Best Free Mac Cleaner 2018 Cnet

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Utilities • Updated on Jan.18, 2021

Like many of you, I shifted from Windows to macOS to get superior performance and smooth experience. However, I had this false idea that Mac devices don’t need cleaning or maintenance as such. Of course, that didn’t last long.

As I started using my Mac for resource-intensive tasks and more apps, it started becoming somewhat slow. It took me, however, a few months to understand why Macs also need cleaning and performance-boosting. Wondering why?

Just like Windows, macOS also generates temporary/junk files over time. Now, if you use your Mac for simple tasks like web browsing or checking email, this won’t be a problem. However, if you are into jobs like video editing, software testing or development, the junk file can slow down your Mac.

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The other problem is that these files may take up a lot of space from your Mac. Of course, this isn’t ideal for your Mac storage, either. As you keep installing and using more apps, you have to face space crunch on your MacBook, iMac, or iMac Pro.

And, the beginning of the new year is a good time to review all the files on your Mac, archive some of these and delete items you don’t need. A new year always looks better with a manageable to-do list and a tidy Desktop.

This article we’ll walk you through the essentials — and even some great third party Mac cleaner apps for 2021 — to clean up invisible clutter and tune up your Mac beyond its limits.

Shortcuts:

  • Our Pick: CleanMyMac X
  • Runner-Up: Sensei
  • The Paid Competition: CCleaner Professional, Macbooster, Intego Mac Washing Machine, DaisyDisk, Disk Doctor
  • The Free Competition: AppCleaner, OnyX

Note: If you buy something from links on this page we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Background

Starting with macOS Sierra, Apple offered an elegant space-clearing solution feature, Optimized Storage.

Optimized Storage in macOS Sierra and later can save space by storing your content in the cloud and making it available on demand. To make room for more storage, it automatically saves files, photos, movies, and email attachments to the cloud.

Each file stays right where you last saved it, and downloads when you open it. Files that you’ve used recently remain on your Mac, along with optimized versions of your photos.

This feature helps you deal with junk content like duplicates, old email attachments, and downloads. It helps you to automatically examine these — and delete them or move them to iCloud. As a result, you get more free space on your hard drive, but several gigabytes of cloud storage taken up, which you could’ve used for other things.

Also, extra iCloud storage space from Apple isn’t cheap. Once you cross the 5GB limit, you have to pay Apple a monthly fee. This could be anywhere between a few dollars to hundreds of dollars. And, trust me, it’s way easy to cross the limit if you use multiple devices from Apple.

Do you know what’s even worse? This method doesn’t sound practical for those with a subpar connection at home/office. What if you stored something important on iCloud and cannot download it because you do not have an internet connection?

Mac Clean-up & Performance Tune-up

Personally speaking, I didn’t find Optimized Storage as an appropriate solution for me. I’m sure many of you can relate, mainly if you deal with a lot of data.

And, this is where Mac cleanup and performance tune-up software come in. Here’s how they work:

  • Dedicated tools to clean Mac help you to free up space on your Mac. Because this works better than what we saw in Optimized Storage, you can get more free space.
  • Deleting junk and temporary files from your Mac can speed up the machine. You can enjoy a smooth macOS experience without messing with important macOS files. This also contributes toa better multitasking experience, among other
  • Speed-booster apps for Macwill help you with sensitive tasks like RAM boost, cache clearing, and Disk Permission management. A dedicated tool helps you in dealing with these confusing tasks. The best part is that you can unleash the real power of your Mac.
  • Most Mac maintenance tools often come with Security modules that scan your Mac for potential threats. So, you can easily remove adware and other dangerous elements with ease. This provides a safer, secure experience on and off the web.
  • You don’t have to pay for this extra storage space, since you are making the best out of your existing Mac. This is, of course, better than getting a portable SSD/HDD or iCloud upgrades. You also ensure better speed here.

Here’s what I think.

When you’re a professional, you may not have enough time to keep track of storage space and the speed of your Mac. Instead, you need a quick and easy way to deal with everything. In the end, everyone wants the first fastest Mac.

Well, that’s why I decided to check out Mac cleaner software in the first place.

What Makes a Good Mac Cleaner App

Here are a few things we asked ourselves before considering a Mac cleaning app for this coverage.

  • Is the app intuitive and easy to use?
  • Is the app secure? Does it ensure safety while tampering with significant parts of the Mac?
  • Does it notifyyou about the potential issues on your device?
  • Does it offer features to clean junk files, trash, unused, and copiesin different system sections?
  • Does it make smart decisions and work efficiently?
  • Does it check your Mac’s overall health?
  • Is it priced reasonably with respect to the powerful features/functionalities we get?
  • Is it compatible with the latest version of macOS?
  • Is the app available in different languages to be used by people from different countries?

And guess what? We have chosen 9 Mac cleaner software and performance tune-up tools that checked the most important boxes.

Our Pick: CleanMyMac X

After testing multiple Mac cleaning and speed-up software for several weeks, CleanMyMac X undoubtedly made it to the top position. We believe it’s the best solution you have at cleaning and tuning up your Mac experience to something better.

CleanMyMac X is an all-in-one Mac cleaner and performance tune-up software available for macOS devices. This popular tool comes from MacPaw, one of the trusted developers in the industry right now.

What’s Great about CleanMyMac X

For now, let’s see how good CleanMyMac X is at cleaning and speeding up your Mac. Do keep in mind that what follows is an insight-filled review of CleanMyMac X on macOS Catalina.

#1 Super-Easy Mac Cleaning

You don’t have to be a macOS ninja to use CleanMyMac X. I mean, I started using CleanMyMac X when Mac was a new platform to me. And, with the later versions, the tool has become more intuitive.


