It’s a common misconception that Macs run perfectly from day one until the day you give it away. We wish that were true. Macs may be the sportscars of the IT world, but just like all cars, they need proper maintenance to continue to run. There are two primary reasons for Mac slowdowns and related issues—the hard disk filling up and errors with so-called caches.
Introducing Avast Cleanup Pro for Mac
Avast has software that performs some much-needed housecleaning on your Mac. It restores lost disk space by removing invisible or long-forgotten junk and detecting duplicates that waste even more disk space.
Is it complicated? On the contrary, it couldn’t be easier: You just press a button, and that’s it! Here are the three simple steps:
1. Launch Avast Cleanup Pro and click on SCAN beneath the “Clean Clutter” tile. Wait for the results screen.
2. The next screen reveals the list of files that were detected. By default, only files that are safe to eliminate are preselected for recommended deletion, such as application caches and log files. Other files that you may like to keep, such as downloads or data stored under Trash, can be manually selected for deletion once you’re sure you don’t need them.
3. To delete, hit the CLEAN button.
Here’s what gets cleaned up by Avast Cleanup Pro
Application caches
Caches are actually meant to improve performance. They act not only as temporary storage for programs, but also as your system’s go-to for frequently-used application files. However, this cache can become corrupt or outdated, which in turn might lead to reliability issues or a loss of performance.
Avast Cleanup Pro detects all application cache folders, from built-in macOS applications like iTunes to third-party software, and deletes them. Some examples of common caches:
Apple Help temporary cache files
Safari-user temporary cache browsing files
macOS location services temporary files
Spotify leftover data
Photo cache files
Log files
Log files are generated every time your macOS or your installed programs crash. They are also generated as regular operation protocol. These macOS logs (under Library/Logs/ DiagnosticsReport) can grow to hundreds of megabytes in size. When programs crash, the relevant information is stored in a folder called CrashReporter.
These files contain information about your PC, as well as some user information, and, in some cases, a huge amount of data on the crash itself. Unless you’re a developer, this information is useless and can be safely deleted using Avast Cleanup Pro.
Development junk
Programmers will appreciate the fact that Avast Cleanup Pro removes temporary leftover files, such as XCode temp files. These files are left behind during a coding or software-building session.
Downloads
As the default location for downloads, the Downloads folder can include long-forgotten and sometimes massive amounts of data you just don’t need anymore. Avast Cleanup Pro gets rid of this, but only if the user agrees.
External hard disk junk
MacOS also stores temporary files on external disks once they’re connected. Avast removes these so none of your USB drives are cluttered with files you don’t need.
Trash
The recycle bin of macOS. Sometimes people just forget to “take out the trash,” so to speak, so Cleanup Pro provides a safe way to clear these files, too—all in one go.
