The user interface questions are probably a source of continuous debate, since CCleaner has had a similar look and feel for the better part of 20 years. Ever since it was bought by Piriform, it now has ad/bloatware, and sometimes malware as their update servers get hacked apparently. This isn’t what the user expects and is more problematic than it should be, especially if your goal was to locate, download, and work with the newest version of CCleaner. Where the Online Help link in the main menu takes you to a website with useful FAQ and community links, the Check for Updates link doesn’t perform a version check, instead taking you to a website to purchase a fully licensed copy.

If there’s something to nitpick with CCleaner, it comes down to its user interface, which feels like a quick Windows port and carries that clunkiness with it.

It’s capable of an amazing amount of customization, configuration, and removes gigabytes of clutter at a time while functioning well, and no issues arose while testing it under macOS 11.5 Big Sur. That said, CCleaner has battled several security concerns since its acquisition by Avast. CCleaner is essentially safe to use for mobile platforms.

Piriform seems to know what CCleaner’s strengths are and builds them out over time instead of jumping to the next shiny new feature which would change the software outright.

Is ccleaner safe in 2021