Regardless of your expertise with macOS, CleanMyMac X can help you clean up junk and make it faster. You don’t have to make sensible decisions if you are unsure. Instead, this Mac cleaning app uses algorithms to understand what’s best for your Mac. So, via a simple Smart Scan button, you can not only clean your Mac but also anything and everything that is wrong.

#2 Comprehensive Maintenance

CleanMyMac X can very well be the most comprehensive Mac cleaner/optimizer out there. Split into sections like Cleanup, Protection, Speed, Applications, and Files, you can find so many features inside.

All these features work towards a single goal: a cleaner, faster Mac. For instance, in the Speed section, the CleanMyMac X modules let you manage launch agents and login items on your Mac. Similarly, the modules in the Applications section allow you to safely and effectively remove applications, huge files, and unwanted stuff from your device. All these help you in speeding up the Mac and improving the overall speed.

#3 Powerful Utilities

Another thing I loved about CleanMyMac X is that it doesn’t restrict itself. For instance, the tool comes with many utilities such as Space Lens and App Updater.

Space Lens, for example, allows you to understand how your Mac uses the storage space. You can find out the biggest directories and huge files. This helps you in making quick decisions. App Updater can help you in updating all the apps you have on your Mac. So, even if you installed an app from non-App Store sources, it becomes easy.

#4 Smart Cleaning Notifications

Ideally, you should open up CleanMyMac X and run the cleaning/boosting modules once in a while. Though, if you don’t, the app can notify you.

These notifications come in two ways: the main app and the CleanMyMac X menu bar widget. The menu bar widget notifies you when the RAM is full or when the CPU usage is so high. You also get prompts regarding frequent cleaning sessions. It’s impressive that this tool can keep your Mac clean and safe, even if you forget to do that.

#5 Customizable Performance

I always love a customizable tool, and CleanMyMac X isn’t an exception. You can control how CleanMyMac X scans your Mac and deals with the results.

For instance, you can exclude apps, folders, or other spaces by being scanned at all. You also get options to control how certain elements look on the interface. More importantly, you need not follow whatever CleanMyMac X tells you to do blindly. For instance, if you don’t want to remove every kind of junk from your Mac, you can decide to exempt something.

#6 Effective Speed-up

This is the reason why I have been recommending CleanMyMac X to all my friends and family — and, now, to you guys too.

A simple scan and cleaning with CleanMyMac X can change the way you use your Mac. You get to enjoy the same speed you see when you open up a Mac for the first time. It happens because the cleaning algorithms that CleanMyMac X use are pretty advanced. Similarly, you get some extreme options like Disk Permissions Manager and Spotlight Re-indexing to boost the speed even further.

#7 Great Support

Compared to other Mac cleaner software we have tried before, the after-sale support from MacPaw is surely the best.

First of all, the developer offers frequent updates to the tool. In most cases, any bug you see in one release will be fixed in a few weeks, maximum. Also, there is no scarcity of learning resources through the support guides. So, even if you are entirely new to macOS, the guides from MacPaw will help you make the best out of CleanMyMac X.

What Could Be Better?

We did have a look at the best things about CleanMyMac X, but here are a few areas that we think may use some improvement.

  • The developers can consider some additional options like duplicate file remover inside CleanMyMac X. Since duplicate files cause storage space crunch and slow-down, it seems like a great move.
  • CleanMyMac X comes with a malware detection module, but it’s not entirely adequate. We’d love to see some improvements in this area.

Do these impact CleanMyMac X as a Mac cleaner? NO. Can such improvements make CleanMyMac X perfect over time? YES.

Pros
  • Easy-to-use Interface
  • Versatile cleaning options
  • Comprehensive coverage
  • Completely safe to use
  • Reasonable pricing
Cons
  • Could get more utilities
  • Security module needs work
Availability & Pricing

CleanMyMac X is currently available for macOS 10.10 or later. It works fine with macOS Catalina as well. We had tested this Mac cleaner software for this review on Catalina.

The pricing plans of CleanMyMac X begin at $34.95. If you want multiple licenses, you have to pay further. However, considering the features inside the tool, the single-license price seems quite reasonable.

By the way, you can get CleanMyMac X via a Setapp subscription as well.

CleanMyMac X works on macOS 10.10 and later, including the newly released macOS 10.15 Catalina. A free trial version is available for download.

Runner-Up: Sensei

Although not as comprehensive as CleanMyMac X, Sensei offers a unified platform to monitor and manage your Mac with ease. This is why we recommend this new-generation Mac performance tool as the runner-up in this list. Of course, you don’t get as many cleaning options as you see in the top pick.

Sensei is a powerful Mac tune-up software that helps you improve the speed and reliability of your Mac. You can use Sensei to monitor, analyze, benchmark, and improve different aspects of your Mac, such as Storage, Thermal Dashboard, and Battery Consumption.

What’s Great about Sensei

Here are a few reasons why we recommend Sensei as a great app to speed up your Mac.

Best free mac cleaner 2018 cnet software

#1 Impressive Dashboard

We think the superb dashboard on Sensei deserves another round of applause. This dashboard can simply be the only place you should look to understand how your Mac works.

You get to see which apps are consuming resources and how your fans are running. Similarly, there are ways to track the health, capacity, and performance of multiple elements like storage, graphics, and battery. By the way, Sensei also has a menu-bar interface that you can customize. Unfortunately, that’s only the level of customization you get.

#2 A Well-Curated Cleaning Package

We already told you that Sensei isn’t as comprehensive as CleanMyMac X. However, the options available in the Sensei package are just excellent on any day.

We are talking about the essential modules like application uninstaller and junk file cleaner. When combined with the in-depth data Sensei provides, these tools can change the way you use your Mac. For instance, you can easily explore different categories and clean different types of content from your Mac SSD/HDD. It’s nice to clean your entire Mac from a single space.

