Best Free Mac Cleaner Cnet

CCleaner for Mac! Clean up your Mac and keep your browsing behaviour private with CCleaner, the world's favourite computer cleaning tool. CleanMyMac X takes the first place with good reason — this cleaner combines. Clean up, optimize and speed up your Mac with Cleaner One Pro. Why Cleaner One Pro could be your go-to tool for cleaning up, clearing storage, and freeing RAM on your Mac. Best Mac Cleaner free download - AppCleaner, CleanMyPC, Detox My Mac, and many more programs. Microsoft Total PC Cleaner is a free disk space clean up tool. It will optimize memory and Windows systems. It supports Windows 10 or higher versions. It will let you selectively remove files from System Caches, Mail Caches, Application Caches, Office Caches, Browser Caches, Downloads, and Large files. Features: Cleaning of PC’s cache and big.

Best Free Mac Cleaner Cnet Windows 10
What Is The Best Free Mac Cleaner
Best Free Mac Cleaner Cnet 2020
Free Mac Cleanup Software
Mackeeper Free
Free Mac Cleaner

/Mac Cleaner /Top 5 Free Mac Virus Cleaners in 2021 [Truly Free]

Apple’s operating system is considered to be invulnerable and there are new threats on Mac that had seemed to appear on a regular basis. Because of this, it a must that you consider keeping up with the security of your Mac.

Luckily, there is free Mac virus cleaners that you can use for you to give your Mac a boost from viruses, adware, and ransomware. You will also be able to prevent your Mac from any historic threats that are made by some big companies for you to have the best anti-virus solutions. Because of this, we have listed below a list of the best free Anti-Virus that you can have on your Mac.

Article GuidePart 1. Do I Need Anti-Virus for Mac?Part 2. What Can Mac Virus Cleaner Do for Your Mac?Part 3. What is The Best Free Antivirus for Mac?Part 4. Clean up Your Mac to Prevent Virus InfestationPart 5. Conclusion

People Also Read:6 Solutions to Do Mac Malware RemovalCan Macs Get Viruses?

Part 1. Do I Need Anti-Virus for Mac?

Anti-virus software is made to prevent, search for, detect, or to remove any viruses. It is also made to prevent any malicious software on your PC such as trojans, worms, and adware and one of the most important software that you should have on your Mac. This is because without any protection of the antivirus software, then your Mac might get infected in just a few minutes once you get connected to the internet.

Nowadays, malware has the ability to change it appeared in a quick manner for it to become less detected by some antivirus software. These viruses have the ability to be programmed and can surely cause damage to your Mac. Free Mac virus cleaner can also prevent you from accessing any of your data or worst, to take control of your Mac.

Part 2. What Can Mac Virus Cleaner Do for Your Mac?

There are some companies who made antivirus and all of them performs a very useful function. Here are some of the things that a free Mac virus cleaner can do.

It can scan for any files or if there are any malware or known malicious patterns.
It will allow you to schedule when you want to set up a scan on your Mac.
It can remove any malicious code detected. There will also be times that you will be notified once have some infection and will ask you to remove it.
It can show you the health of your Mac.

REMINDER: You always have to make sure that you only have the best of the best and an updated security software. This is for you to be able to protect your Mac and other devices that you might get connected to it.

As what we have mentioned earlier, viruses can now be programmed to avoid any detection. Now, the main thing with how an antivirus software works is that it stores the example of some recognized malware that you have on your Mac. It can store its definitions in the cloud. Because of this, it will allow the software to scan faster, take less space, and maintain a threat-free library on your Mac.

Part 3. What is The Best Free Antivirus for Mac?

Here is a list of free Mac virus cleaners that you can get for you to protect your Mac from any malware or infections of viruses.

1. Avast! Free Mac Security

This is one of the most popular antiviruses. This program is very much effective and is free for non-commercial use. It can give you tools for you to use in making a full system scan and also can help you in sifting through some specific email threads, attachments, and some website activities. The main interface of this program is very much straightforward and have a navigational pane which contains the five primary buttons. It also has a graph that will allow you to see the overall status of your Mac.

2. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac

Malwarebytes started as an adware removal program. However, it has already become a great tool for protecting your Mac from any malicious malware. This program is also very easy to use. All you have to do is to launch it and then click on the scan button. After that, this program will then notify you if you have any malware on your Mac.

