You may have noticed that Macs have a reputation for not needing as much maintenance as Windows computers. Yes, you may not need to completely wipe and reinstall the operating system every few months like you needed to with old versions of Windows. Still, Macs do benefit from some regular maintenance. Files can build up, claiming valuable space on your hard drive or SSD. Applications you forget you installed can run in the background, using up memory. To help keep your Mac running in tip-top shape, you should give it a good thorough cleaning every now and then. A tool like FoneDog PowerMyMac can help with this.
What Is FoneDog PowerMyMac?
While PowerMyMac can help you remove old and unwanted files from your Mac, it can do much more than that. This may be why FoneDog chose to name the tool PowerMyMac. This software is essentially a multi-tool for your computer. More than just a cleaner, PowerMyMac offers many different ways to reclaim disk space and memory. It also includes a system monitor as well as a grab bag of assorted tools it calls the ToolKit.
System Requirements
The hardware requirements for running PowerMyMac are relatively modest. You need at least a Pentium 4 processor, 1 GB RAM, 2 GB hard drive space, a 3D-accelerated graphics card with at least 64 MB of video memory, and a display resolution of at least 1280 x 800. The software will run on iMac, iMac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air models. When it comes to software, only relatively recent versions of macOS are supported. Versions 10.11 El Capitan, 10.12 Sierra, 10.13 High Sierra, and 10.14 Mojave are currently supported.
Features
PowerMyMac’s system monitor isn’t the most advanced, but it’s still handy as an overview of your system. It’s also much easier to read than the built-in macOS Activity Monitor. Instead of a line-by-line readout of which app is using what resources, you get a handy series of dials. One shows your CPU usage, another your memory, and the third disk usage. The most advertised feature of PowerMyMac is the cleaner. Unlike some simpler alternatives which just show you where the biggest files on your system are located, this has some smart functionality. It can help you automatically clean junk emails, old and duplicate files, system junk and more. One of the least advertised features of PowerMyMac is the ToolKit, but this may be the star of the show for some. This includes a number of handy utilities that some other companies might split off into separate products. Here, they’re all included. These tools include an uninstaller to help remove not just programs, but the files they leave behind scattered across your system. You also get a tool that lets you read and write files to NTFS file systems, handy if you often access hard drives mostly used with Windows computers. There’s also a Wi-Fi tool to analyze connections, unarchiver tool, a file manager, and more.
Using FoneDog PowerMyMac
When you first launch PowerMyMac, you’ll see a message letting you know that you can clean up to 500 MB files for free. For anything more, you’ll need to purchase the application. We’ll get to pricing a little later, but this is enough to let you get a feel for how the program works. To get started cleaning up files, select the Cleaner icon at the top of the window. You’re presented with several options. The duplicate finder is one of the first options you should check, as duplicate files can quickly clear up space. Then you can choose to clean up junk files from the Photos and iTunes apps, email, empty your trash and more. This section even includes a tool to identify similar photos, letting you keep only what you want. The other thing you’ll want to try is the ToolKit. We’ve already run down some of the features, but here we’ll walk through putting them to use. If you have important files you want to get rid of, you’ll love the Crush function. This is found under the File Manager icon in the ToolKit section. Once this is open, drag files here to render them unrecoverable. Government agencies may still be able to access them but not your average hacker. Similarly, under the Hide icon, you’ll find tools for encrypting and hiding files. To get started, first you’ll create a password. Then you can use this to make certain files absolutely private or have them disappear from your system. This is handy if you share your computer with someone else but still want some semblance of privacy.
Pricing
Pricing for PowerMyMac varies based on how many computers you want to install it on. A single license for one year is available for $19.95, while a lifetime license is just $10 more at $29.95. To install on two different Macs, you’ll pay $29.95 for a yearly license or $49.95 for a lifetime license for two computers. Finally, you can purchase a license for five Macs at $39.95 for one year or $59.95 for lifetime licenses.
Conclusion
If even one of the features available in FoneDog PowerMyMac seems useful to you, it may be worth the purchase price. On the other hand, if multiple features seem worth it to you, then it is definitely worth the price to have this software in your arsenal. The ToolKit alone may make this software worth it to some people. As mentioned above, you don’t have to purchase the software and hope it works for you. While the free trial only lets you clean 500 MB of files, you can still use enough of the other functions to get a feel for how well it works. Once you’ve given it a try, you can decide for yourself whether it’s worth the price.
