Simple Solution for Deleting Junk Files

excellent
key review info
application features
  • fast clean
  • (2 more, see all...)

How many times did you have to search for useless files on your Mac to delete in order to save space? Or wanted to remove all the the user cache files at once? MacCleaning is a lightweight application that will allow you to do all these things from the menu bar.



There are various applications out there that allow you to remove unneeded files. Why would you install yet another one on your hard drive? Well, MacCleaning gives you the following reasons: it's small (occupies less than 1 Mb on your disk), it's easy to use (it can be accessed from your Mac's menu bar) and it allows you to quickly see your hard drive's free space at a glance.



The Looks



MacCleaning is an application that can only be accessed from the menu bar. By default, its icon displays the current occupation state of your hard drive and, by clicking it, you can view advanced drive information, access the cleaning utilities and eject all or any mounted drives.

I think that going for a menu bar interface was a smart decision. This allows quick access to the application's functions without requiring any tutorials or previous training. You just click its menu bar item and instantly access information about your drive or clean your Mac.



From the same menu, you can choose to launch the application at login, which basically removes the effort of searching for it in your Application folder each time you need to use it.



The Works



The menubar interface is not only about looks, but also about accessibility and ease of use. Clicking the menulet will provide you with the options presented above. The first section, called Local Storage, displays the amount of space occupied by your data on the hard disk. Moreover, clicking the disk will automatically open a Finder window where you can start removing files if you need more free space.



A nice feature is that the drive information is displayed in real time, making MacCleaning a reliable tool for monitoring the occupation state of your hard drive. By default, the Free version of the application warns you when free space is below 10%. The Pro version allows you to customize this up to 40%, using a slider.



The most important feature of the application is certainly the junk file remover. This allows you to remove all the unneeded files by clicking the Fast Clean button. While MacCleaning comes with a good preset, it's better to choose the items that are going to be deleted during the cleaning process.



You can do that by accessing the Preferences panel and choosing the “Select places to clean” menu. Moreover, you can enable the following options for removal: System and User caches and logs, User trash and download folder. You must carefully choose the items that you want to remove, and create a backup of your valuable data, just in case something goes wrong.

The System cache is an option that is best left On, mainly because a lot of useless data is stored on your system, and it's safe to remove it. I can't say the same about User caches, as the application does not clearly state what user information / data is deleted in the process. Since you're basically deleting stuff at your own risk, a backup is indeed recommended.



System and User logs are safe for removal, if you're not a power user that needs to analyze each aspect of an OS session. The User Trash option is basically a tool that deletes the files from your Trash, much like Mac OS X's Force Empty Trash feature.



The User Downloads folder may be safe to clean, but it's entirely up to the user. If you have useful files stored there, then they must be moved before checking this option.



If you're not a power user, and don't need to have detailed logs of what happened each time you used your Mac, you can turn all the folders to clean On. For a power user, I recommend manually removing the user cache and other sensitive information, and using this tool only to remove System and Log data.



Last but not least, MacCleaning Pro provides you with a tool that ejects all removable drives. This comes in handy especially if you download a lot of programs and have a lot of DMG files open. This feature worked for me like a charm, ejecting 10 mounted drives in a matter of seconds. 



The Good



Removing the junk files on your Mac is a task that can sometimes become somewhat of a nuisance, but not any more. MacCleaning makes it as simple as it can possibly be, while also providing you with a real-time disk space monitor and a batch eject tool.



The Bad

While there aren't any usage issues, MacCleaning does not clearly state what System and User cache data is deleted, making it a little risky for users that have sensitive information stored on their drive. This can be solved by including a documentation that clearly specifies the type of files that will be removed during the cleaning process.



The Truth



MacCleaning may be the easiest to use junk file remover for the Mac OS X platform. While it does require you to be careful while setting up the places that will be cleaned, the application will certainly free a lot of space. With bonuses like the disk monitor and drive ejector, it seems only fair to recommend it.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action:

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user interface 5
features 5
ease of use 5
pricing / value 4


final rating 5
Editor's review
excellent
 
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