This software is a lightweight installation because it is just like having three digital music files that you do not even notice that it is there. Even if this program does not have real-time protection, it can still remove any infections that are existing on your Mac.

3. Sophos Antivirus Mac Home Edition

The Sophos program gives you a basic utility but still gives you a quality antivirus software. Its features a custom, on-demand, and a schedule for scanning for some of your files, folders, and drive. The Sophos software can also give you a real-time protection for your Mac that will allow quarantining any unknown files that are giving a suspicious behavior. However, the Sophos software just takes a little more time during the scanning process compared to other antivirus software.

4. Bitdefender Virus Scanner

This program is considered to be a lightweight free malware detector which has the ability to locate and remove any virus on your Mac. This free Mac virus cleaner also has an interface that is straightforward which make it very easy to use.

You will be able to see on your screen the status of your Mac for you to become updated about your system. Even if the program looks very basic, it can surely give your Mac a clean touch. The Bitdefender also has the ability to give you an hourly update and its virus scanner always ensures that it has the latest version before it proceeds with the scanning process.

5. Avira Free Mac Antivirus

This software will block any latest malware before it can proceed to cause damages on your Mac. It has also the ability to give you a real-time protection and can quickly detect any threats on your Mac.
However, this free Mac virus cleaner does not have any web filtering, no network scanning or any other security extras because it is only focused on giving your Mac safe from any malware. One of the good features of this program is that it does not only protect your Mac from any threats, but it also has the ability to choose any PC-related malware which will make sure that you will not be able to share any files that may cause damage to your friends or colleagues.

Part 4. Clean up Your Mac to Prevent Virus Infestation

Of course, aside from having an antivirus installed on your Mac to have it protected, having a Mac cleaner will also become really handy. This is because having a Mac cleaner will ensure that you will be able to clean your Mac for you to boost its speed and have more storage space on your hardware. What we highly recommend you to have for you to be able to clean up your Mac and prevent more virus infestation is the iMyMac PowerMyMac.

The iMyMac PowerMyMac has the ability to boost the speed of your Mac by removing all unwanted files that you have. It can find and then remove any email attachments, iTunes backup, and even your multi-languages that you do not actually need. It also has the ability to scan and then delete your large and old files from your Mac.

Because of the said features of the iMyMac PowerMyMac, this will be a great help for any free Mac virus cleaner that you have installed on your Mac. It can help it remove all files that may be carrying any viruses that will cause damage to your Mac. And since you are removing files that you no longer need, then this means that you will free up more purgeable space for you to save or install other important files or applications that you may need.

We have provided below on how you can use the iMyMac PowerMyMac for you to be able to clean up your Mac.

Go ahead and download the iMyMac PowerMyMac from the official website at www.imymac.com and then have it installed on your Mac, then run the program on your Mac.
Choose one of the modules on the left side of the main interface, perform one at a time for you to clean your Mac completely.
After choosing the module, go ahead and click on the “Scan” button. Wait for the program to finish the scanning process.
Once that the scanning process is complete, the iMyMac PowerMyMac will then show you all the junk files that you have on your Mac by category. You will be able to see categories like Application Cache, Photo Cache, System Cache, Email Cache, System Logs, User Logs, and more.
Go ahead and click on the categories that you want to remove.
Choose all the data that you would want to remove and then go ahead and click on the “Clean” button.

Note: For the other modules that are under PowerMyMac: “Duplicate Finder” and “Large and Old Files”, the steps for you to be able to clean them up is the same with cleaning up the “Master Scan” module. Once that the iMyMac PowerMyMac is done cleaning up your junk files, most of the folders will have an indication that says “Zero Kb”. This means that those folders are all cleaned up by the program. However, there are some folders that will not have this indication even if it is all cleaned up. This is because those folders are considered to be an auto recreated folders.

Part 5. Conclusion

Having an free Mac virus cleaner installed on your Mac is one of the most important things that you should do and have on your Mac. This is for your Mac to become safe and protected from any malware infestations. Antivirus software has the ability to remove any threat and suspicious files, folders, or applications on your Mac. Having the iMyMac PowerMyMac is also a great thing to have installed on your Mac. Actually, both software can become a great partner in protecting the health of your Mac.

