CCleaner for Mac

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on September 23, 2012

CCleaner joins the line of tune-up utilities designed for Mac, as they need tightening up just as Windows computers do. The free app aims to clear the OS X system and give it a shot of fresh life, and all this is provided within a simple, easy-to-understand user interface, although some of its functions aren't as easy to understand.

The app ships with a nice, clear interface displaying information about the version number, the Mac computer's tech specs, and three vertical icons: Cleaner, Tools, and Options. We liked the speed of the analysis process and the fact that it delivers a detailed report of files found and their sizes. During our testing, the app returned more than 5,000 junk files when we ran the CCleaner Analyze tool, which took more than 2GB of the available space; the program wiped them all after we clicked Delete. In other words, it is a very simple app to use. However, the meaning of the Erase Freespace and Repair Permissions options wasn't too clear from the documentation, so you will need to do an additional Google search if you would like to use CCleaner running these commands instead of Disk Utility, the native OS X app.

The overall cleaning process resulted in our system booting much faster than before, which is the aim of the app. If you are looking for a good app for system cleaning, CCleaner could be a viable option, yet the other features, such as Uninstall apps at request, Repair Permissions, and Erase Freespace can be done safely by using other methods. CCleaner is most effective in making your Mac clean.