Some, like the infamous MacKeeper, have been described as “invasive malware” on more than one occasion. On the surface, these apps may appear legitimate. You may find the worst offenders tirelessly advertised using spammy tactics like pop-up windows and banner adverts, with hooks like “39 problems found with your Mac, click here to fix” on less-than-reputable websites. Some of these apps are less than honest in their marketing, and some are borderline malware. RELATED: CleanMyMac X Review: One Click for a Tidy Mac The Dark Side of Cleaner Apps CleanMyMac X is one example of a trustworthy cleaner app that we’ve looked at in the past, and we recommend it if this kind of application is something you’re interested in. These apps offer a simpler way of “spring cleaning” your Mac by highlighting apps and files you may have forgotten about, speeding up your Mac’s startup by disabling software that starts up when you login, and notifying you about outdated software. RELATED: How to Free Up Disk Space on a Mac It isn’t fun to constantly manage a paltry amount of free space, so using a trusted cleaner app can keep things ticking over in just a few clicks. It feels good to click a button and get a few gigabytes of space back or clean out your temporary files, even if it ultimately this isn’t something you need to worry about unless you’re desperate for free space. What cleaner apps do well is consolidate all of these processes into a single interface.

Mac junk cleaner