As the antivirus software eliminates any threat of malware or virus on your Mac, the iMyMac PowerMyMac can make sure that you can clean up any junks from your PC. Aside from cleaning, it can also help you de-clutter your Mac and remove all of your large and old files that you do not even need. Since the iMyMac has the ability to clean up your Mac, which means removing all the things that you do not need, this will give your Mac a better performance. This is because it can boost up your Mac’s speed and can also give you more space to store more important files.

You have the option to choose from the list of the best free Mac virus cleaner that we have mentioned above and then go ahead and check and protect your Mac from getting damaged. Plus, get the iMyMac PowerMyMac for free to make sure that you will be able to remove unnecessary things on your Mac. You also have the option now to regularly clean your Mac as one of a way of preventing any malware threat or viruses to come on your Mac.

ExcellentThanks for your rating.

Rating: 4.8 / 5 (based on 96 ratings)

Best Free Privacy, History, And System Cleaner

Program Name: CCleaner with CCenhancer

Developer: Piriform

Download Size: 4.8MB

Version Reviewed: 4.0.5.4520

Best Free Mac Cleaner Cnet Windows 10

Requires: Windows 8/7/Vista/XP/2003/2008

Pros

Is feature-filled, cleans multiple aspects of your privacy/history/temp files/junk/traces/etc. related to Windows features and third-party software, including web browsers
Several browsers supported, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Opera
Functionality can be further enhanced with CCenhancer, a third-party program
- Note: CCenhancer is not officially supported by Piriform so if you decide to use it, this will be at your own risk.
Allows for secure erasure of your data/privacy/history/etc.
Has extras such as uninstaller, registry cleaner, startup monitor, file finder and drive wiper
Has portable version
Easy to use

Cons

The installer version of CCleaner comes bundled with bloatware during installation, such as Ask Toolbar. You can get the ‘slim’ or portable versions to avoid the bloatware.
Sometimes registry cleaner must be run multiple times before all errors are taken care of
Uninstaller is basic

Discussion

CCleaner is tough to beat when it comes to effectiveness as a privacy cleaner. In addition to erasing sensitive data CCleaner can allow for the freeing up of free space on the order of gigabytes since the data which it deletes builds up and takes up unnecessary space over time. This combination of being an excellent privacy cleaner as well as its ability to create free space is what makes it the number one pick. Combine it with CCenhancer and its effectiveness increases further. What more could you ask for?

The user interface is clean and well laid out, making it easy for users navigate and select the various options. At the top of the main screen, along with the name of the program, information about the computer on which it is installed is displayed such as the version of Windows, processor type, amount of ram and chipset. On the left of the screen, the Cleaner function can be accessed as well as the Registry Cleaner, options and other built in tools such as an uninstaller. The middle section of the screen displays information about whatever function is being utilized currently; be it the Cleaner or otherwise.

The core of the program’s functionality is the Cleaner. This will take care of most if not all of the sensitive information left behind after a period of using your PC. The program allows for removal of information left behind by Windows as well as third party applications. The Windows categories are as follows:

Internet Explorer
Windows Explorer
System
Advanced

What Is The Best Free Mac Cleaner

With Internet Explorer, temporary internet files, history, cookies, recently typed URLs, Index.dat files, last download location, autocomplete form history and saved passwords can be cleaned.

As it relates to Windows Explorer, recent documents, thumbnail cache, taskbar jump lists, the list in the Start Menu’s Run dialog box which contains programs run from it, as well as Windows Explorer most recently used lists are cleaned.

System files which can be cleaned are files found in the recycle bin, temporary files, information stored in the default Windows Clipboard, memory dymps, Chkdsk file fragments, Windows log files, Windows error reporting, DNS cache, Font Cache, Start Menu Shortcuts as well as Desktop Shortcuts.

Under the Advanced category, windows event logs, old prefetch data, the menu order cache, the tray notifications cache, the window size/location cache, the environment path, user assist history, IIS Log files, custom files and folder can be cleaned and the facility is also available for the wiping of free space securely. (Check out our Best Free Secure File Erasing Program article for further information on secure file erasing.)

To run the cleaner, you have the choice of doing an analysis first — which will give you detailed information about the files which will be cleaned — and then actually running the Cleaner.