#3 Advanced Monitoring

Compared to other Mac cleaning apps out there, Sensei brings a more comprehensive approach. It gives you so much information about your Mac that you can make the right decisions.

For instance, using Sensei, you can track the storage space, temperature, graphics performance, cooling, and many other aspects of the device. Sensei will be the best choice if you want to know if your MacBook Pro fans are dysfunctional, for instance. Similarly, Sensei can give you advanced data on sections like battery and SSD health.

#4 Benchmark, Stats and More

When it comes to aspects like storage and performance, Sensei doubles as a benchmarking suite and a tool for advanced statistics.

For instance, you can use Sensei to understand the current performance of your SSD and analyze the stats in a better way. There is also an option to see the current health and temperature of the drive. Going a step further, Sensei can notify you before the disk falls into some kind of trouble. So, on any day, Sensei is a great way to keep your Mac on a check.

What Could Be Better?

So, these are the areas that we think Sensei can improve.

  • We strongly believe Sensei could have included more options to improve the performance. As you may have seen, more than half of the app focuses on statisticsand analysis. It’s also one of the reasons why Sensei cannot compete face to face with something like CleanMyMac X.
  • The lack of customization is a problem, indeed. This puts the user in a tough position of making the call. That is, the user has to decide which files they delete and which they don’t. We also think Sensei must offer extra assistance while analyzing the scan results.

Despite these, if you are looking for a simple way to manage junk/huge files and a lot of methods to analyze data, Sensei seems to be a great deal.

Pros
  • Low footprint
  • Excellent statistics
  • In-depth analysis
  • SSD Trimming
  • Affordable pricing
Cons
  • Limited compatibility
  • Lacks customizability
Availability & Pricing

Sensei is available for macOS 10.15 Catalina and later. You heard that right. You can’t run Sensei on old Macs.

Coming to the pricing, you can get either the yearly subscription for $29 or the Lifetime license for $59. In both cases, you get future updates, which is excellent.

As you can see, Sensei is pretty inexpensive than our top pick, but you miss some features.

The Competition: Paid Mac Cleaner Software

CCleaner Professional

For years, the standard in PC cleaner software has been CCleaner. Now, Mac users can benefit from the experience that the Piriform developers bring to the table. CCleaner Professional is quick and easy to use the program, which speeds up your Mac and secures it. Although CCleaner has a free version, there are only two basic features aimed at a faster Mac and Privacy Protection.

At the premium level with a price of $24.95, you have Automatic Browser Cleaning, Real-time Monitoring, Automatic Updating, and what they call ‘Priority Support.’ There are 3 tabs – Cleaner, Tools, and Options. These three cleaning options inside CCleaner can help you remove junk files, trash files, unused data, unwanted files, and software

Though CCleaner Professional has many helpful features, it lacks some options. For instance, it always stays as a simple tool for cleaning temporary files and internet cache.

Macbooster 8

MacBooster from IObit is a powerful Mac maintenance tool for cleaning up Mac computers and offers proper functionality for its class. MacBooster and CleanMyMac X have quite similar functionality, offering users several cleaning options and tools: system cleanup, finding duplicates, deleting large files, uninstalling applications, protecting your Mac from virus and malware, etc.

Start by clicking Clean and Boost, for example, and four sections – Internet Security, System Cleanup, System Optimization, and Disk Clean – are scanned for errors, threats, and redundant files. After a quick review, you can simply click the Fix button and proceed. We also liked MacBooster’s performance boost tool, which shuts down low-level services to speed up your Mac further.

If you’re a power user looking to deep-clean your Mac, give the 14-day trial a whirl. After that, it requires a $2.49/month subscription.

Intego Mac Washing Machine X9

Intego Mac Washing Machine is a Mac cleaner that makes it easy to get rid of junk files that slow down your Mac. It comes with three separate but complementary functions. It scans for unused or obsolete files that can be deleted, it identifies duplicate files, and it lets you manage your desktop. Through the app’s intuitive interface, you can quickly access all features and have your Mac running more smoothly in no time.

Overall, the Intego Mac Washing Machine app is elegant. It’s worth checking out if you are looking for an app that helps you organize your storage drives and removes unnecessary files. But there is no quick-look support for files preview, and the trial version of this app can only complete the preliminary steps of each function. Once again, you will notice a lack of options.

You get to see what each phase of the scanning process looks like, but to get any real functionality, you’ll have to pay $29.99 for an unrestricted license.

DaisyDisk

DaisyDisk is a beautiful yet different disk space analyzer that scans the drives on your Mac and gives you a visual overview of what’s eating up space on your Mac. It displays files in a pinwheel-shaped disk map, letting you quickly locate and clean up large files. You can use the built-in QuickLook preview to see what you might want to get rid of (you can also reveal in Finder to take a closer look).

There’s a collection drawer where you can stage files (or entire segments) for trash. Once you’ve browsed through and collected things you don’t need, a single click clears them out. DaisyDisk is available for just $9.99 from the Mac App Store as well as from their website (standalone edition). The standalone version from their site offers some additional features since it is not bound by Apple’s sandboxing rules.

We like DaisyDisk’s design with its circular visualizations! But it’s important to note that DaisyDisk does not warn you if you delete something sensitive to the system. So, please use DaisyDisk carefully.

Disk Doctor

Disk Doctor is developed in the UK and was awarded the ‘Mac Gem’ award by MacWorld in 2013. The app focuses on disk cleanup only. It scans and removes application caches, browser logs , iTunes temp caches and other unnecessary files from your hard drive. The interface is very simple and professional as well as easy to use.

The limitation of Disk Doctor is that the utility is designed to work only with your Mac’s boot volume. You can’t scan an external volume and free up disk space on it. Similarly, you miss features like app uninstaller and cache manager. On the bright side, you get an interactive way to manage different elements and remove them with ease.

