There are no strict rules on how often you should run CleanMyMac to keep a computer in good shape. The answer depends on many factors. How often and how extensively do you use your Mac? What's the size of your hard drive? Which applications do you use? Do you install updates regularly? With so many questions, it's hard to give common advice.
We believe the best way is to experiment with CleanMyMac and, with time, figure out your own schedule. But luckily, after years of work, we do have some universal recommendations.
1. Run Smart Scan every week
Why a week? In a nutshell, that's how long it takes your Mac to collect enough system clutter to slow down your everyday tasks. The slowdown may be hard to observe, but it tends to increase day by day if not addressed. A weekly Smart Scan, with its cleanup and maintenance checks, helps your computer to work steadily and avoid performance drops.
A weekly scan is reasonable if you use your Mac intensively every day. If not, you might need Smart Scan less often, like once in 2 weeks.
Smart malware detection is also a part of Smart Scan. We update the malware database every 7-10 days on average (sometimes it's more often, especially when serious threats appear on the internet). When you run Smart Scan every week, you have a good chance to detect the latest versions of potentially unwanted apps in time — before they do harm or make your Mac slow.
To help you remember about regular scans, we show reminders. You can set their frequency in CleanMyMac Preferences, on the Notifications tab. Reminders also contribute to a useful habit: take care of your Mac to save its top performance.
2. Run Malware Removal and Privacy scans at least once a month
Malware Removal takes more time and resources than malware detection in Smart Scan but can find deep and hidden threats.
Security analysts say the best way to protect your privacy on the internet is to clear the traces of your work every time you use a web resource. With this approach, a monthly Privacy cleanup seems an acceptable compromise.
Monthly scans give a minimal security assurance — provided that you run checks regularly, month after month. If you take your digital security more seriously, or your work involves lots of apps and data from the internet, consider running the Malware and Privacy checks every 2 weeks or even weekly. On the contrary, if you only visit a dozen trusted websites and rarely use new apps, you'll need those scans less often.
3. Run scans when you need to solve particular problems
When your Mac works slowly, even after executing Smart Scan, or starts up longer than it used to, go through the Optimization and Maintenance checks. The Extensions check may help speed up your browser by removing add-ons; the Updater finds the new app versions that sometimes work faster than the old ones.
If the Cleanup scans have not freed up enough disk space and you need deep cleaning, try these tools:
- Uninstaller to get rid of unneeded apps
- Space Lens to visualize your storage and detect the space wasters
- Large & Old Files to find the heaviest files on hard drives without looking them up in folders
4. Use CleanMyMac Menu daily
The Menu gives an overview of your Mac's health and provides utilities for everyday use. For instance, the Menu shows when system junk and Trash grow big enough and allows to clean them with a single click. You can read about the Menu utilities in this article.
It's also the Menu where the real-time malware monitor shows potential threats or lets you know there are no problems and your computer is safe and sound.
The Menu is a great tool for daily use, but it can't replace CleanMyMac itself — with all of its complex cleanup and protection checks. That's why we recommend using both the Menu and CleanMyMac together and running scans as we wrote above.
And may your Mac be with you, as clean and powerful as new!
