How CleanMyMac Helped Me Revive My Mac (Hands-on Review)
Reviews • Jan.31th, 2023
Isn’t it so frustrating when your Mac starts to slow down? You would not want to wait minutes for your Mac mini, MacBook Pro, or iMac to wake up, correct? It can be even more frustrating if you have a relatively new Mac. But, of course, we are talking about Mac devices you may have purchased in 2022 or 2021.
But when you think about it, MacBooks and other Mac devices are designed to be a long-term investment, right? Well, they still are. It’s just that you need to revive your Mac sometimes. Reviving your Mac may seem confusing, but it is easier and less expensive than upgrading to a new MacBook, iMac, or Mac Pro.
I have done it with some of my Mac devices, and CleanMyMac X, a Mac cleaning and optimization tool, was a lifesaver. So, I have prepared this long-term review of CleanMyMac X to show you how it helped me revive my Mac.
It is also a story of how CleanMyMac helped me save hundreds of dollars that I may otherwise have spent on upgrades.
RELATED: How to Use CleanMyMac X? Is It Safe?(Beginner’s Guide)
CleanMyMac X in 2023
CleanMyMac X has been our go-to Mac cleaning and optimization suite for years. But we have also seen the rise of other products in the same category. We will talk about many of those Mac cleaning articles in one of our upcoming guides. But there are a few reasons to go back to CleanMyMac X in 2023. For instance,
- As you can guess, CleanMyMac X is completely optimized for macOS Ventura. So, you can install this cleaning/optimization suite without worrying about compatibility.
- The updated version of CleanMyMac X is also safe from security threats if you are wondering. In addition, it has integrated well with the macOS system, complying with new security steps in Ventura.
- According to CleanMyMac X, malware detection and removal systems are also on steroids. So, this app is more likely to detect zero-day threats and offer real-time protection with the edge.
- The latest version of CleanMyMac X also has optimized utilities for uninstalling apps, shredding files, and removing background items.
Of course, you may be wondering: are all these upgrades worth it? Well, I will tell you how CleanMyMac X helped me revive my Mac and speed it up in many aspects.
RELATED: CleanMyMac X 2023 Update: Is It Still Worth Using?
The experience aka how CleanMyMac X helped me revive my Mac
As you know, there is a manual way to clean up and optimize a Mac. But first, you have to find out big files, unwanted applications, and junk files and remove them. I was aware of this method but was a little skeptical. For one, I did not want to accidentally delete a critical system file. Nor did I want to make any system-level changes that would turn out negatively.
Overall, the manual cleaning method did not appeal to me as viable or safe. After some research and several Reddit threats, I came across CleanMyMac X from MacPaw. Since I had used other apps from MacPaw in the past, I was confident about the security. I understood that CleanMyMac X is not adware or bundleware. It seemed very legit—for all the good reasons.
Getting started with CleanMyMac X
Probably the best thing about CleanMyMac X is that you can get started with it in a few seconds. Moreover, thanks to its intuitive UI and design, it is easy to use all the utilities. The first time I used CleanMyMac X, the Smart Scan feature caught my attention. Smart Scan is designed to analyze different aspects of your Mac to find room for cleaning, optimization, and speed improvement. And it works smoothly.
In particular, the Smart Scan looks for three aspects:
- Cleanup
- Protection
- Speed
After a scan that takes about a minute, CleanMyMac X will show you a summary with actionable items. Then, you can review potential fixes before applying them. For instance, CleanMyMac X offered to clean up a whopping 42GB of space on my Mac.
Upon reviewing the results, I discovered that the Mac Trash and System Junk were responsible for the severe storage space issue on my Mac.
The scan took a few minutes, but I could start seeing a better experience from my Mac.
You can also find smart recommendations from CleanMyMac X once it has finished fixing the primary issue. For instance, it may suggest uninstalling unused apps, purging available space, or running a deep scan to improve the in-depth problems.
That’s when I checked out the powerful utilities in the CleanMyMac X package.
Helpful utilities
I tried the utilities featured in different sub-sections like Cleanup, Protection, Speed, Applications, and Files. Here is what I think of them.
- Cleanup
System Junk is an effective way to remove junk files from your Mac. If you have been using third-party apps for projects, you may want to use this utility to retain the best speed. As I had expected, various system junk files were taking up a lot of my storage and slowing down my Mac.
Mail Attachments is also great if you use the Mail app on your Mac. Even if you forget to delete unimportant mail attachments, CleanMyMac X will help you with that. Since I was not using any native email apps on my Mac, this section was not really helpful.
