Cannot kill CleanMyMac X

[Cave Man]

This is really surprising. I installed CleanMyMac X to give it a try, but I do not want it. But I cannot get rid of it. I've deleted the app, but even after reboot there are two apps running: CleanMyMac X HealthMonitor and CleanMyMac X Menu. When I force quit them in Activity Monitor, they automatically restart. I also have no idea where these two apps are located on my hard drive. Any tips for getting rid of this app permanently?

 

[Fishrrman]

When I need to "get rid of" an app, I use the free "AppCleaner".
Get it here:

AppCleaner

Then, do this:
1. Open AppCleaner
2. Open your Applications folder (in the finder)
3. Grab the app you want to delete, and "drag and drop" it into AppCleaner's window.
4. AppCleaner will "look around" and gather up all the files related to the app.
5. If any are "unchecked", put a check into them.
6. Click the "remove" button, and they're ALL moved to the trash.
7. Close AppCleaner and empty the trash.
8. Gone!

I'm guessing there might be a few applications that AppCleaner can't "clean out" (perhaps Adobe stuff, Microsoft stuff, etc.). Those software publishers usually make available a standalone "uninstall" utility to get rid of them.

 

[Cave Man]

Ugh. It turns out that the unistaller is build into the app itself, so I had to reinstall it, then open it, then I could uninstall it.

It's really strange that it could not be killed from Activity Monitor.

 

[Lyvian]

If I may allow myself a little trick, you could also do a search on your system to find ALL the files concerning this application that you wish to delete. With an application like ProFind, you could make sure nothing gets lost by also specifying to search for invisible files... ;–)

 

[RobbieTT]

Coincidentally I am just removing this program from a family Mac. Easy uninstall as it is the MAS version but look at the hidden stuff it left behind (I use Find Any File) that I am just about to zap:

So the advice offered above is wise. CleanMyMac likes to be 🫥.

👍

[edited for Apple inspired app name typo]

 

[BotchQue]

I had the same problem "unistalling" BitDefender; two weeks of futzing and two phone calls to the vendor to finally get rid of it all (one portion of it was sucking my MBP battery down in about six hours!). Glad you figured it out.

 

[Lyvian]

@ RobbieTT - To go quickly in deleting files, you can start with folders; if you delete them, you will automatically delete the related files therein.
The Palme d'Or goes to Intego's software which after their official uninstallation leaves many, many files, including "Launch" files...

"Find My File", I couldn't find information on this utility?... Do you have any information?... ;-)

[Edit]
@ RobbieTT - "Find My File", I believe I have found your application: isn't it rather "Find Any File"!... ;-)
[/edit]

 

[macsound1]

I always thought Clean My Mac was the epitome of mac crapware, but lately it's been a sponsor of many tech people.
I'm confused. Is it crap or is it useful?

I previously used Onyx when I felt it necessary, which was more for laptops, because macs tend to do maintenance when idle, which doesn't happen with laptops because we close them when we're done.

 

[Random_Matt]

Really should just use Intego washing machine.

 

[nastysailboat]

Ugh. It turns out that the unistaller is build into the app itself, so I had to reinstall it, then open it, then I could uninstall it.

It's really strange that it could not be killed from Activity Monitor.

Interesting. I just tried this app myself I didn’t check to see if it’s still there. Are you on intel or M1

 

[darkpaw]

This is really surprising. I installed CleanMyMac X to give it a try, but I do not want it. But I cannot get rid of it. I've deleted the app, but even after reboot there are two apps running: CleanMyMac X HealthMonitor and CleanMyMac X Menu. When I force quit them in Activity Monitor, they automatically restart. I also have no idea where these two apps are located on my hard drive. Any tips for getting rid of this app permanently?

It's likely that they were launched when you logged in because they're still in ~/Library/LaunchAgents. Remove the appropriate files from there and they shouldn't run.

 

[RobbieTT]

"Find My File", I couldn't find information on this utility?... Do you have any information?... ;-)
@ RobbieTT - "Find My File", I believe I have found your application: isn't it rather "Find Any File"!... ;-)

@Lyvian - Doh, my bad. I've corrected the post on the FAF app name.

It's a really good app and is just faultless. I don't have a habit of paying for things like this but it is so easy to use it is more than worth it.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I always thought Clean My Mac was the epitome of mac crapware, but lately it's been a sponsor of many tech people.
I'm confused. Is it crap or is it useful?

I previously used Onyx when I felt it necessary, which was more for laptops, because macs tend to do maintenance when idle, which doesn't happen with laptops because we close them when we're done.

Stay far away from it. The YouTube pimps are getting paid to sponsor it.

 

[darkpaw]

Stay far away from it. The YouTube pimps are getting paid to sponsor it.

I've never had a problem with it. They also make SetApp; is that to be avoided?

 

[art-fanatic]

I have uninstalled it before. I believe you can actually use CleanMyMac to uninstall itself. Go to the uninstaller and select the app. This may have changed since the X upgrade. I only recently bought X when I moved to Apple Silicon

For what it’s worth, I don’t mind CleanMyMac. I have been using it for over 15 years, since version 1 or 2. I just run it every fortnight or so. What are the main frustrations with the app?

