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

  1. Best Free Mac Cleaner App 2020
  2. What Is The Best Free Mac Cleaner

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.

A free junk cleaner for Mac, AVG Cleaner has only two modules — disk cleanup and duplicates finder. The former will help you get rid of log files, downloaded file history, caches, and uninstall leftovers. The latter saves your storage space by deleting photo, movie, and file duplicates. Cleaner-App is a cleaning software tool that organizes and optimizes disk space usage, creating more free storage space on your Mac. Whether duplicate files are taking up precious disk space, your startup disk is full, or you want to see what’s taking up space on your Mac, Cleaner-App provides the best solution.

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

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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.

Free

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. After choosing the module, go ahead and click on the “Scan” button. Wait for the program to finish the scanning process.
  4. 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.
  5. Go ahead and click on the categories that you want to remove.
  6. 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.

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28 February 2021

Does your Mac feel a little slow and unresponsive?

Or is it displaying a 'Your disk is almost full' error message?

That could be because there are excessive junk files occupying your Mac's storage disk.

Junk files take many shapes and forms. They also have varying sizes (some are tiny files while some may run into gigabytes) and are scattered across several folders on your Mac. Manually locating and removing these unwanted disk-consuming files can be exhausting and futile.

Thanks to Mac cleaning and optimization software, you can give your Mac's storage a clean sweep and free up space within seconds. So, here are our top picks of the best Mac cleaner software in 2021.

Best disk cleaner for Mac

You'll find tons of applications out there offering disk cleanup for Mac. Choosing the best one that matches your needs can get difficult. This is why we compiled this list containing ten of the best cleaning software for Mac.

RatingNameFeatures / RemarksMore Info
1MacKeeperBest all-in-one solution to clean your Mac.
Found the most junk files.
Removes viruses, malware, and blocks ads/trackers.
Provides 24/7 monitoring on your Mac for data breaches.
Link
2CleanMyMac XOffers a “Smart Scan” feature that cleans and optimizes your Mac in one click.
Comes with a “Shredder” that lets you remove locked items and junks without facing any (Finder) errors.
Link
3CCleaner for MacMonitors junk files in real-time and offers privacy protection.
“Smart Cleaning” feature automatically notifies you when there are junk files to clean.
Link

The Mac cleaners reviewed in this article all found varying gigabytes of junk files on our test device — a 128GB MacBook Pro running macOS Big Sur. Here’s a result of our findings.

  • MacKeeper 5 - 8.29 GB of junk files
  • CleanMyMac X - 7.18 GB of junk files
  • DaisyDisk - 2.10 GB of junk files
  • CCleaner - 3.49 GB of junk files
  • Cleaner One Pro - 8.20 GB of junk files
  • Onyx - 3.80 GB of junk files
  • AVG Cleaner - 3.17 GB of junk files
  • Mac Cleaner Pro - 4.00 GB of junk files
  • Avast Cleaner for Mac - 3.50 GB of junk files
  • Disk Doctor - 5.00 GB of junk files

This is the latest version of the MacKeeper software. MacKeeper 5 boasts of improved functionalities, refreshed design, and an easy-to-navigate interface. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Mac newbie or a pro—you’ll get a hang of MacKeeper easily.

MacKeeper is an all-in-one software with a bunch of built-in cleaning tools that’ll get rid of junks and redundant files eating up your Mac’s storage. As a bonus, you also get an antivirus, duplicate finder, an ad blocker, and a variety of other privacy protection utilities.

There’s a 'Find & Fix' section where you can check the status of your Mac's storage, security, and overall performance at the click of a button.

MacKeeper also has an Auto-scan feature that’s enabled by default. So you don’t have to set a reminder or schedule to get your Mac scanned for vulnerabilities — MacKeeper does that automatically in the background.

As a cherry on top, MacKeeper also comes with a built-in 'Update Tracker'. This tool checks your Mac for outdated software and updates them accordingly.

You can also use MacKeeper’s “Smart Uninstaller” tool to uninstall apps and remove their respective leftover files.

  • Price: From $14.95 (1-month plan).
  • Download: Available here.