Disk Doctor Pro could use a few improvements and additional features, but at its current price of just $9.99, it’s worth having around.

The Competition: Free Alternatives

AppCleaner

AppCleaner is a small and simple utility that helps you uninstall macOS apps completely. Sure, the Mac makes it a lot easier to get rid of unwanted software than Windows, but a thorough cleaning is another affair. Often apps will leave behind configuration files, cache folders, and other remnants that occupy disk space. This is where AppCleaner comes in.

AppCleaner does a serviceable job of locating all the files associated with the app and provides an index so that you know just how much space they’re taking up. Once you’ve got them all accounted for, click the Delete button and delete them forever. As you can guess, there are no additional features in this package. You can remove the apps, and that’s it.

Of course, we have included AppCleaner as a limited alternative only. It cannot be compared to CleanMyMac X or Sensei on any day. But, if you can’t spend at all, AppCleaner helps you with the baby steps.

OnyX

OnyX is another free multifunctional utility that can verify your Mac’s startup disk, run a variety of system scripts for cleaning tasks manually and rebuilding your Mac. The developer offers specific OnyX versions for every major version of macOS. When a new version of macOS comes out, you have to revisit the OnyX site and grab the latest release. Every version is free and very small. So, you don’t waste space.

It’s handy for deleting caches, removing redundant and excessive files and folders, rebuilding databases and indexes, and making your machine run more smoothly and with added disk space. Just be careful playing with these settings. They’re helpful and can improve your Mac’s performance, but if you don’t know what a given setting is supposed to do, you’re probably best off not changing it.

We think it’s excellent for tech-savvy and experienced Mac users to take significantly more time to get around and find what you need, then learn how to use it, but the result pays.

Additional Tips To Clean Your Mac Further

Keep the macOS desktop clean: Many people use Desktop as their primary destination for files. But this could be tricky. Each of these files adds pressure to the system. When there are too many items on the screen, you’ll start seeing slow-downs on Mac. So, you have to keep the desktop clean and minimal with fewer icons and applications.

Grab some external storage: It is no mystery what is filling up your storage – files. To prevent your data from clogging up the system, you might consider saving your less-used files to a location away from your computer. An external drive will be ideal. You can even use apps like Get Backup Pro to enable the syncing process.

Restart regularly: Restarting your Mac regularly is an excellent way to clean up the Mac and improve the overall performance of the device. It works because the restart process can help your Mac in rejuvenating and cleaning some caches and temporary files.

Stay current with macOS: Apple releases new versions of OS X as free upgrades, so there is no reason not to keep current. New versions of macOS contain performance improvements that often use more system resources. Also, you get features like Optimize Storage.

In Closing

Now, you’ve a handful of Mac cleaning software to choose from, with different customization that can help you accomplish your goals.

After carefully evaluating all the popular Mac cleaner solutions, we believe that CleanMyMac X beats them all in overall performance, ease of use, and flexibility. It should also be noted that CleanMyMac X is used by more than 5 Million Mac users across the globe. Just in case you didn’t know, trustworthy websites like TheNextWeb and MacWorld recommend it.

If you are looking for something more specific, you can consider other options like Sensei. Then, again, it’s always better to have a compilation of tools instead of installing different apps for each need.

However, if you’d rather save storage with free, take a look at top free Mac cleaning software.

Why Should You Trust Us


Hi, my name is Kristen. I took a bunch of computer science classes in college as part of my minor and decided back then I wasn’t into coding/programming — but I love computers. I’m just a regular user now who appreciates simple, straightforward user interfaces and programs I don’t have to fight with to make them work. I have an ASUS computer, an iPhone, and a few other gadgets to do my research on. I tested twelve different duplicate file finders on my Windows 8-based laptop for this article.

I use my PC for very basic functions, it’s been a while since I’ve gone through my document and photo files and organized them. You might use a service like DropBox, iCloud, or Google Drive to backup the same documents or photos that you’ve already transferred multiple times onto your laptop. That’s when you’ll probably need a duplicate file finder app that allows you to quickly search for large, old, duplicate files and give you the option to view and delete them.

Since I’m mostly on a PC, and given that some duplicate finder programs also support macOS, my teammate JP tested a number of Mac duplicate finders on his MacBook Pro (10.13 High Sierra). He’ll share detailed findings of those Mac apps.

Our goal is to test a group of well-known programs and share the absolute best so you save time exploring programs that may or may not add value to your computing life. We hope this review will give you some insights, and that you walk away choosing a great duplicate finder that will help free up space on your PC or Mac.

Disclaimer: the opinions in this review are all our own. No software developers or merchants mentioned in this post have any influence in our testing process, nor do they get any editorial input in the content. In fact, none of them know we are putting together this review before we post it on SoftwareHow.

Getting to Know Duplicate File Finders

What causes duplicate files? The most obvious answer is computer users saving too many versions of the same file in multiple places. If you’re like me, you may keep the same photo albums or videos stored on your phone, digital camera, social media, and your computer. You’re reluctant to go back and organize them… until one day your computer hard drive is out of space.

Another common source of duplicates is similar files. For example, when you take a selfie, most likely you’ll take several photos, pick the perfect one, and post it on Facebook or Instagram. What about the other un-picked ones (as we call, similar photos)? They often get ignored. That’s okay most of the time. But when you sync these images between your phone and computer, the lack-of-storage problem will occur sooner or later. You’ll then realize how much storage is taken up by those unneeded similar pictures.

Chances are, this is when you’ll start searching for ways to find those duplicates and similar files — then duplicate file finder software comes to your attention, right? Those software developers are intelligent! They know our pain. They take the time to design and develop these kinds of applications to help us root out unnecessary files quickly. But be aware that duplicate finder apps aren’t magical one-click-and-you’re-done time-savers.

