How to Use SpaceLens in CleanMyMac

Cleaning your Mac is so crucial for its performance, you know. From system junk to trash bins, everything can slow down your macOS system. That was why we recommended a tool like CleanMyMac when covering the best Mac cleaner software. And, we haven’t changed our opinion on that matter.

MacPaw, the developer behind CleanMyMac, has added some new features to the tool. In the huge list of updates, however, we found something so impressive — Space Lens. It has been designed to help you clean up unwanted files from your Mac, but it’s different from other tools for the same purpose.

In this article, we will be talking more about Space Lens and how you can use Space Lens in CleanMyMac to remove unwanted files from your Mac. Before we get into the how-to part, let’s have a good look at what Space Lens can offer.

What is Space Lens?

Space Lens is an all-new CleanMyMac module that works as disk storage analyzer and optimizer. It means you can analyze your macOS disk and understand the files taking up space. In other words, CleanMyMac Space Lens is your answer to the question — where have all my storage space gone?

Simply put, Space Lens will help you see and clear out unwanted files taking up precious disk space.

How does Space Lens work?

Space Lens in CleanMyMac works the same way every other disk analyzer works. It will analyze your Mac disk thoroughly, find out which folders are taking up space, and show you the respective information. In case you are wondering what’s different, it’s the UI.

The biggest problem with disk analyzers is that they get really clumsy at times. They may have a GUI, but it isn’t easy to know which apps are taking up storage space. CleanMyMac makes all the difference here. The tool displays all the important information through an intuitive User Interface.

At a single glance, you can know which part of your computer is taking up all the space. Thereafter, you will be able to navigate and remove all the files. On any day, CleanMyMac Space Lens is better than the built-in macOS disk analyzer.

Yeah, you guessed that reason behind the name. CleanMyMac Space Lens lets you zoom into the disk and space. Awesome, huh?

Is Space Lens useful?

Do you love extra storage space on your Mac? If yes, Space Lens is super-useful on any day. If you do already have CleanMyMac installed on your Mac, it’s like a cherry on the cake, though. You can update the program to get the brand-new feature.

We also found that the Space Lens feature helps in quick decision making. Because it represents all data via Graphical Interface, you can easily decide whether you want to keep a particular file on the device. It makes everything easier.

Personal Experience: Space Lens is probably the feature I use the most on CleanMyMac. As I test apps and explore media, storage space on my Mac gets shrunk every day. After a few days, I have no idea where things are. The Space Lens interface is so good that I can make meaningful decisions in a few seconds.

How to use Space Lens to remove unwanted files?

Now that you are well-informed about the Space Lens feature, shall we check out the steps?

Step 1

You have to update your CleanMyMac to the latest version. If you are using Setapp, it will be automatically updated. In that case, you can simply open the CleanMyMac app from Launchpad.

Once you have opened the tool, go to the bottom part of the sidebar and choose Space Lens from the sidebar interface.

Step 2

Now, you can see the introductory screen of the Space Lens feature in CleanMyMac. As it says, Space Lens will help you visualize what is taking up your storage space and reclaim that space.

To proceed, you may have to click the Grant Access button. This means that CleanMyMac needs full access to the file system.

Step 3

To enable Full System Access, you have to go to System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> Privacy tab and choose Full Disk Access section.

You won’t probably see any option out there. So, to add CleanMyMac to the section, you have to provide the system password. Click on the lock and provide the password.

Once you are done, click on the + button and choose CleanMyMac from the Applications folder. That’s it, it’s ready to roll.

Once you are back in the CleanMyMac Space Lens interface, click on the Scan button.

Step 4

In this step, CleanMyMac will build the storage map of your Mac. This means that the software will try to understand where you have placed your files and how much they weigh.

Wait for some time until CleanMyMac finishes the scanning process. This may take up to a few minutes, depending on your storage space. The process on my MacBook Air was done in a few seconds.

Personal Experience: It’s not that I haven’t tried other disk cleanup tools. DiskDaisy used to be a favorite of mine for this purpose. However, the sheer simplicity of CleanMyMac Space Lens requires some praise. So, when you prioritize ease of use, I will stick to CleanMyMac.

Step 5

Now, you can see the fully-fledged interface of the storage space analyzer in CleanMyMac Space Lens. As you can see below, the screen is split into two sections.

On the left side, there is a traditional list of directories, along with the size and number of items. On the right side, CleanMyMac shows a bubble-like cloud of directories. The size of the individual cloud depends on the size.

This means that the largest folder would be the biggest bubble.

Step 6

This step is easy. You can navigate through the whole file system by hovering over or clicking on the folders. The folders would open up the sub-folders, and you can go on until you find the final file.

If you want the traditional form of navigation, you can use the pane on the left as well.

Step 7

Now, after you have found the most space-consuming files/folders, you can easily delete them. Just pick the folders you want to delete using the right-click menu or from the left-side pane.

A ‘Review and Remove’ button would become active at the bottom. Click on the button, and CleanMyMac will start the cleaning process. There is also an option to review the selected files.

Note that CleanMyMac doesn’t remove system files for your Mac’s safety. That’s why some essential items are disabled, and you can’t select them for removal.

Personal Experience: One problem I regularly face with uninstalling apps is the presence of leftover content. However, when I use CleanMyMac and Space Lens, I don’t have to worry about application support files and cache. Considering that my Mac has 256GB of storage space, every GB that I save is precious!

Step 8

That’s it. In a second or two, CleanMyMac Space Lens would finish the file removal process. The whole thing is super-fast, and Space Lens would also show you a summary when it’s done.

The bottom line

That is how you use CleanMyMac Space Lens to remove unwanted files from your Mac. As you just saw, the process is super-easy and doesn’t take more than a few seconds. But, when compared to other tools for disk analysis, CleanMyMac does the job very well.

And, we would recommend CleanMyMac all the way more now that it has such a cool feature. I loved this feature, and it is completely secure. The tool understands which files are essential for your macOS system and what to remove.

Altogether, it’s great that you can now remove everything unwanted from the same space.

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