CleanMyMac X offers a suite of tools that removes junk files and malware from your Mac. The software has a clean interface and you’ll find everything you need to clean and optimize your Mac on the right sidebar.

There’s also a 'Smart Scan' feature that thoroughly scans your Mac and cleans unneeded junk, neutralizes potential threats, and boosts your system performance.

Like MacKeeper, CleanMyMac X also lets you effectively manage applications on your Mac. You can use the utilities in the Applications module to uninstall applications, remove system extensions, and find outdated apps and update them accordingly.

The Maintenance module will free up disk space on your Mac’s disk, repair broken file permission, and compress the size of your (Time Machine) backup.

CleanMyMac X is a paid cleaning tool but you can use the trial version for free. However, you should note that the trial version comes with a 500MB cleaning limit.

  • Price: From $39.95 (1-year subscription).
  • Download: Available here.

CCleaner is a household name in the cleaning software industry, and the company has one of the best Mac cleaning software.

CCleaner offers a cleaning utility that analyzes your Mac’s storage to hunt out cache files, browser cookies, and other junk files. It scans both system and third-party applications, leaving no stone unturned.

Asides from cleaning junk files, CCleaner also offers other performance optimization tools to instantly free up Mac memory. For example, you can use the 'Startup' tool to change your Mac's startup programs and optimize your Mac's startup speed.

The built-in “Duplicate Finder” will also help free up extra space by removing duplicate files located in similar or different folders on your Mac.

CCleaner is available for free, but there's a professional version that costs $19.95. The free version has the essential tools you need to get your Mac's storage spick and span. Likewise, it has no limit on the quantity of junks you can clean from your Mac.

However, if you fancy advanced features like automatic erasure of browser history, real-time monitoring of junk files, and automatic updates, you'll need to upgrade to the professional version.

  • Price: $19.95 (1-year subscription).
  • Download: Available here.

OnyX is free and gets the job done, it's not the most beginner-friendly app to clean up your Mac. The app's functionalities, utilities, and settings aren't out in the open, so it'll take some getting used to. When you get a hang of it, however, cleaning your Mac becomes a breeze.

OnyX has a deep-cleaning Storage management tool. You’ll find this in the Applications tab of the app’s Utilities section. The tool will uninstall unsupported applications, remove TV programmes and shows you've already watched, and delete junk items and cache files — all in a bid to save as much disk space as it can.

You can use OnyX for free, forever. However, make sure you download a version that’s compatible with your Mac’s operating system from the developer’s website.

  • Price: Free.
  • Download: Available here.

DaisyDisk does away with all the fancy stuff and takes a straightforward approach towards junk removal.

At the click of a button, DaisyDisk will scan your entire Mac disk in less than a minute and categorize your data into an interactive, color-coded map. Data labels are also displayed at the top-right corner of the app for easy identification.

To preview the content of the category, click on a data label or its corresponding color on the map to preview the content of the category. If you find a suspiciously large file consuming your Mac’s storage, all you need to do is drag the file to the Delete queue located at the bottom-left corner of the app.

This is one of the best apps to perform a disk cleanup on Mac. The simplicity and disk-scanning speed are two of its highlight features.

The only downside is that DaisyDisk isn't beginner-friendly. It shows you things eating up your Mac's storage but it doesn't tell you which ones are junk files or malware. You'll have to find and delete them yourself.

  • Price: $9.95 (One-time payment).
  • Download: Available here.

Formerly known as Dr. Cleaner, Cleaner One Pro (developed by Trend Micro) is another reliable app to clean up your Mac, particularly if you have a lot of duplicate photos.

It deep-cleans your Mac's storage by removing junk files, duplicate files, similar photos, and so on. There’s also a 'Big Files' tool that lets you preview and delete big files (between 10MB and 500MB) consuming excessive disk space.

The Smart Scan feature will check for vulnerabilities affecting your Mac’s performance and suggest actions to get them fixed.

Cleaner One Pro also comes with a menu bar tool that displays a quick overview of your Mac's CPU usage, memory usage, network status in real-time.

  • Price: $14.95 (1-year subscription).
  • Download: Available here.

Avast is renowned for its antivirus software but its Cleanup tool for Mac is just as good.