In addition to information left behind by Windows, several third party applications are supported. These include Windows Media Player, eMule, Google Toolbar, Microsoft Office, Nero, Adobe Acrobat, WinRAR, WinAce, WinZip and many more including several of the browsers covered in our Best Free Web Browser article.

Best Free Mac Cleaner Cnet 2020

The installation of CCenhancer alongside CCleaner adds support for cleaning of 1,000 additional programs that CCleaner doesn’t support natively, which can only be a good thing since many installed application has the potential to store sensitive information which could be used against you.

In addition to effectively erasing sensitive information, another effect an excellent privacy cleaner of the caliber of CCleaner has is the freeing up of valuable space on your hard drive. Of course, if you choose to utilize CCenhancer as well, even more free space can be freed up.

As mentioned previously CCleaner comes bundled with some useful features in addition to the coveted Cleaner. The registry cleaner is fairly self-explanatory. Simply select Scan For Issues after which your registry will be run through for errors and then select Fix Selected Issues to rectify them. You will be given the option of backing up the registry, in case any changes are made which negatively affect your computer’s performance.

Additional features include an Uninstaller and a Startup Monitor — which allows you to control which programs startup with Windows and the extensions which start with some selected web browsers — as well as allowing you to alter scheduled tasks and context menus. There is also a File Finder, a System Restore point manager and a Drive Wiper which allows for either the wiping of an entire drive or partition or the free space on the selected drive or partition.

It should also be noted that the files deleted by CCleaner can either be deleted securely or normally. Secure file deletion will take longer to complete than normal file deletion. The secure overwrite options are as follows:

Simple Overwrite (1 pass)
Advanced Overwrite (3 passes)
Complex Overwrite (7 passes)
Very Complex Overwrite (35 passes)

CCleaner also handles cookies intelligently, allowing you to keep cookies from services which you frequently use such as those from Google services as well as Windows Live services to name a few. You can also manually select cookies which you don’t want to be deleted. Select files and folders can also be included or excluded from the cleaning process.

CCleaner is solid all around and the only issue I encountered was that sometimes registry cleaner must be run multiple times before all errors are taken care of. CCleaner is effective and simple and will get the job done and if you haven’t, I urge you to give it a try.

Runner Up

Program Name: BleachBit

Developer: BleachBit

Download Size: 5.9MB

Version Reviewed: 0.9.6

Requires: Windows XP/Vista/7

Discussion

BleachBit is quite the capable privacy cleaner. In addition to being open source, it is both simple and effective.

Bleachbit’s interface is organized into 2 main columns. In the column on the left side, you will find what the author of the software refers to as Cleaners. These are simply the different categories of files which BleachBit is capable of scanning for and deleting. The main, right side column displays information about the files which will be deleted as well as the disk space which will be recovered on deleting these files.

In order to carry out an operation, you must first select all of the Cleaners which you wish to utilize, after which you have the choice of either carrying out a preview which will simply display information about the files to be deleted as well as the disk space to be recovered, or you can skip that step and immediately hit Clean which will permanently delete files associated with a particular Cleaner. You could also choose the more pragmatic route and do a Preview followed by a Clean thus giving you a better idea of what exactly you would be cleaning before doing so and giving yourself the opportunity to make any changes to the proposed actions before carrying them out. BleachBit is capable of identifying and removing the cache, cookies, Internet history, temporary files, and log files for 96 applications including Firefox, Opera, Safari, APT, Google Chrome and Flash.

On deleting files, you have the option to overwrite files once, making sure that they are securely erased. You also have the option of selecting individual files and folders for deletion as well as the option to overwrite the free space on your hard drives and partitions in order to prevent files deleted via the Windows Recycle Bin from being recovered. You can also specify a location which you do not want to be modified by BleacBit. BleachBit even allows you to destroy any evidence that you used the program in the first place. Simply select Shred Settings and Quit from the File drop down menu and the settings utilized while operating the program will be erased.

In terms of functionality, BleachBit is clearly top-notch. Where it falls down is in its user interface and the amount of supported programs; by default CCleaner (without CCenhancer) supports more programs than BleacBit. Of course the user interface not being as “pretty” as that of CCleaner can be considered a very minor issue as functionality is key in any program.

