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Last updated: Apr. 27, 2017
Sep 25, 2017 How to Clean Install macOS 10.13 High Sierra Normally when you install a new version of macOS, you just install it over the previous version. It’s quick, easy and means we can be back up and running in no time, with all your apps and data ready to use. FoneDog Mac Cleaner, an all-in-one Mac master app helps you to manage your Mac and clean up the junks files to free up your storage to make your Mac faster. Clean Up and Optimize your Mac OS FoneDog Mac Cleaner.
Just switched to Mac, new to everything. I'm wondering what's the best app to use for cleaning registry and keeping Mac fast?
Welcome to the Mac world!
Well, unlike Windows operating system, macOS does NOT have (or use) Registry. Thus there is no registry cleaner on Macs. If you find one that claims it does, beware that the app is probably a scam.
As for apps to keep your Mac clean and fast, you can try MacPaw CleanMyMac — an excellent disk cleaner utility that automatically detects unnecessary junks, and by removing them, you can free up a lot of disk space and increase system performance.
In case you are interested, here's some information you can familiarize yourself along your Mac journey.
Windows Registries vs Mac Preference Files
On a PC, the Registry is a database that saves relevant settings and preferences for Windows operating system and third-party programs you install. Microsoft strongly recommends its users backup the registry before making any changes to them. Over time, after a number of software installation and uninstallation processes, the registry may become broken or outdated. Typical symptom is that you see some error messages popping up when you try to access specific programs.
Mac OS X (also called macOS since Sierra) is based on Unix, which doesn't have or need a registry. Instead, all the rules or parameters of third-party apps you've installed are stored in Mac's Preference Files (in .plist format). You can easily find these preferences files within your apps' contents. Learn the complete story of Preferences Files from this CNET article. The similarity macOS Preference Files shares with Windows Registries is that those preferences can also become corrupted due to events such as application crash, hard drive corruption, or sudden blackout, etc.
What to do if system preference files are corrupted on Mac?
Just delete them!
Don't get me wrong, deleting preference files is the best solution to fix the problem and the action is totally harmless. Because anyway macOS itself will automatically create new preference files for the apps and make them operate correctly again.
So how to delete a problematic preference file?
The manual method is to find the file first, then drag it to the trash and emptying trash. On your desktop, click Go > Computer > (your username) > Library > Preferences, locate the right .plist file and delete it. Watch this video if you are unsure how to do.
Another way (yet a safer way) is to use this app CleanMyMac. Again, the Mac cleaning utility we mentioned above. Once you install it on your Mac, open the app > select System Junk > click the Scan button; Soon, it will detect a number of unneeded system data, including the broken or corrupted preference files. Hit Clean to remove them.
Quick Summary
There are no such registry cleaners for Mac, as OS X doesn't have registries as Windows does. Due to the way OS X manages system preference files associated with third-party apps, the preferences might become corrupted. But you can often fix the problem by simply deleting them.
We hope this has helped you out. Feel free to let us know if you have any further questions regarding the matter.
Andreas is an Apple and Microsoft fanboy who works with his Mac and lives with a PC at home. While he is not reading technology journals, you’ll probably find him playing online games with friends or hiking in the wild.
In my opinion, only about 20 percent of an app’s features should be considered premium features that users should have to pay for. However, In most cases, users really only need the other 80 percent of features which should be free. But, to get those useful 80 percent of features, users have to dig into their pockets and pay for the 20 percent of features they don’t really need.
For CleanMyMac, a disk cleaner, which part is the 80 percent you should have gotten for free? Is there an app that provides that 80 percent?
Of course, there is. I’d like to recommend Trend Micro’s Dr. Cleaner, a free app that’s comparable with CleanMyMac.
Let’s see what functions CleanMyMac provides to its subscribers that Dr. Cleaner also provides, while pointing out features in CleanMyMac that might create problems or aren’t that necessary for the average user.
1. System Junk
“System” as defined by CleanMyMac includes user cache files, system log files, as well as the application language packs. The latest version of Dr. Cleaner supports the cleanup of user cache and system files, but stops at removing application language packs due to safety considerations: for certain software, there might be program errors once the language pack is removed. Moreover, a single language pack is very small and does not significantly affect the entire disk space
2. Photo Junk
When iPhoto users synchronize their phone camera with the computer terminal, it creates residual cache files that speed up photo browsing for the user, but also increases the burden on disk by using up space.
We can say that this kind of space consumption is a double-edged sword, since browsing is speeded up. But for infrequent iPhoto users, this feature is somewhat superfluous. You get this feature as one of CleanMyMac’s value-added services, while Dr. Cleaner merges this function into the iTunes cache-cleaning function, because this function is too simple to separate out for display.
3. Mail Attachments
When using the Mail app on the Mac, you can accumulate a lot of attachments over time. As you can see, these attachments are located in CleanMyMac, but did you know there is a risk when cleaning mail attachments? Once you have removed a mail attachment and are unable to sync to your mail server, you cannot get them back. In Dr. Cleaner, we designed mail caches into the Junk Files feature which does not affect your mail attachments.
4. Large Files
Large file scanning is a very useful feature. Users tend to ignore what they have downloaded, such as large software installation packages or movies. These large files can account for half of the disposable space of the disk. This function can indeed become a paid-for function, as it is with CleanMyMac, but in exchange for the support of its users, Dr. Cleaner provides this valuable function for free. With Dr. Cleaner, you can also lock some files that you don’t want to remove in case you want to make sure you do not delete important files.
5. Disk Map
We think it is user-friendly to help you manage all the files on your hard disk using a visual map, so we added the Disk Map feature into Dr. Cleaner for free. However, no functions like this can be found in CleanMyMac.
Disk Map quickly scans your drive and builds an amazing visualization of all the files and folders on your computer, allowing you to easily navigate the system and find the content that takes up the most space.
In addition, all folders and files under the home folder are listed out by size. As for some system-required critical files, deleting them would provide a prompt that those are important and are not allowed to be removed. With the Disk Map feature you can also find out when a file or folder was created, modified or last opened. Furthermore, hovering your mouse on one folder then clicking the magnifier icon will direct you to the file location.
Conclusion
Is Dr. Cleaner worth trying? Absolutely, yes! Don’t hesitate. It not only cleans up your disk space but also solves other Mac issues you might have. In addition, we are also the least expensive cleaning app on macOS. If you still cannot afford it, you can call your friends or family to share the cost. Thanks Apple for letting us share wonderful applications together via family sharing. Regardless if you are new to the Mac or an advanced user, Dr. Cleaner will be a good choice for you. While Dr. Cleaner can help you free up a lot of space, please don’t forget to back up your important files, in case an unfortunate event happens like your hard disk malfunctions. We regard customers’ data security as the most important thing. I hope you will have fun with Dr. Cleaner in the future!
Waiting for You
Thanks for taking the time to read my article. How do you like Dr. Cleaner? Do you have any other questions or suggestions? We are trying our best to meet more needs of our users. Leave your comments here. We are always happy to hear from you.