1. Free Mac Cleaning Software
2. Apple Virus Protection
3. Best Mac Virus Removal Software
4. Free Mac Virus Cleaner

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 2021 cleaning your Mac is easier than ever. Which is why millions of people download free and low-cost Mac cleaning software.

Free Mac Cleaning Software

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

There is an anti-virus software called AVG AntiVirus for Mac, you can use it to protect Macs on your and your families. No.4 Free Mac cleaner: OmniDiskSweeper - Free hard drive cleaner. OmniDiskSweeper is one free Mac cleaner to find and delete big files that taking up hard drive space and also it can help you recover lost disk space. Iobit Mac Booster 8 is one of the best all-in-one Mac cleaning software. It cleans up to 20 types of junk files and helps get rid of threats.

Clean your Mac’s memory and remove login items to get things running beautifully again. Files need protection. Think that downloaded file is safe? You just can’t be too careful. Reliable virus protection blocks malware.

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.

Apple Virus Protection

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. Gemini 2

Gemini 2 is the duplicate finder that allows you to free up gigabytes of storage and organize your files. In just a few minutes.

It quickly scans every corner of your Mac and weeds out useless copies. No matter what type of file it is: a photo, music track, or a doc… Gemini will definitely find it. And once the scan is done, you can remove the duplicates in a click. Or review results to make sure nothing important gets deleted.

If you remove something by accident, it takes just a click to put it back. And to make sure things like that never happen again, you can exclude specific files and folders from scan. Try out the free version right here.

Price: $19.96
Free version: Available here

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 the 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.

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Today, Macs can be attacked by different types of viruses. Ensuring your Mac OS X is virus free is especially important for people who handle sensitive data or information. Scanning your Mac OS X operating system once in a while in the future can detect or prevent future attacks. Start by ensuring that the Mac has Apple's latest security updates. If that does not fix the issues, it is time to get a good antivirus software package. This is important because regardless of how careful you are, Trojans, spyware, and other malware can certainly find a way through. Below are top five Virus Cleaners for Mac OS X operating system (including 10.11 El Capitan).

#1. CleanMyMac 3

CleanMyMac 3 is a product of MacPaw. When you realize that your Mac starts to crashes down or slow down in the middle of any undertaking, it may be because the hard drive has been cluttered by some unnecessary files. Then, you can use CleanMyMac 3 to clean program for your Mac. It is useful. It comes with an intuitive and user-friendly interface.

• Cleaning - This program is mainly designed to clean hard drives of Mac. It allows deleting folders and files which are not being used. The antivirus is also able to clear residual traces after uninstalling an application or deleting an empty folder.
• Handling - The software is easy to use. There are no cleaning drive skills or OS formatting required if you want to handle it. If you want to delete unnecessary files, all you need to do is to indicate the path to the folder that you want to delete. Once done, the program will manage to find the file to delete immediately.
• Customization - Apart from all features mentioned above, CleanMyMac can also be customized according to your personal options. Thus, you will be able to accurately set how it is going to work for deleting and searching files.

#2. Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac

Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac brings firewall tools, antivirus protection, parental control, Web protection, and more to OS X. It has all the tools you need to keep your Mac computer safe. It requires 500MB of free disk space and 1GB of RAM. For 1 device the antivirus can be bought on its own for $39.95 per year or $59.95 for 3 devices, with a thirty-day free trial.

• Parental controls.
• Firewall tools.
• URL advisor.
• Enhanced protection for financial transactions.

• Poor performance on Web protection test.
• Uneven protection when it comes to windows threats.

#3. McAfee Internet Security 2014 for Mac

When installed, this McAfee Internet Security protects against Trojans, viruses, worms, rootkits and bot. It is also developed to guard against malicious software that normally gathers personal data for cybercriminals. The antivirus Active Protection tool detects and quarantines malware automatically in real time. The software can also clear infections from files without interfering with the contents of the file. In addition to malware blocking, this antivirus also detects files that are not authorized with Apple certificates. Beyond simply scanning the files, McAfee also scans every file that is downloaded from the internet. This includes email files and attachments sent over iChat.

• Scans email and instant message attachments.
• Firewall protection.
• Antivirus protection.
• URL advisor.

• No parental controls.

#4. F-Secure Anti-Virus for Mac

F-Secure offer both on-demand scanning and continuous protection. You can configure on-demand scanning to scan any folder on the Mac with just a click. When you enable it, spyware and virus scanning keeps a constant, watchful eye. The antivirus has several pricing tiers. $39.99 per year for a single license. $99.99 for three Macs for 2 years. A 30-day free trial is also available.

• Firewall tools.
• On-demand and continuous antivirus scans.

• No parental controls.
• No URL checker.
• No safe Web browsing tools.

Best Mac Virus Removal Software

#5. ESET Cyber Security (for Mac)

ESET comes in both Pro and regular flavors. The regular starting at a yearly subscription of $39.99 for 1 Mac and going up to $149.99 for a 2-year subscription that covers 5 Macs. The Pro version starts at $59.99 for one license and $179.99 for a 2-year subscription that covers 5 Macs. The Pro version also includes more security options and tools, as well as a free version.

• Parental control tools.
• Firewall.
• Antiphishing.
• Antivirus protection.
• Training modules.
• Social media privacy scans.

Free Mac Virus Cleaner

• No URL advisor.
• Some features require Pro subscription.