Trash Bins are also more helpful than one would imagine, especially if you have multiple Trash bins on your Mac. You can clean multiple Trash Bins at once. This was a helpful thing, especially in showing that my Mac had multiple trash bins.
- Protection
Malware Removal is a powerful utility that offers on-demand and real-time protection from threats. It also uses up-to-date databases from MacPaw.
The Privacy utility on CleanMyMac X helps you take a step further regarding online security. For example, I often use it to remove browsing traces and chat data in a single click. I found this quite impressive as it helps us stay one step ahead of privacy threats.
- Speed
Optimization can help you improve your Mac’s startup time and real-time performance. You can use it to control launch agents and background apps, making your Mac easy to work with. Compared to using built-in options on Mac, CleanMyMac X is intuitive and easy to manage.
Maintenance takes it further by reindexing your Spotlight Search, fixing disk errors, repairing disk and system permissions, and flushing the DNS cache.
- Applications
You can use the Uninstaller utility to find and remove multiple Mac apps at once. It also helped me find out unused/unopened applications. It was a great way to free up space on my Mac.
On the other hand, the Updater utility helped me update all my Mac apps with a single click. It means I did not have to visit multiple app stores. For instance, I could manage all the apps I installed from Setapp, other app stores, etc.
The Extensions utility also did a great job detecting and removing unwanted software extensions. The list included Safari extensions also.
- Files
Space Lens is a fully-fledged disk analysis suite, which helped me find out what is taking up storage on my device. It is also helpful in removing these huge/unnecessary files. Read our guide on How to Use SpaceLens In CleanMyMac X.
Alternatively, you can use the Large & Old Files utility to have a more filtered view. Once again, I was able to clean up the system better.
Lastly, the Shredder utility came in handy whenever I wanted to dispose of confidential data. It is much safer than moving things to Trash and emptying it later.
Now, the big question:
Did CleanMyMac X revive my Mac?
Yes. After the first use of CleanMyMac, I got the following perks:
- Right away, I noticed that my Mac could multitask better. Handling multiple browser windows and shifting between apps was smoother than before. I also saw that my Mac worked better with multi-touch gestures.
- More importantly, there was a lot of available storage space. I could use this space to arrange my files better and sync them with other devices. Otherwise, I would have had to purchase an extra SSD for my machine.
- Last but not least, there was less clutter on my Mac altogether. I could remove unwanted apps, files, and extensions with a single click. In addition, because CleanMyMac X arranged everything based on categories, it was a lot easier.
In short, within a few minutes, CleanMyMac X revived different aspects of my Mac. And I could put aside the thought of purchasing an additional SSD or upgrading to an expensive model. So, it was worth whatever I spent on CleanMyMac.
For reference, CleanMyMac X is available for $39.95 per year. But since I use the Setapp subscription, I did not have to pay anything.
The improvements
It is not to say that CleanMyMac X is perfect. As you would expect, there is room for improvement.
- The malware removal utility on CleanMyMac X does not quite replace an antimalware program. So even though it detects various threats, it could use some improvements.
- Some utilities like Extensions and Updater can also use some improvements. For example, they are not 100% right when detecting and categorizing elements.
If we keep these points aside, CleanMyMac X is an exceptional choice I can recommend.
The competition
There is no scarcity of Mac cleaning and optimization apps on the market. You can find various options which offer different levels of control and features. Some of them are:
CCleaner for Mac is a popular option people swear by, especially those who have moved from Windows to macOS. This cleaning app can do a thorough cleaning of your Mac, helping you get rid of junk files and apps. It also works closely with browser extensions and removing bad/duplicate photos from your Mac.
MacKeeper is also a popular choice for many. However, even though the cleaning suite offers a couple of great cleaning utilities, we felt the tool is not comprehensive enough. But you can give it a try if you already have a good idea about what is slowing down your Mac.
We have also recommended Sensei as an excellent Mac optimization tool, but it can be a little tricky to get used to. For instance, it does not have a smart wizard or anything. However, on the bright side, Sensei gives you a lot of system information.
Overall, we think the competition does not cut it when considering the comprehensive Mac cleaning and optimization abilities of CleanMyMac X.
The conclusion
As it is evident, I really appreciate CleanMyMac X for its powerful features and UI. But, more importantly, the money you invest in this cleaning up can help you eliminate other expenses, such as hardware upgrades or an external SSD.
Rest assured, if you have a relatively new Mac slowing down, CleanMyMac X will help. What’s more, the app now offers a free 7-day trial period. During trial, you can use all CleanMyMac X modules and features for free and without limitation.
