient to use a VPN everytime you log on, for those sensitive transactions and activities where your data is more vulnerable, it is important to take that extra time to use this important tool.
How to Remove MacKeeper
If you already have MacKeeper or you have concerns about its compatibility or other issues with your Mac, follow these steps to remove it.
- Choose “Quit” from the MacKeeper application menu.
- Drag the MacKeeper app to the Trash to begin the uninstall process.
- If prompted for an administrator’s password, enter it to delete the app.
- This will move the MacKeeper app to the trash, and a window will pop up.
- Complete the removal by uninstalling the rest of its components.
Our Conclusions
If you look at both applications for keeping your Mac in tip-top shape, you’ll see some similarities. They both offer cleaning tools for your Mac that help you remove unwanted apps, programs, and system files that no longer serve a purpose. In short, they provide a clean sweep of debris that may be residing on your Mac and limiting your speed and performance.
The CleanMyMac app is cheaper because you get the entire license for one Mac for $39.95. This is a one-time fee, unlike the $14.95 per month that you’ll pay for the MacKeeper application. This is a premium price, but you can cancel whenever you want if you decide that MacKeeper isn’t for you.
And many people do!
Problems with MacKeeper?
We noticed that there are quite a few forums addressing problems or issues in removing MacKeeper and no one seems to want to talk about why they need to remove it. So you may want to try it first before committing if that is an option when you apply.
There are some kind of cool features with both applications, but you will need to look at the lists in both and decide which meets your needs.
Keeping your Mac clean of virtual debris, other files, and junk is necessary to keep your workflow up and to run and keep your downtime to a minimum. So check out the links we provided and see what you think.
Always follow the recommendations that are suitable for your version of Mac and your operating system to avoid problems or other technical issues.
At a glance
Cons
Our Verdict
CleanMyMac 3 is MacPaw’s catch-all utility to scan your Mac and remove gigabytes of assorted cruft and gunk that builds up over time.
Like its previous versions, CleanMyMac 3 works to identify and remove generally unused, developer-oriented, extraneous, and backup files associated with your most commonly used applications in order to free up disk space. CleanMyMac 3’s selection of tests has grown to add tools such as an uninstaller, general maintenance, online privacy functions, and a file shredder. This is on top of the Smart Cleanup, System Junk, iPhoto Junk, Mail Attachments, iTunes Junk, Trash Bins, and Large & Old Files scans that comprise the cleaning utilities, making CleanMyMac 3 a worthy catch-all Mac utility.
All of these tests can be customized and configured as needed—using a better preference layout than was found in CleanMyMac 2. While a given test might tell you that you can reclaim a certain number of gigabytes by deleting files, CleanMyMac 3 gives you fine control over which files are deleted.
Despite adding several new scans and tests, CleanMyMac 3 still holds together—the new features don’t feeling bolted on and the app doesn’t feel overly bloated. The tests can be configured, there’s a good range of preferences, and extensive information about your Mac’s hardware—including a health status for your hard drives, remaining battery life for a notebook, and available RAM—show good attention to detail. A scheduler allows you to setup reminders to run tests, and the tests themselves work as advertised.
CleanMyMac 3 comes in handy in a world filled with incredibly fast but still relatively small solid state drives, where regaining a dozen or so gigabytes of space certainly isn’t a bad thing. On my late 2013 model Mac Pro, with its minimal 256GB flash storage, CleanMyMac 3 was able to retrieve 18.1GB of storage space, and the computer ran without a hitch afterwards.
To its credit, MacPaw took the CleanMyMac 2’s more-frenetic-than-a-happy-puppy user interface and dialed it down a bit, which makes it a bit more helpful in the current version. CleanMyMac 3 also includes a brief explanation about what each test does and what it repairs. This doesn’t go into developer-level explanations, but it serves to tell you what you’re about to do, what changes will be made, and gives you sufficient information prior to clicking the Scan or Clean button.
This dovetails nicely with the program’s access to preference files and settings that might be a little hard to find if you’re a casual user. For example, the Privacy module allows easy access to cookies, saved passwords, and other preferences for your web browser of choice, saving you some digging around in preference and extension menus by putting these things in one location.
If there’s one caveat, it’s that CleanMyMac 3 attempted to launch itself during the interrupt screens that sometimes come up when running another application. This was easily worked around by configuring the preferences to ignore these interrupts, but it’s also a behavior I’ve never seen before.
Bottom line
Mackeeper Vs Cleanmymac
CleanMyMac 3 is in a tough, competitive field against other all-in-one/spring cleaning utilities for the Mac, including the oft-hated MacKeeper, and one could argue that its assorted freeware/shareware utilities can achieve similar results, while CleanMyMac 3 costs $40 for new users and $20 for upgrade users. Still, it’s nice to be able to remove gigabytes of dregs from your Mac; the program and its tests work well, it can be readily configured as needed, and is worthy of your consideration.