Manage background items

Apps can add background items to your Mac without you noticing. Some of them start automatically and keep running, using memory and processing power even when you don't need them. Over time, these items can pile up and slow your Mac down.

CleanMyMac lists the background items on your Mac, so you can review them in one place. When you remove an item, it stops running automatically in the background. It's a good idea to review the list once in a while, especially after you install new apps.

To review and remove background items:

1. In CleanMyMac, go to Performance.

2. Click Scan to begin and wait for the results.

   

   After the scan completes, CleanMyMac shows the scan summary.

3. In the scan summary, click View All Tasks to review all performance categories.

   Alternatively, in the Background Items tile, click Review to go directly to the category.

   Tip

   To start a new scan, click Start Over in the upper-left corner and confirm, then click Scan.

   

   CleanMyMac opens the Performance Manager.

4. In the Background Items category, review the items CleanMyMac found.

   You can search for items and sort them by name in ascending or descending order.

   Right-click an item to:

   • Select it for removal
   • Reveal it in Finder
   • Get its info
   • Preview it in Quick Look

   To learn more about an unfamiliar item, click the Smart Insights icon next to it. This works in macOS Tahoe 26 or later with Apple Intelligence turned on.

   

5. Select items to remove, then click Remove.

   Important

   Some apps need their background items to work properly. Before you remove an item, make sure you don't need it.

   • To select all items, click Select above the list, then choose Select All.

   • To select an item, select the checkbox next to it or right-click it, then choose "Select [item]".

   

   CleanMyMac removes the selected items from your background items, and they no longer run automatically in the background.

6. Check the results.

   • To review the details, click View Log.

   • To keep reviewing other categories, click Manage More Items to return to the Performance Manager.

   • To go back to the scan summary, click Done.