The app will clean up your Mac by removing junk files, duplicate documents, and applications that you barely use.

Avast Cleanup uses a unique image-detection technology to scan your photo gallery for bad images that are under-exposure, over-exposed, or blurry.

Everything you need to declutter your Mac is clearly spelled out on the app's dashboard. There are no hidden tools or menus. Simply launch the app, grant it access to your Mac's disk, scan for unwanted files, and choose what you want to keep or delete.

You can download Avast Cleanup for free but there’s a catch: the trial version works in scan-only mode. To clean your Mac with the app, you’ll need to sign up for an Avast Cleanup Premium subscription; Avast may provide a 60-day subscription-free trial period.

  • Price: $47.99 (1-year subscription).
  • Download: Available here.

Best Free Mac Cleaner App 2020

This Mac system cleaner offers two main tools: a Disk Cleaner and a Duplicate Finder.

The former will scan the nook and cranny of your Mac for hidden files (application caches, junk files, unnecessary downloads, and so on) taking up disk space. The Duplicate Finder, on the other hand, will dig out identical files and folders.

The overall disk cleaning process is simple and effortless. The Duplicate Finder supports a drag-and-drop functionality that lets you find duplicate files in specific folders on your Mac. Simply drag the folder to the Duplicate Finder section and leave the rest to the AVG Cleaner.

  • Price: Free.
  • Download: Available here.

Disk Doctor is one of the few junk cleaners that removes a wide variety of unnecessary files from your Mac: application caches, message attachments, temporary files, application leftovers, partial or uncompleted downloads, application log files — you name it.

The app automatically scans your disk and groups unneeded files into 20 different categories. You can preview the files and choose what to keep and what to delete.

The app ships with a light interface by default but you can switch to a dark theme if you want. Disk Doctor is strictly a paid app; it costs $2.99 and is available on the App Store.

We advise that you download and use the Free Demo version of the app before making a purchase. That way, you can easily decide if it’s worth the investment or not.

We should mention that the Free Demo version only allows you to scan your drive. You cannot use it to remove junk or optimize your Mac's storage.

  • Price: $2.99 (One-time payment).
  • Download: Available here.

Think of MacCleaner Pro as a full-fledged file manager with disk cleaning and system optimization capabilities.

On the app’s dashboard, you’ll find an overview of your Mac’s storage color-coded into several file types and categories: system files, duplicate files, applications, documents, movies, and so on. Click on any of the categories to view the items occupying significant disk space.

In addition to removing junk files, there are additional tools that can help you fix issues affecting your Mac’s performance. The Speedup Tool, for example, will rebuild the Spotlight index, disabling startup apps, and free up RAM.

The built-in App Cleaner will also reset malfunctioning apps, manage browser extensions, remove unwanted/unused applications and delete their leftover files.

MacCleaner Pro’s junk cleaner and system optimization tools are available to all users. On the other hand, you’ll need to purchase the app to use pro tools like the duplicate finder, app uninstaller, and disk analyzer.

  • Price: $44.99 (One-time payment).
  • Download: Available here.

FAQ

Cleaner

What is the best Mac cleaning software in the market?

MacKeeper does a pretty good job. It is lightweight and you need not have any technical knowledge to use it. The interface is easy to understand and you can swiftly find junk files at the click of a button. It also comes with performance-optimization features that allows you to monitor your Mac.s memory and other resource-intensive processes in real-time.

Do Mac cleaners really work and won't slow down my Mac?

Yes, cleaning software really does help to declutter your Mac. We tested all ten applications in this article and they performed brilliantly. A cleaning software may consume CPU resources and slow down your Mac if it’s registered as a Login Item — an app that opens automatically when you boot up your Mac.

We should also mention that Mac cleaners will not slow down your Mac while scanning for junk files. If a Mac cleaner slows down your Mac's speed or performance, you may have too many apps open and running in the background. Close apps that you aren't using and try again.

Are Mac cleaner apps safe to use?

What Is The Best Free Mac Cleaner

Mac cleaner apps from trusted developers are safe to use.

However, some malicious Mac cleaning software has a history of stealing users' data. Therefore, make sure you perform your due diligence and only use cleaners from reputable software companies.