The first and most useful feature, in my opinion, is the Smart Cleanup feature. This is the feature I use on a daily basis. Smart Cleanup scans your system junk, photo junk, mail attachments, iTunes junk, trash bins, and large and old files that you don’t need. That’s what makes it smart. There’s no need to have to worry about it removing anything that you or your Mac needs. Please note that the large and old files it finds in the Smart Cleanup process will not be removed. If you want those removed, you have to review and select which ones you want to be removed manually. Also, please know that CleanMyMac 3 will NEVER remove anything on its own without your permission.

 

If you’d rather not do the Smart Cleanup, you can simply click on an individual module and scan. All of the individual models are exactly what Smart Cleanup cleans. In other words, you can select individual parts of your Mac to clean that Smart Cleanup would have done except all at once.

Another use of those individual modules is being able to see a detailed insight of what’s going to be deleted. You can also select and deselect which items you want to be removed. This is very handy if you need something very specific to not be deleted during the cleaning process. For me, it’s quite rare that I have to go in and select which files I want to keep and not keep.

Utilities

 

The uninstaller is used for a pretty obvious reason. You can uninstall your applications correctly. I say correctly because when you normally drag an application to the trash bin, you are leaving behind tiny files and leftovers from that application on your computer. When properly uninstalled by CleanMyMac 3, you remove every bit and piece of that application that would be hard to manually. Something else the uninstaller has is the ability to reset applications to their original state. This basically makes the application as if it had never been opened before. This is extremely helpful if you are having issues with that application that are disallowing it from running properly.

Another feature of utilities is maintenance. This is my personal favorite and most helpful utility of them all. You can run various maintenance operations depending on your problem. If you happen to need any further information on what a specific operation does, you can simply click on the white question mark in the bottom left-hand corner. If your Mac is ever running slow or has any issue, go straight to the CleanMyMac app because it’s very likely that you’ll be able to solve your problem with the simple click of a button.

Next up is privacy. Privacy is very simple; You can remove your browsing history, along with traces of your online and offline activity. I personally don’t use this feature too often, but it can defiantly come in handy.

There is also an extensions section within utilities. You will find four key features of extensions which are plugins, preference panes, widgets, and login items. From there, you can enable/disable anything you want. You can also remove items. For example, I removed all of the dictionaries except for the English because I can’t ever see myself using a Chinese dictionary on my computer.

Lastly, you are equipped with a shredder. There’s really not too much I can say because a shredder is a shredder. The shredder in CleanMyMac is the most secure way to remove important and sensitive data from your Mac and make irrecoverable. You can also use it to avoid various Finder errors when attempting to delete a file the traditional way.

Dashboard

You can access the dashboard from anywhere within the CleanMyMac 3 app. The dashboard is used to display the current condition of your Mac in real-time. You can view the storage, memory, battery, and processor. If you hover your mouse over a specific bar, you can find out more information about that item. You can also free up RAM from the dashboard. Don’t ask me how it works but it works really well. The dashboard also keeps you in the loop on the health of your Mac. If there is an issue that needs to be resolved, CleanMyMac 3 will be there to detect it and notify you on how to resolve it.

Menu

 

I personally use the menu to get a general idea of how my Mac is running, to free up RAM, to edit preferences, and to quickly launch the CleanMyMac 3 app itself. It also notifies me when my Mac’s hardware or processes have an issue, including things like high disk temperature, disk speed problems, wear-leveling count, and various other hardware indicators. It also offers guidance on how to approach and resolve these issues.

 

 

Health Alerts

Last but not least are health alerts. Health alerts are very important to keep turned on. You will get alerts for heavy memory usage, low SSD life, critical battery health, S.M.A.R.T failing, and high disk temperature. Here is an example of how helpful health alerts are. In the event your hard drive begins to fail, CleanMyMac 3 will immediately notify you to help you prevent losing data on your Mac. As long as CleanMyMac is in your menu bar, you will always be able to receive those important types of alerts.

Final Thoughts

CleanMyMac has got to be the best cleaning and problem resolving application you can download on a Mac. Pretend your Mac is a baby and CleanMyMac 3 is its mom. It takes good care of it and is always there in the event of an emergency. In my opinion, this application should come pre-installed on every Mac right out of the box. I’m being 100% serious, I can’t imagine owning a Mac that isn’t equipped with CleanMyMac 3. It is so darn helpful. Not only does it clean your Mac, it keeps it healthy and could possibly save you money in the event of an emergency. When thinking about purchasing CleanMyMac 3, ask yourself these questions: Do I want/need extra space on my Mac? Do I want a faster Mac? Is there an issue on my Mac that needs to be resolved? If you answered yes to any of those questions, I would highly recommend you go and check out CleanMyMac 3. Even if you didn’t, I would still recommend you go take a look at the MacPaw website. If you are still questionable on CleanMyMac, you can download the free trial to see if it’s for you.

Click here to purchase CleanMyMac3 for $39.95