Nektony App Cleaner & Uninstaller: Killing a housefly with a flamethrower

Dig deep under macOS's hood to find files to delete with this Mac cleaning app, but beware of overzealous deletion!

- BY CHRIS BARYLICK

There are times when an application has all the potential in the world but still can't execute what its developers set out to do. This is the case with Nektony's App Cleaner & Uninstaller (fave. co/3FsBUvH), the company's general cleanup utility and the core of Nektony's larger MacCleaner suite (reviewed here: MacCleaner Pro review, fave. co/4mHSQPq).

App Cleaner & Uninstaller, which requires macOS 10.13 (High Sierra or later) to download and install, is available as a two-day free download. The software is easy to download, install, and assign full disk permissions to, and is centered around the Applications, Startup Programs, Extensions, Remaining Files, and Updates modules.

Where the Applications module is concerned, this chunk of App Cleaner & Uninstaller shines as the centerpiece of the application. Once this is launched and the Applications have been indexed, it’s easy to hunt down random applications, including the remains of software wherein only the remnants have been left behind, and remove them with a click.

The Startup Programs excels as well, offering a convenient list of anything that qualifies as a startup application and grouping them into three categories (All Programs, Active, and Disabled), and then allowing you to pick and choose what to remove as needed. The Extensions module features useful categorization of your Mac’s extensions (Installation Files, Web Browser Extensions, Screen Savers, Settings Panes, Internet Plugins, and Widgets), and location and removal of a specific extension is pretty much a cinch.

The Extensions module features useful categorization of your Mac’s extensions, making removal of a specific extension easy.