Don’t be fooled by the over-promises made by those “unethical” providers — especially those claim they can save you 20GB disk space in just two minutes. That’s often impossible because searching or scanning for duplicates takes time, and reviewing them is often a time-consuming process. Therefore, it is always recommended that you carefully review each item before deciding to delete it just in case of misoperation.

Also, it is worth noting that duplicate items aren’t necessarily meant to be removed. You may have good reason to keep them in different folders, especially when your computer is shared with someone else. You create different folders to separate content and it’s totally possible that some files overlap between you and other users. You don’t want to delete those overlapped items without permission!

Who Should (or Should NOT) Get This

First off, you don’t need a duplicate finder software at all if your computer has enough storage, or you rarely save multiple copies of a file (be it a photo, video, or phone backup). Even if you do, sometimes you can just take several minutes to go through these frequently-used folders and sort them out — unless there are thousands of them and it’s impossible to take the time to manually check each folder.

The main value of these programs is saving time. Why? Because, as we already mentioned, manually searching for extra files you’ve saved in a hard drive is often tedious and incomplete. For instance, it’s totally possible that you might have backed up the same photo album seven times while the original one is hidden somewhere deep in a disk that requires seven clicks to access.

In a nutshell, here are some scenarios where you might use duplicate finder software:

  • Your computer is running out of disk space.
  • Your hard drive is stuffed with many exact duplicates of files and folders.
  • You regularly sync media files between your phone/tablet and your computer.
  • You back up your iOS devices with iTunes now and then.
  • You often transfer pictures from your digital camera to a computer.
Cleaner

You may NOT need a duplicate finder when:

  • Your computer is relatively new and has plenty of storage to use.
  • Your hard drive is almost full but you’re certain that it’s not caused by duplicate files.
  • You have a reason to keep those duplicate items.

In addition, keep in mind that when your PC or Mac lacks storage you can often reclaim much disk space by using a cleaning program. We’ve reviewed the best PC cleaner and best Mac cleaner programs previously. For example, if you have installed too many third-party programs, the cause for low disk space is that the hard drive (or solid state drive) has been occupied by program files, and you should try to uninstall those unneeded programs to reclaim space.

How We Tested and Picked

These days it’s becoming harder to put different programs competing in the same space to test because they all seem to cater to specific audiences. Some are designed for computer newbies who aren’t tech-savvy, while others are for gurus (aka, power users) who are comfortable with computers. It’s challenging, yet unfair, to benchmark them with the same criteria. Nevertheless, here are the factors we took into consideration during our testing.

How deep will the program scan and how accurate is it to find duplicates?

A good duplicate file finder can do a more thorough search (also called deep search in some programs) and be as specific as possible in its approach to scanning your computer hard drive. Most of the time, you just need to make a few clicks following the software instructions before letting it scan. Those options may include, for instance, scanning by folder or drive, searching specific apps like Photos for Mac, including/excluding specific file types during a scan, setting the desired file type/size/time, etc.

How customized are the searching methods?

This varies by software. The more file extensions, names, times, and sizes an app can detect, the more duplicates it can dredge up. Also, this helps find specific types of duplicate files more efficiently. Imagine: You know you have tons of duplicate pictures stored in the Pictures folder. All you have to do with a duplicate finder is define the search method to include images, then scan only that folder.

Does it let you view your duplicates before deleting?

What can you do with duplicate files once they’re detected? A good software will make it easy for you to compare originals and copies and safely deal with them. Most programs offer file preview ability so you know what you’re deleting before you do so. This is especially helpful for photos. Also, some duplicate file finders, like the winners we selected below, allow you to detect similar — not just exact files that you may not want to delete.

Can you undo what you just did?

Most duplicate file finders offer a restore option if you accidentally delete something you shouldn’t. Some software programs will let you export the duplicates instead of deleting them, or save them to a specific temporary folder to deal with later. The point is that you should be able to reverse those delete operations.

How easy is it to use?

Easy doesn’t necessarily mean thorough. Some duplicate file finders are not super user-friendly and take some know-how to navigate. You may not want to waste your time wrestling with a piece of software that takes forever to learn. I encountered one duplicate file finder that would’ve been wonderful to test out if I didn’t keep getting pop-up errors before I could even download it.

Is the program compatible with your computer OS?

If you are on a PC, you expect a piece of software run smoothly on the version of Windows you’ve installed, be it Windows 7, Vista or latest Windows 10. Likewise, for Mac users, you want the app to be compatible with the macOS version you Mac machine is running, e.g. High Sierra 10.13.3.

The Winners

First things first: before you use any duplicate file finder software, it’s always good practice to backup your PC and Mac beforehand, just in case. As they say — backup is king in the digital age!

Best Duplicate Finder for Mac: Gemini 2

MacPaw has been developing Mac software for almost a decade, with CleanMyMac being their flagship product. Gemini 2, in our opinion, is (and should be) part of their Mac cleaning toolkit. Positioned as an “intelligent duplicate file finder”, Gemini 2 helps you find duplicate and similar files on your Mac. By wiping these duplicates, you can recover tons of space. Of course, this only happens when your Mac is filled with copies such as redundant backups, similar photos, etc. What we especially like about Gemini 2 is its sleek user interface, well-designed navigation flow, and best of all its duplicate detection capability.

The main screen of the app is shown as above. Once you install and open it on your Mac, you choose a mode to get started. For example, to find duplicate images, select “Pictures Folder.” For songs, you select “Music Folder.” You can also add a custom folder for a scan. Next, wait for the scan to complete. Depending on the number of files in that folder, it may take seconds or minutes for the process to complete.

Pro tip: during the scan, it’s best that you quit other working apps to avoid Mac overheating issues. We found Gemini 2 was a bit resource-demanding, and JP’s MacBook Pro fan ran out loud. Learn more from this Gemini review we wrote earlier.