Also they are based in Ukraine. I purchased another licence for my partner’s Mac to try and support them

 

[allan.nyholm]

I've never had a problem with it. They also make SetApp; is that to be avoided?

No, SetApp is OK.. as a service. I've found many good applications on there.
I recently paid a whole years worth of SetApp use when I came to realize that I actually had paid for enough unarchivers and such, that I don't need SetApp.
However, I'm glad that I have it on hand.

Recently I've been turned off by the First-Run screens plus all the blips and blops that doesn't do much more than annoy my eyeholes and earholes. Gemini2 is one of the worse ones, but CleanMyMacX takes the cake on "yahoo, the carnival is here"

 

[mreg376]

I've never had a problem with it. They also make SetApp; is that to be avoided?

I've never had a problem with CleanMyMac either. I have two licenses -- one I use for myself, and the other I use to clean up friends' and family's Macs, and it always solves any problems they're having basically 100% of the time.

 

[Smoother3]

DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT Let CleanMyMac ANYWHERE NEAR YOUR
MAC. Since I installed it I’ve had nothing but trouble and the spinning pizza of slowness appears everywhere (SSD, 32Mb RAM i5 iMac, High Sierra). I can’t prove that this programme (I’m being VERY polite here as I can’t type what I really want to call it) caused any of the problems . But trying to remove it is proving 100% impossible. It’s like that liquid metal Android in the Terminator films; no matter how badly I destroy it, it ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS manages to put itself back together and appear again on every start up like a bad penny, only this penny is covered in feces on one side and toxic waste on the other. Let’s count the ways I’ve tried to remove it. Firstly it’s not a safe App Store download ( that’s for sure) so you can’t just hold down the button in launcher and hit x when everything starts to jiggle. Strike one. So if you select it in finder- applications and put it in the trash. It comes back on the next reboot. Strike two. BTW I’m sitting in front of a forever reboot screen right now (the second one) since my machine crashed while I was dissecting this cr#p. I’m now looking at reformatting the disk and loading OS from scratch.
So, emptying the trash doesn’t work. Strike three. Using its own uninstall feature doesn’t work, strike four. Finding all the associated files in all the folders in the library and deleting them doesn’t work, strike five. Removing all the files, deleting the contents, renaming the files and folders and throwing them
In the trash doesn’t work, strike six. This really is WORSE that any malware I’ve ever come across. It’s absolutely horrible. My machine is now toast. Which is good in a way, because now I don’t have to stress about nuking it back to zero.

Seriously, if you know what is good for you, do not download this virus.

 

[Smoother3]

And…it gets worse. After rebooting from the web I went to the disk utility to reformat the OS partition (and lose all my stuff, which is worth it to be rid of this noxious virus) but NO! I can’t reformat the is partition, neither can I reformat the whole disk. I keep getting failure errors. I’m now going to have to open up the machine, remove the SSD and reformat it externally on my M. book. What a PITA. But if it means I will have seen the back of CleanMyMac X , then trust me, it’s worth it.

 

[Fishrrman]

smoother wrote:
"But trying to remove it is proving 100% impossible."

Have you tried AppCleaner as I posted in reply 2 above...?

 

[Smoother3]

No. I tried “find any file “. It downloaded and then told me it didn’t work on my OS. Jee Thanks. Could have used that information before I downloaded 128Mb onto a very flakey computer. And that was the main issue at that point, getting any app to run, even system apps, without the machine freezing was becoming a real headache; so trying to download something new wasn’t working well.
BTW. I could not erase/format the SSD externally on my Pro. Kept erroring. So that SSD is now corrupt. Hard to say exactly when it happened or what caused it. Maybe CleanMyMac is not to blame, if the SSD was failing first. But the nail in the coffin was when the Mac just died in the middle of me putting files in the trash. After that it never came back. This is day 2 of my efforts to remove Clean M M. Although it was painful yesterday, it always rebooted.

I have since reinstalled the original factory HHD from 2010 (this is not my main computer). And it’s running well now, albeit at HDD speeds.

I’ll get app cleaner, next to me I run into trouble. Thanks for the tip

 

[Martyimac]

And…it gets worse. After rebooting from the web I went to the disk utility to reformat the OS partition (and lose all my stuff, which is worth it to be rid of this noxious virus) but NO! I can’t reformat the is partition, neither can I reformat the whole disk. I keep getting failure errors. I’m now going to have to open up the machine, remove the SSD and reformat it externally on my M. book. What a PITA. But if it means I will have seen the back of CleanMyMac X , then trust me, it’s worth it.

DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT Let CleanMyMac ANYWHERE NEAR YOUR
MAC. Since I installed it I’ve had nothing but trouble and the spinning pizza of slowness appears everywhere (SSD, 32Mb RAM i5 iMac, High Sierra). I can’t prove that this programme (I’m being VERY polite here as I can’t type what I really want to call it) caused any of the problems . But trying to remove it is proving 100% impossible. It’s like that liquid metal Android in the Terminator films; no matter how badly I destroy it, it ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS manages to put itself back together and appear again on every start up like a bad penny, only this penny is covered in feces on one side and toxic waste on the other. Let’s count the ways I’ve tried to remove it. Firstly it’s not a safe App Store download ( that’s for sure) so you can’t just hold down the button in launcher and hit x when everything starts to jiggle. Strike one. So if you select it in finder- applications and put it in the trash. It comes back on the next reboot. Strike two. BTW I’m sitting in front of a forever reboot screen right now (the second one) since my machine crashed while I was dissecting this cr#p. I’m now looking at reformatting the disk and loading OS from scratch.
So, emptying the trash doesn’t work. Strike three. Using its own uninstall feature doesn’t work, strike four. Finding all the associated files in all the folders in the library and deleting them doesn’t work, strike five. Removing all the files, deleting the contents, renaming the files and folders and throwing them
In the trash doesn’t work, strike six. This really is WORSE that any malware I’ve ever come across. It’s absolutely horrible. My machine is now toast. Which is good in a way, because now I don’t have to stress about nuking it back to zero.

Seriously, if you know what is good for you, do not download this virus.

Quite a post for a first timer. Seems to me you have something else going on. I have been using cleanmymac for years and have NEVER had any issue with it. And I have been using cleanmymac since 2012. My guess is, since you stated you are using High Sierra which was last updated in Dec. 2017 is that over time a lot of other crud has built up in your machine. Have you scanned your mac with a good virus or malware scanner? I have used every module in CMM and every one has worked, every time, including the uninstall module.

I am sorry you are having so many issues but my spidey sense tells me something else is going on.

 

[webbga]

I really like this guy. Move the video ahead to 8:37 t address the Mac Cleaners and other Mac adding that you don't really need, or watch the whole thing. He makes some good points.

 

[Martyimac]

I really like this guy. Move the video ahead to 8:37 t address the Mac Cleaners and other Mac adding that you don't really need, or watch the whole thing. He makes some good points.

He does do some good videos. But, even apple support says that not ALL of the support files from an app get removed using the launchpad method and he even says that in his video. And I can tell you that Macs can, and do, get viruses. The head of our Mac user group locally recommends using anti-virus and/or malware removal tools even if you don't pay for full time scanning capability.
I will also say that more and more mac evangelists are coming around and agreeing that while macs aren't the primary targets, as time marches on more and more viruses and malware are being targeted at macs. I really suspect that @Smoother3 has some malware or a virus that has become imbedded in his old out of date security wise mac.

 

[Smoother3]

Quite a post for a first timer. Seems to me you have something else going on. I have been using cleanmymac for years and have NEVER had any issue with it. And I have been using cleanmymac since 2012. My guess is, since you stated you are using High Sierra which was last updated in Dec. 2017 is that over time a lot of other crud has built up in your machine. Have you scanned your mac with a good virus or malware scanner? I have used every module in CMM and every one has worked, every time, including the uninstall module.

I am sorry you are having so many issues but my spidey sense tells me something else is going on.

I agree with you that it’s possible something else is going on. But my OS is a new install. I bought this machine recently from someone who obtains ex-office Macs in bulk. Each one has the disk wiped clean and a new install of the latest OS for the machine, in this case hi Sierra. I got it like this and added a few programs, mostly music production stuff like sequencers and DAWs. Soon after I replaced the HDD with an SSD. It ran fine like that then for some reason I installed CleanMyMac X. Soon after that the spinning pizza of slowness started appearing for the slightest of tasks like opening the App Store (hardly intensive). I get about 16Mbps download, so not too slow. Like I say it’s possible that the SSD ( a no name EBay purchase) may have been the issue. But I have never seen an app so thoroughly destroyed, to come back after every reboot like nothing had happened. It was, frankly, astonishing, like blowing up a Russian tank and turning around to see it like new from the factory, many times, over the course of 2 days. Or like the car Christine, in the movie of the same name. After a while you start to hate it with a passion. It’s possible that my SSD wasn’t deleting, renaming, moving, cleaning the files as I asked them to do. It’s even possible that using the inbuilt unistall button of the app itself failed because of the SSD, TWICE. But after every process I undertook, it looked like it worked, UNTIL I was forced to reboot because the machine was performing like crap or not at all. Ordinarily I rarely reboot a Mac (I’ve been using Macs since 2000, the power PC days. Since I put the HDD back in (with all the software I added) it’s been running great. I’ll probably never know what happened, but, in the future any SSDs will be name brand to eliminate uncertainty.

One more thing. It IS possible that I had a virus/malware, etc. BUT.. I had CleanMyMac X and I used it. I only deleted it because a. Nothing was getting better, and b. It popped up eon every reboot trying to get me to buy the full version, which I found very intrusive and pushy. When it turned out (for me) that removing it was impossible, I started smelling a rat. A program that purports to clean your Mac on a Mac that is getting slower by the minutes, that constantly nags for a paid upgrade for it do do a complete job, that refuses to uninstall, and defies every effort at doing so. But, las stated, maybe something else was creating all of this and CMM X wasn’t the villain.