The quick version: CleanMyMac needs macOS 11 Big Sur or later, roughly 320 MB of free disk space, 2 GB of RAM, and a display at least 1280 by 800 pixels. Both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs are supported. The one catch isn’t hardware, it’s which download source you use: the Mac App Store edition is missing a meaningful chunk of features that the version from macpaw.com or Setapp includes in full.
The requirements, in one place
Most people don’t need a long explanation here, just a straight answer they can check against their own Mac in thirty seconds.
| Requirement | Minimum |
|---|---|
| macOS version | macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later |
| Processor | Intel or Apple Silicon (M1 through M4, native) |
| RAM | 2 GB recommended |
| Free disk space | ~320 MB for installation |
| Display resolution | 1280 x 800 pixels minimum |
If your Mac meets all five, you’re set to run the full current version of CleanMyMac without any compatibility caveats.
Checking your own Mac against this list
Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner and choose About This Mac. This single screen tells you your macOS version and processor immediately. For RAM, it’s listed right there too, and for free disk space, open About This Mac then Storage, or check Finder’s sidebar under your drive. If you’re on a display smaller than 1280 by 800, that’s genuinely rare on any Mac sold in the last decade, so it’s not a practical concern for most people, more of a technical floor than something worth double-checking.
The supported macOS versions, spelled out
To run the current CleanMyMac with full functionality, your Mac needs to be on one of these:
- macOS Tahoe 26
- macOS Sequoia 15
- macOS Sonoma 14
- macOS Ventura 13
- macOS Monterey 12
- macOS Big Sur 11
Anything at Catalina 10.15 or earlier isn’t supported by the current app. If you’re on genuinely old hardware stuck on an earlier macOS release, the older CleanMyMac X supports back to macOS 10.13, and even earlier compatible versions exist for macOS 10.10 through 10.12, though those require downloading a specific older release rather than the current installer.
Why the requirements are set where they are
MacPaw’s stated reasoning is straightforward rather than arbitrary: limiting support to more recent macOS versions frees up development resources for building new features rather than maintaining backward compatibility indefinitely, and Apple itself stops shipping security updates for older macOS releases, meaning MacPaw can’t guarantee stable, secure performance on unsupported systems even if the app technically launched. Some features also simply rely on technologies that don’t exist in older macOS versions, making broader backward compatibility a real technical wall rather than just a policy choice in certain cases.
RAM and storage in practice
The 2 GB RAM recommendation and 320 MB storage footprint are both modest by any recent Mac’s standards, most Macs sold in the past several years ship with considerably more of both. In practice, this means the requirements rarely function as a real barrier for anyone running current or fairly recent hardware. The more common scenario is the reverse: someone runs CleanMyMac specifically because their Mac’s storage has filled up, and the tiny 320 MB installation footprint is a small price against the tens of gigabytes it’s often used to reclaim.
Hardware meets the bar, but which download matters too
Meeting the technical requirements above gets you a working install, but it doesn’t guarantee the full feature set unless you’re careful about where you download from. The Mac App Store edition of CleanMyMac, due to Apple’s own platform restrictions, can’t clean certain system junk categories including system logs, language files, and broken login items, can’t run maintenance scripts like freeing RAM, flushing DNS, or thinning Time Machine snapshots, and is missing the Protection Monitor, malware detection alerts, Safari privacy cleanup, and some update notifications. For casual users, that trimmed-down version may genuinely be enough, since Smart Care, malware scanning, duplicate cleanup, the uninstaller, Space Lens, and Cloud Cleanup are all still included.
If you want the complete feature set without those gaps, downloading directly from macpaw.com or accessing it through a Setapp subscription is the way to get it. You can download CleanMyMac directly and confirm compatibility with your specific Mac before installing.
Frequently asked questions
Whether you’re checking if your Mac can run CleanMyMac for macOS or comparing the App Store version to the full download, knowing the requirements helps you decide. If you haven’t tried CleanMyMac yet, the 320 MB installation footprint is a small price for what it can reclaim.
What is the minimum macOS version for CleanMyMac?
macOS 11 Big Sur. Supported versions run through Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura, Sonoma, Sequoia, and the current Tahoe 26. It doesn’t work on macOS Catalina 10.15 or earlier.
How much RAM does CleanMyMac need?
2 GB is the recommended minimum. Most Macs sold in recent years ship with well above this, so RAM is rarely the limiting factor.
How much disk space does installing CleanMyMac require?
Approximately 320 MB of free disk space, a small footprint relative to the space it’s typically used to reclaim.
What features are missing from the App Store version of CleanMyMac?
It can’t clean certain system junk categories, can’t run maintenance scripts, and lacks the Protection Monitor, malware alerts, and some other features. The version from macpaw.com or Setapp includes the full set.