Then, review duplicates once the scan is completed. This step requires extra attention and can be quite time-consuming as well. Thankfully, Gemini 2 makes it easy for us to sort through the duplicates list (grouped by Exact Duplicates and Similar Files, as shown below). It also automatically selects the duplicate or similar items the app thinks are safe for removal.

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But the machine is the machine: Files the app thinks are safe to delete aren’t always files you should be getting rid of. So, try to review each group of files and make sure to only select those items you think are okay to get rid of. Incidentally, Gemini 2 moves them to Trash; you still have the chance to restore them in case some items get deleted that shouldn’t have.

In JP’s case, he spent about 10 minutes reviewing these duplicates and ended up freeing 10.31GB in storage, which he can use to store several thousand new photos. Not bad!

Gemini 2 offers a trial version that allows you to remove 500 MB files maximum. If you exceed the limit, you need to pay to activate the full version. The price for that is $19.95 per single license.

Best Duplicate Finder for Windows: Duplicate Cleaner Pro

DuplicateCleaner 4, like its name says, is a pure duplicate cleaner program developed by DigitalVolcano, a UK-based software company. Before we tested the program, the tutorials their support team curated (in both video and text format) impressed us quite a bit. In our opinion, Windows applications usually lack in user experience compared to Mac apps. After trying a number of PC duplicate finder programs, we’ve yet to find one that can match the level of Gemini 2 (Mac-only) in terms of ease-of-use. But DuplicateCleaner certainly wins both in capability and usability for the PC user.

To get started, all you need to do is click “New Search”, define the criteria (e.g. file matching types by same or similar content), select the folders or locations you’d like the program to search and hit the “Start Scan” button.

Once the scan is complete, an overview window is presented so you can understand how much disk space those duplicates have taken. Then comes the review process: You check each group of items and delete the unneeded ones. DuplicateCleaner Pro will then move them to the Recycle Bin.

If you have questions about using the program, this video tutorial made by DigitalVolcano earlier this year should be very helpful. You may also click on the question mark inside the program which will bring you to the manual. The step-by-step instructions are very helpful as well.

We tested the latest version, 4.1.0. The program is compatible with Windows 10, 8, 7 and Vista. The trial version is free for 15 days, with certain function limitations: Import/Export is disabled, and file removal limited to groups 1-100. A single user license normally costs $29.95; right now it’s on sale for a bit less.

Also Great: Easy Duplicate Finder (macOS & Windows)

Like the name indicates, Easy Duplicate Finder is very easy to use. You can see it below in the user interface. It’s also powerful enough that you can select from the multiple scan modes and let the program only to search specific file types. In addition, you can use the app to scan online storage like Google Drive and Dropbox. Although the user interface of this program isn’t as sleek as that of MacPaw Gemini, the step-by-step instructions make it extremely clear where you should start. For example:

  • Step 1: Select folders for a scan;
  • Step 2: Wait until the scan is complete;
  • Step 3: Review found duplicates and delete them.

One thing we’d like to point out (because it confused us initially) in particular is the “Scan Mode”, which is located on the upper-right corner of the app. Personally, we think this is a key feature that somehow got hidden away.

One weird thing that JP found: while launching the app, it directed him to sync a Google account, and it turned out that the Scan Mode he selected was “Google Drive”. He had no idea why that was the case. Perhaps it’s because he used Easy Duplicate Finder before and the app remembered his last scan. Anyway, the point is, the very first step you should take is selecting a scan mode, and then going to Step 1 as instructed.

To save time, Easy Duplicate Finder allows you to select specific file types to scan. This helps shorten the scan process and makes it easier for you to review found items later on.

Once my scan was finished, the app showed an overview of the results: 326 duplicates found from the Download folder, with a potential 282.80 MB space that could be saved. All you need to do is click the green “Step 3: GO FIX THEM!”

You’ll see more details about which files are perhaps redundant. By default, Easy Duplicate Finder automatically selects the duplicates, supposing that all you want is to trash them. But it’s always a good practice to review each item as carefully as you can, just in case of any misoperations.

The trial version has a limit of removing only 10 duplicate file groups. To bust this limit, you need to upgrade to the full version which requires payment. Licenses start from $39.95 for one computer. The app supports both PC (Windows 10/8/Vista/7/XP, 32 bit or 64 bit) and Mac machines (macOS 10.6 or above, including latest 10.13 High Sierra). For more detailed testing and findings, read the review our teammate Adrian wrote a while back.

The Paid Competition


Please note that these programs covered below are NOT freeware. They often provide free trials which limit how many scans you can run or whether you can delete your duplicate files before the trial version is up. Eventually, you’ll need to purchase a license to remove those limitations. That said, putting them in this section doesn’t make them any less capable than the three winners we chose. We value simplicity and uniformity. Some of these have far more power than others, can be used for industrial purposes, or have a specific advantage over the others. Also, some apps are for Windows or Mac only, while others are cross-platform compatible.

Wise Duplicate Finder (for Windows)

The designers of Wise Duplicate Finder made it super easy for users by providing pre-loaded scans: matching file name/size (quick), partial match (slower), exact (slowest), or 0 bytes (empty files). The quickest scan of my desktop for duplicates was lightning fast but only produced 5 results. I tested the other two out of curiosity. Partial match showed me 8 duplicates and exact match (which did a far more thorough, but annoyingly plodding scan — 14 minutes long) resulted in 7 duplicates.

The program lets you select files manually, or for your convenience, you can set it to “Keep One” and be done with the cleaning in one mass-delete. The advanced search settings window brings up a bunch of file extensions to include or exclude and a range of minimized/maximized bytes. You can also search by keyword if you know specifically what you’re looking for. You can Invert Select/Unselect every file on the results list, or delete them. The Pro version of Wise Duplicate Finder costs $19.95 a year, plus a $2.45 registration backup fee and unlocks the Keep One feature (which I wasn’t able to test).