Overall, this is honestly a great program and can fulfill most of your privacy cleaner needs quite easily. It is quite deserving of being the Runner-Up today and is definitely worth checking out.

Honorable Mention 1

Program Name: KCleaner

NOTE: The installer version of KCleaner comes bundled with bloatware during installation, such as Relevant Knowledge. Either download the ‘lite’ version to avoid Relevant Knowledge or the portable version to avoid all bloatware.

Developer: KC Softwares

Download Size: 1.4MB

Version Reviewed: 1.3.0.4.7

Requires: Windows NT/98/Me/2000/XP/2003/Vista/Server 2008/7/8

Discussion

If you are looking for an effective means of erasing your digital footprint, KCleaner is a very capable choice and is worth exploring.

Although its interface is not as polished as that of its counterparts CCleaner and Privazer, navigating around the user interface and carrying out various functions is relatively simple so you will not be left scratching your head trying to figure out how to operate the program.

The program can either be operated in Manual mode or in Automatice mode. In Manual mode, you have the option of carrying out either the Analyse or the Clean functions. You can choose to skip the analysing part and jump. Automatic mode carries out both the scan and cleaning. Other options for scanning and cleaning are also available. These are:

Analyse, clean and shutdown
Analyse clean and close
Analyse, clean and reboot

Several types of data can also be erased with KCleaner. These include, files from the recycle bin, windows installer duplicates, Apple installer cahce, Sun/Java Installer cache, adobe reader installer cache, temporary files, recent files, cookies, temprorary files, Firefox cache, Google updater chache and many more. You can also specify the deletion method which you prefer to use when deleting your sensitive data. The deletion methods are as follows:

Standard( just regularly deletes files)
1 Pass random
3 Pass DoD 5220.22-M

KCleaner offers more customizability in terms of adjusting exactly what is to be scanned when compared to Privazer and is unique in that it allows for either the shutdown or rebooting of your PC after analysing and cleaning it as well as closing the program after analysing and cleaning. It is however lacking in options when compared to CCleaner.

KCleaner is effective and flexible and is a solid privacy cleaner.

Honorable Mention 2

Program Name: Privazer

Developer: Goversoft

Download Size: 4.8MB

Version Reviewed: 2.1.1

Requires: Windows XP/Vista/7/8

Free Mac Cleanup Software

Discussion

Privazer is a decent privacy cleaner with a well laid out interface, allowing users to easily navigate the program and select exactly the areas which they wish to tend to.

Privazer is easy to use and requires little effort to begin scanning for sensitive information. You first begin the process of cleansing your computer of sensitive information by first selecting the device from which you want to scan and erase such data.

Mackeeper Free

In addition to selecting the device which you wish to scan from, you can select what type of data you want to be erased. The options are as follows:

Residual traces of old file names
Residual traces of old files
Internet activity
Cookies
Messengers
Software use
Registry
Windows history
Memory
Start_JumpLists
Indexing
Temporary files
Recycle bin
Other(LOG files, etc.)

Free Mac Cleaner

After making your desired selections, simply hit scan and you’re on your way.

Like CCleaner, Privazer is also capable of intelligently handling cookies and not touching those cookies related to frequently accessed services such as Windws Live services and Google services.

Like any decent privacy cleaner should, Privazer allows for the secure erasing of the data it deletes. It uses the following methods for secure erasure:

British HMG IS5, Baseline Standard(1Passes)
British IS5, Enhance Standard(3 Passes)
Russian GOST P50739-95(2 Passes)
German Federal Office for Information Security(3 Passes )
US Navy NAVSO P-5239-26(3 Passes)
Canada Communications Security Establishment ITSG-06(3 Passes)
German VSITR(7 Passes)
Bruce Schneier’s Algorithm(7 Passes)
Canadian RCMP TSSIT OPS-II(7 Passes)
Peter Gutmann’s Algorithm(35 Passes)

Privazer can no doubt hold its own but CCleaner offers far more options to users in terms of areas to clean and is more thorough. It is also quite limited in terms of the browser it supports when compared to both CCleaner and the CCleaner + CCenhancer combination. BleachBit also offers far more categories for cleaning.

Although not as effective as CCleaner, Privazer may come in handy for a quick run through and as mentioned before is easy to use and it is effective at cleaning up the areas which it supports.

Other Alternatives

… and many more