The quick version: My Clutter is CleanMyMac’s module for large, old, duplicate, and visually similar files, organized into four reviewable categories rather than one combined pile. It catches duplicates regardless of filename, but nothing is pre-selected for removal, and deletions here bypass the Trash entirely, so review carefully before confirming.
What My Clutter is built to solve
Junk files and system caches are one kind of storage problem. Personal clutter, forgotten large downloads, near-identical photos, duplicate videos, is a different one, and it’s the specific gap My Clutter fills. Introduced in its current form as part of CleanMyMac’s late-2024 redesign, the module scans for exactly this category of file, the stuff that isn’t technically junk but that you’d likely delete the moment you actually saw it.
Running a scan
Open My Clutter in the sidebar, choose a location to scan from the dropdown, which can be your whole Mac or a specific folder, and click Scan. How long this takes depends heavily on how much data you’re asking it to check. A typical Mac finishes in a few minutes, though one reviewer testing on a 4TB Mac Studio reported the full scan taking around 25 minutes, so expect it to scale with your total storage rather than assume every scan finishes instantly.
The four categories, and what each one actually means
Large & Old Files surfaces files that are sizable and haven’t been accessed in a while, the video export you finished a year ago, an old virtual machine image, a forgotten archive. CleanMyMac deliberately doesn’t pre-select anything here or offer advice on what to delete, since a large old file might still be something you need, it just leaves the decision entirely to you.
Duplicates finds files that are genuinely identical in content, catching them even when they’ve been renamed, saved from different sources, or have different file sizes due to compression differences. This content-based comparison is what separates it from a simple filename search.
Similar Images goes a step further than exact duplicates, surfacing photos that are close matches rather than pixel-identical, burst shots, near-duplicate screenshots, slightly different crops of the same picture, so you can keep the best version of a shot and clear out the rest.
Recent Downloads (sometimes shown as recent-file suggestions) highlights files from roughly the last three months as a quick, lower-commitment starting point, useful for a fast pass without diving into your entire storage history.
Reviewing before you remove anything
Click Review All Files to see everything in detail, viewable all at once, filtered to only what you’ve selected, or grouped by kind, size, or access date depending on how you prefer to work through a large list. CleanMyMac only acts on the category you’re currently viewing, so selecting items across Duplicates and then confirming removal from within Large & Old Files won’t accidentally delete both sets together.
The detail worth knowing before you click Remove
This is genuinely important and easy to miss: files deleted through My Clutter are removed permanently, bypassing the Trash entirely. Unlike dragging something to the Trash in Finder, where you get a safety net until you empty it, a My Clutter deletion doesn’t leave that option. It’s not a reason to avoid the tool, the review step before removal is the actual safeguard, but it does mean that step deserves real attention rather than a quick skim, particularly in the Large & Old Files category where genuinely useful files can sit alongside true clutter.
Where it fits alongside Smart Care
Smart Care’s duplicate check is a lighter, faster pass mainly covering your Downloads folder as part of its broader five-category scan. My Clutter is the deeper, dedicated tool for when personal file clutter specifically, rather than system junk, is the thing you’re trying to solve, and it’s worth running on its own periodically if you work heavily with photos, video, or other large media files that accumulate quickly. You can CleanMyMac app and run My Clutter’s free scan to see exactly how much is sitting in each of these four categories on your own Mac.
Frequently asked questions
What categories does My Clutter scan for?
My Clutter organizes results into Large & Old Files, Duplicates, Similar Images, and Recent Downloads, letting you review each category separately rather than facing one combined list.
Does My Clutter delete files automatically?
No. It doesn’t pre-select files for removal since large or old files might still contain data you need. You review everything and choose what to remove yourself.
Does deleting files with My Clutter send them to the Trash?
No. Files removed through My Clutter are deleted permanently, bypassing the Trash entirely. Review carefully before clicking Remove.
Can My Clutter find duplicate photos with different filenames?
Yes. It compares actual file content rather than relying on matching filenames, so it catches duplicates and similar images even when renamed, resized, or saved from different sources.
