hey MPU,
Give my recent issue here considering Clean My Mac to help find and delete stuff, but I am always worried about programs randomly deleting things that they shouldn’t delete.
Anyone have experience or alternative approaches?
One of my next things will probably be to put my Photo Library on an SSD External (just debating with either a Samsung T7 or T9 SSD) (I have 2 T7s for Time Machine and CCC - running great so far)
I bought a year of it to see if I would like the added security and see if it did anything I might like. I won’t be renewing it. Not that it is bad, it just doesn’t really do anything for me. I don’t need to know I put a large file in the trash, or that my drive is filling up. I am not worried about saving space by deleting language files. It warns me too often of things I do not care about.
The one thing I do like is the uninstaller, but I already had that with Hazel. Although CleanMymac has a nicer interface for it.
I don’t mean this in a derogatory way, but it seems like an app for less techy type people. As a long time Mac user, it doesn’t seem to do much that I need.
Edit to add that the uninstaller on Hazel or Cleanmymac has never deleted anything they shouldn’t have or caused me any issues.
My Mac setups have always been pretty basic. I had to do a clean install 3 times before some programs I had were running properly on macOS 15. Each time it only took a couple of hours, not counting the time to download and install macOS
I’ve tried different clean up tools, like OnyX, over the years. And I tried Clean My Mac a year or two ago when it was on sale. Bottom line I don’t need anything. I let Hazel clean up when I delete an app and that’s enough. Anything else that needs removing I’ll do manually. YMMV
My experience is similar to @RunningBoris 's. It is fine for what it does, but I’ve other tools that do the things it does that I want/need done. And thus it is not worth the money for me.
I purchased a one time payment license a while back, and now that it has changed form “CleanMyMacX” to just “CleanMyMac”, and I would need to pay to upgrade, I will use the X version until it stops working.
And then AppCleaner, with an assist from Hazel, will send it off to the bit bucket.
I’ve been needing to cancel my yearly subscription for 3 years now. I mostly use it as a large files visualizer so I’m better off buying daisy disk and going back to appcleaner
CleanMyMac is fine and safe. I definitely think it’s overpriced for a standalone utility, but it’s also in SetApp - so rather than purchasing JUST CleanMyMac, it’s worth considering whether you could get the value from a SetApp subscription.
No to CleanMyMac. I use these free apps occasionally:
I find the new version a little forceful in telling me what’s going on. I have used it for a few years, mainly for the updating and removing apps, plus clearing out the ‘guff’ like language packs etc. I really have less need of it now I have a 4TB machine and frankly the constant pop-up warnings are probably going to mean I don’t renew. I think everything I use is in the ‘nice to have’ category.
I’ve used it for a few years without any problems, both with an annual subscription and now on SetApp. The only annoying thing is the fact that it keeps warning me to enable the Moonlock malware removal system, which I don’t need because I already have Intego AV on all my Macs.
Other than that it brings together some useful little utilities in one place, so I’m happy to keep it installed. And because it’s installed and running in the background the developers (who are Ukrainian, and who are behind SetApp) get a small fee, which is fine by me.
Yeah, that was my reasoning with this app. I did have it once. I settled on 'if I ever get SetApp I will use it again. I can’t say I have found any difference in my mac’s performance without it. However I am now on the new chips and not intel as I was when I had cleanmymac
I think when it comes to performance the difference it would make would be over a long time scale. 6 months of ‘guff’ collected by various apps is probably not going to make a material difference to your system. But if you let it build up over 6 years, it might.
Not just no, hell naw. Putting your Photo Library on an external drive would have nothing to do where CleanMyMac would help you.
If you need photo management, please check out PowerPhotos: PowerPhotos - Merge Mac Photos libraries, find duplicate photos, and more
If you need something along the lines of maintenance stuff, Onyx by Titanium software is not only better but has more knobs to turn.
So the 2 issues are not directly related.
I had thought about using Clean My Mac to reclaim any space or files that weren’t deleted properly. (maintenance)
Contemplation on putting my Photo Library on an external is due to running out of hard drive space on my Mac. I am aware of Power Photos and the its abilities but not what I need right now.
I will look into Onyx, I never tried that.
The reason for all this I want to make sure I pull the trigger with the correct configuration for the new M4 Mac Mini. I am still hesitant on it. I don’t think my needs qualify for the M4 Pro. But my mac mini does run sluggish when I am doing my day to day stuff. From a memory perspective, I have an M1 with 16GB of Ram (purchased in 2020), constantly at 12-13 usage, with 2-3 GB for swap.
Ideally, the 24 or 32 for RAM, as my usage of Logos increases and many of the apps that utilize AI, trying to think of how many years before I need the next upgrade. Also factoring in the SSD storage, I have 1TB of storage with only 220GB free. It doesn’t make sense to buy 1TB again, but I can’t fathom spending that much on 2TB. Just trying to see what is actually possible to offload to an external.
I have seen a lot of YouTube videos where people have their home folder on an external SSD. How comfortable is everyone with that? Anyone have experience?
Suggestions?
I wouldn’t put my home folder on an external drive. Instead offload -for example- folders with big projects (big files). And files you don’t NEED to have on your internal drive. If you put the home folder external, I guess that’s asking for problems if the drive disconnects suddenly or so. Also, don’t forget to backup that external drive too.
Home folders on external drives is a really bad idea. Any disconnection of the drive – accidental or otherwise – could cause some pretty significant problems.
I agree with @Swifferdusterrr - Think about the sorts of things that take up a lot of space, and consider looking into ways to move those to an external drive instead.
my big culprits are
Photos Library (200GB)
Day One (42GB)
Devonthink (20GB)
Messages (110GB per Daisy Disk but MacOS reports ~50GB)
Logos (50GB)
I know the suggestion is to probably delete Messages, but due to the complexities of parish or Diocese responsibilities, I need to be able to go back and review and keep a steady history of communication. (Much easier to always scroll in a meeting, than to search/open a pdf)
How does everyone else manage their messages? Or solutions to any of the above
Ok I see your point.
I delete most messages, I really think the habit of saving every communication is a bit ridiculous. Much of it used for ‘gotcha’s’ and triviality. If somebody has some thing important to say, use emails but even then I cull them hard.
There’s no way you have 50 GB of messages. Attachments? Yes. Messages? No. Get the attachments out of there:
DEVONthink databases can go to an external drive. Photos can be as well:
Logos is dumping things in your Library folder, which you can’t move - but double-check whether you have mainly text or whether you’re storing a bunch of Mobile Ed courses that you don’t need to watch right now. Remember, Logos can selectively download.
Basically, moving the home directory itself is a bad idea, but moving some of that big stuff is definitely possible.
I agree with the majority here. I don’t think you need CleanMyMac. It’s not all that effective. I just use DaisyDisk, which I think is on sale right now for Black Friday, and that tells me what I can safely delete. Intego has a program called Washing Machine, which I have only because it’s bundled with the service. It’s not all that great either. So I’ll echo some of the others. DaisyDisk or Hazel tends to get the job done, and even better, you don’t have to buy a subscription if you have fatigue with those as much as I do.