Tidy Up 5 (for Mac)

Boasting itself as “the new generation of duplicate finders and disk tidiness”, Tidy Up claims it’s the only fully-featured duplicate remover available on the market. After playing around with the app, I agree with the vendor’s claim. It’s indeed a sophisticated duplicate finder app with a plethora of features — which sometimes can be confusing. That’s why Hyperbolic Software positions the product as “A must-have for pro users”.

Installing Tidy Up on my MacBook Pro is quick and straightforward. If it’s your first time running the app, it’ll show you this 5-page introduction which is very helpful. However, one thing that puzzles me is that a helper tool popping up asking me whether I want to install it. I chose “Don’t Install Now” because I could not get what it does.

Once you click “Start Using Tidy Up”, you’ll see a screen similar to this. Note that on the top, I slid from “Simple mode” to “Advanced mode”. That’s why I was given so many checkboxes to select before running a scan — more precisely, a Search, as shown in the bottom corner of the app.

Scanning in process. Note that before the scan begins there was an option: it asks you to select between the “Slowest” and “Fastest” mode, which I assume represents surface scan and deep scan.

In a few minutes, Tiny Up was able to find 3.88 GB duplicates from my Documents folder. Like Gemini 2, it also automatically selects the duplicate items. All you have to do is review them carefully and hit the removal button in the corner.

The trial version of Tidy Up allows you to delete no more than 10 items. That means if you want to fully remove those duplicates you’ll need to activate the app. I checked out their purchase page and learned the price starts from $28.99 USD per computer. If you’re already a user of Tidy Up 4, Hyperbolic Software offers a discount — $23.99 only to activate three computers.

Personally, I think the app is indeed very powerful, though it is slightly on the pricier side. But don’t forget that it’s designed for power users, so, it’s unfair to complain about the pricing 🙂

You can download Tidy Up 5 or learn more about the app from its official site here.

Duplicate Sweeper (Windows, macOS)

A screenshot of the Windows version of Duplicate Sweeper, Windows 8.1

Duplicate Sweeper bills itself as a utility to “make finding, selecting and removing duplicate files on your computer quick and easy.” I ran the program and performed a test scan of my desktop. Since my ASUS runs Windows 8.1, all my file folders are structured under the main heading “This PC.” Duplicate Sweeper allowed me to narrow my search by selecting specific folders. I tried out this feature by choosing my Pictures folder and cringed, knowing it would be pretty bad (I’m a picture hoarder). The scan took a couple minutes. YIKES — 3.94 GB of duplicate pictures. I really need to clean that up!

JP also tested the macOS version on his MacBook Pro. Below is the snapshot of the app. One thing that JP found — and he thought Duplicate Sweeper could improve on this — is the file selection process. By default, the app doesn’t auto-select duplicate items. We think this makes the review and selection process tedious.

A screenshot of Duplicate Sweeper for Mac, macOS High Sierra 10.13

The trial version of Duplicate Sweeper only allows you to scan and verify what’s eating up your hard disk space and how much you’ll gain back, but you cannot remove any duplicate files. The full version costs $19.99 for an unlimited amount of deletions. You can also get the Mac version of Duplicate Sweeper on Mac App Store for only $9.99.

Duplicate Detective (for Mac)

Once I installed the app, it asked me to consider this 6-in-1 utility…seems like an ad, which I’m not really a fan of.

Duplicate Detective is another app worth considering for basic users. Like Gemini 2, it’s very simple to use. Just select a folder for a scan, review the found results, and remove duplicate items. Priced at $4.99 (see on Mac App Store) only, Duplicate Detective is definitely one of the cheapest paid apps out there. That said, I think the app has some room to catch up in order to be featured in the winner’s spot. For example, I can’t specify which file types to scan; it doesn’t seem to be able to find similar files; the trial version has too many limitations (such as Auto Select feature disabled); you can’t remove files to test how it works.

The scan was pretty quick. Here’s the result I got.

Here’s how the review window looks. Note: the auto selection feature is disabled.

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PhotoSweeper X (for Mac)

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These days pictures and videos are probably the files that take up most of your storage. It’s good to see an app like PhotoSweeper that specifically focuses on users who only want to eliminate similar or duplicate photos. Overmacs (the team that developed the app) claims it’s able to find duplicate pictures from a Mac’s folder and third-party photo apps like Photos, Aperture, Capture One, and Lightroom.

Once you install the app and hopefully read the 6-page tutorial, you’ll come to this screen where you select which library to scan, and which mode to select: Single List Mode or Side to Side Mode. Confused about the difference between the two modes? I’m not going to elaborate here as you can click the question mark to learn more.

Next, drag and drop the folders into the main zone, and hit “Compare”. Within seconds, you’ll get to this screen with a number of options before it shows you those unnecessary duplicates.

Here’s a quick screenshot of how each group of duplicate photos looks. Again, it’s highly recommended that you review each item before hitting the “Trash Marked” button.

The trial version of PhotoSweeper X only allows you to remove up to 10 items. A full version is required to remove the limits and costs $10 USD.

One thing I dislike and feel it’s worth pointing out, is their marketing tactic. I found it a bit annoying to see a ton of windows keep popping up. While I get it that the app isn’t free, I don’t want to be pushed to buy their app without giving a try.

Warning: this 33% OFF discount is actually not true as both the official site and App Store show a $10 price tag instead of $15.

This window is a bit annoying, as I have to click “Cancel” every time.

You can download the trial from PhotoSweeper’s official website here, or get it from Mac App Store.

Free Alternatives

There are plenty of free duplicate file finders out there. We’ve tested quite a few. Some are comparable to the paid options we listed above. Again, some of them only support Windows or macOS, while others may be compatible with both.

dupeGuru (Windows, macOS, Linux)

Originally developed by Virgil Dupras from Hardcoded Software, dupeGuru is now not maintained by Virgil anymore. After replacement Andrew Senetar took it on, I had more hope that this app isn’t going to disappear soon. Having been involved in the software industry for nearly a decade, I know how hard it is to maintain a freeware or open source program. Hats off to those great developers!

Back to the app itself. dupeGuru can scan your computer hard drive either by filenames or by contents. The developer claims that “the filename scan features a fuzzy matching algorithm that can find duplicate filenames even when they are not exactly the same.” I ran the app on my Mac and searched the Download folder.

Here’s what dupeGuru found in less than a minute — 316 duplicate items taking up 448 MB. It’s super efficient. One thing I dislike about the app is that it doesn’t select those redundant copies automatically, meaning you’ll have to select them one by one. Maybe the developer team wants us to review each item carefully. However, I think this can be really time-consuming.

Plus, I found the app’s user interface lags compared to that of the winners we’ve chosen. However, it’s free so I can’t complain that much 🙂 The app also supports a handful of languages including English, French, German, and others.

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Kristen tried the Windows version on her ASUS PC (64-bit, Windows 8.1). Surprisingly, dupeGuru wouldn’t run at all. It says her PC was missing the latest version of Visual Basic C++, so a wizard popped up and tried downloading the required file(s) — a 4.02 MB download — which was interesting but annoying.

If the download can’t complete, you can opt to bypass it and finish getting the software without it. She tried finding a way to get the missing Visual Basic file, then bypassed — and before she even got to download the software program she got a traceback error. That’s a first. She wasn’t willing to wrestle with it any further. Too bad, because according to the official site DupeGuru is a powerful duplicate file finder; it can detect not only exact files but also similar ones. Named the Power Marker, it’s a feature you have to be careful with since DupeGuru may list a similar file as a duplicate needing to be deleted when in reality it’s not.

CCleaner (Windows, macOS)

Technically, CCleaner is more than a duplicate finder. It is a utility program used to fix invalid Windows Registry entries and clean potentially unwanted files from your computer. Piriform, the developer, claims the program has been downloaded over 2 billion times. But the “malware crisis” in late 2017 almost destroy the brand. Learn more about that in this article we covered earlier.

The “Duplicate Finder” feature isn’t immediately displayed with CCleaner, as the app includes a handful of tools that do more than just get rid of excessive repeat files. You can find the feature under the Tools menu. CCleaner allows you to search for duplicate files by file name, size, date, and even content. You can also ignore/include specific files and folders for scanning.

I ran my usual test scan on just my desktop. The CCleaner results showed that I had no duplicate files, yet a pop-up told me that CCleaner could save me over 770 MB of disk space. A follow-up scan to my C drive produced more accurate results. You can manually select the duplicates you want to remove with the option to save to a text file.

CCleaner offers a free evaluation version as well as two pro versions. The $24.95 option includes deeper, more extensive scanning; real-time junk file protection; and auto browser history clearing. In addition, when you pay the $69.95 (you might be able to get a better price when it’s on sale) you’ll get file recovery, computer upgrade protection, and a hard disk cleaner called Defraggler.

Glary Duplicate Cleaner (for Windows)

Glary Duplicate Cleaner claims to have the fastest scan program in the industry. Within only two clicks, it can deep scan for all types of files including photos, videos, Word documents, songs, etc. The duplicates finder is completely free, and the company offers Glary Utilities Pro for $39.95, which performs other functions regularly to auto-clean your computer.

On the first scan, without changing any settings, Glary couldn’t detect any of the 11 duplicates all the other file finder programs had. I had to change the options to scan “all files” and even then go back and deselect search by same name, time, and file type.

At that point, I could run a scan of my desktop (which took awhile) that would produce some results — but not the same as most of the other competitors. This particular program requires some more advanced computer skills and knowledge to navigate. It’ll display results by file type and name, and you can view individual file properties right inside the Glary program.

SearchMyFiles (for Windows)

SearchMyFiles is not for the faint of heart. Upon first glance, the user interface is pretty intimidating. It has most of the same search options as the other duplicate file finders and starts up right away from download through an executable file. After a test scan of my desktop, SearchMyFiles produced the same duplicate file results as the other competitors like Easy Duplicate Finder, just not in the pretty packaging. But the program works accurately, and it’s free. The results open up in a separate window with no scan progress indication, so you’ll need some patience if you’re searching a big drive.

With SearchMyFiles, you can run standard as well as duplicate and non-duplicate searches on files by name, size, or time, and include and exclude folders and file extensions. This freeware app also offers advanced scan options that require strong computer skills to navigate. You can download it for free here.

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CloneSpy (for Windows)

CloneSpy is another free duplicate file cleanup tool built for Windows (XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10). The interface isn’t super easy to navigate, but it has a surprisingly wide range of search options. During a basic scan, it only found 6 duplicates of the 11 on my desktop and even less on a scan of my C drive.

According to the CloneSpy website, the software doesn’t find duplicate files in certain locations for security reasons, so it may not always dig as deep as your hard drive requires. Some scan restrictions do exist. With proper handling, I’m sure it can do some powerful search-and-deletes. The results window display is preventative for just deleting anything and everything; a safety feature to keep you from deleting something you shouldn’t.

You can visit the official website of CloneSpy and download the program here.

Final Words

We’ve also tested a number of other duplicate file remover programs out there but decided to not include them either because they are outdated (e.g. doesn’t support Windows 10 or latest macOS High Sierra), or we think they are way less superior compared to the best duplicate finder software we chose. However, we are open to hearing what you think. If you happen to find a great app that’s worth being featured here, leave a comment and let us know.