MacKeeper FAQ

MacKeeper is one of the most popular Mac cleaning software programs available, perhaps even ‘the’ most popular, however, although it is so well-known, there are still many people that have many questions about it. Most questions revolve around these two questions: Is MacKeeper a real program, and / or is it some sort of spam? The answer to both of these can be answered easily as the answer is: yes, MacKeeper is a real program that does indeed clean Macs, and no, MacKeeper is not a spam program, nor does it have pop up advertising, and it’s not a trojan virus.

However easy that was to say, it is harder for people to truly trust the answer, so let’s go through some of the most asked questions and resolve them as we go. We’ll consider how MacKeeper holds up to the FAQ’s on MacKeeper so often asked. What do you think will happen? Will they pass or will they fail? There’s a lot to consider, so let’s go and find out!

What Happens When you Download and Install MacKeeper?

The download process of installing MacKeeper gives you steps all the way through, they also have a Terms of Service and End User License Agreement that you can read before downloading in case you have any questions as to your privacy and their terms. On their site, MacKeeper shows you what systems it is compatible with which include Mac OS 10.5 and higher. MacKeeper is not supported by Windows.

When installing you will see that it’s similar to all other Mac downloads, so it should be quite familiar and easy to you if you have downloaded other apps to your Mac before. There is nothing that is different, nothing is being downloaded that is not part of the program and needed to do the job of cleaning or securing your Mac.

Will it change settings? That is a common question when installing any program. No one wants a program that is going to install and make changes to your computer’s operating system. This program doesn’t make such changes, so you can feel safe about that. When installing, you are not going to be installing anything you don’t know about, or changing anything in your system settings. In fact, before it can completely install on your Mac it will ask for your permission to complete the install, which is done by entering your Mac’s admin password. It also will not be making any changes to your browser, because it works fully on your desktop and not on the internet.

There will not be several things to download, as it is just one program even though it has over 16 different tools in it. These tools are not individual products, like bundled software is, it’s just included inside MacKeeper. The only two things that need to be installed separately, which is not asked of you during install, are Internet Security and Anti-Theft features. These are not installed by default and need to be installed additionally. If you already have an antivirus program though, you cannot install MacKeeper’s Internet Security, so you may have to choose between them.

If you are installing the trial version you won’t have to worry about being bothered by prompts that ask you to buy their full package. The trial version allows you to clean your Mac it just is limited in how much it cleans since it’s the trial, so if you do decide you would like to clean your Mac more thoroughly you can purchase the license to use on your Mac. You also do not get any popup ads or while you are using it, or even if you decide to delete it.

What Does MacKeeper do When it Cleans Your Mac?

The MacKeeper program lets you know what its software does every step of the way. The cleaning process is easily seen on each task page of the application. It is in the in the right pane of each task you choose, and in addition to the description of what it does, it includes a link to a manual and video tutorials, so you are really very covered as far as knowing what MacKeeper is doing when it performs a particular task. The description of what that tool does when it is cleaning is written in a way that is very easy to understand, even to someone that isn’t very techie.

MacKeeper cleans the areas it shows you it cleans, binaries, logs, caches, etc, and it does not make any changes to your computer’s settings when it does this. Actually, it never makes any changes to your system, not while it’s cleaning, during install, or at any other time, so there’s no need to worry that it will do any damage. Also, when it’s cleaning, or the program is running, the progress of that task is shown so you know what it’s doing.

MacKeeper and Your Privacy

With all of the talk of spying lately, whether it be by a government on its citizens or a hacker searching for your identity, it’s become normal to worry about what we are downloading onto our computers, yes, even on a Mac. So many believe a Mac is impervious to viruses, but it’s not. It’s just less likely to happen.

So, what about MacKeeper? Does MacKeeper install something on your computer to collect information about you send reports to themselves from your computer? Do they sell my financial or other personal information that I give them when I buy it?

MacKeeper does not collect or transmit any financial, personal or private information. Not even if you use their trial version. If you buy MacKeeper, after you pay for it, the only information that is required is a valid email, which you will use to create their ZeoBIT account. This account is needed so that the you can activate MacKeeper services like Geek on Demand and Anti-Theft. If Anti-Theft is chosen, its functionality requires collecting computer’s location information. This info is only needed in case a your Mac is lost or stolen, and is not otherwise used or saved.

Even after you buy or use MacKeeper, and let’s say you one day decide to uninstall it, it still won’t transmit any private information about you anywhere. It won’t leave any little pieces behind that will be “spying” on you. Once it is dragged to the Trash it is gone. No annoying pop ups will show up or follow you across the internet asking you to buy their software either.

Uninstalling MacKeeper

Although it’s referred to as a bundle by some, it isn’t really a bundle in the way that bundled software if considered, which is normally several 3rd-party programs for the price of one of them. MacKeeper is bundled in a sense that it has 16 plus different ways to clean and protect your Mac. So when you install or uninstall, you only do it once. You will see only one icon for the MacKeeper app, not one for each feature it has. The uninstall works easily by just dragging it to the Trash, once.

It is very simple to remove MacKeeper from your Mac. You don’t even have to go find it in your Applications to click and find an Uninstall menu. All you have to do is follow these steps, which is just a simple drag and drop motion:

To uninstall MacKeeper:

1. Quit MacKeeper.

2. Drag MacKeeper.app to the Trash or use Cmd+Delete.

3. Click “Uninstall MacKeeper” in the window that appears.

The uninstall guidelines are clearly accessible on the MacKeeper website if you need any further help, but that’s really all there is to do to uninstall MacKeeper from your computer. There will be nothing left behind from MacKeeper, no trojan virus, no cookies set to spy on you, no tracking software, no spam. There are no traces left behind that are going to be use to do something to your Mac or you. Nothing that will automatically enable at some date or time, or even remotely enabled.

There is a lot of concern about programs doing this so it is a good question to ask and to investigate. After thoroughly investigating it myself I found it to be true that nothing is left behind or transmitted later etc. There are no pop ups trying to sell me MacKeeper, they don’t follow me around the internet collecting data from me to sell or use otherwise, it’s just gone.

Is MacKeeper Free?

MacKeeper’s free version will scan your Mac and will fix some of the errors that it’ll find. However, the features of the free version are limited. In order to gain full advantage of MacKeeper, it’s highly recommended to buy the full version. There are 3 packages:

1. $39.95 – Includes license for 1 Mac and 24/7 Email support.
2. $59.59 – Includes license for 2 Macs and 24/7 Email and Live chat support.
3. $89.95 – Includes license for 3 Macs and 24/7 Email, Live chat and phone support.

What Do Others Say About MacKeeper

Word of mouth is often the best way to sell a product, at least if it’s a good product that is. So how does MacKeeper do in that category? What do others say about MacKeeper, does it have awards from well-known sites, or is it a program that cannot be trusted?

User’s rate MacKeeper with 4.5 stars on average. These numbers come from various websites that do reviews on Mac software or software in general. In Forums there are some negative comments about MacKeeper, along with the positive. The negative comments were saying that the program would not uninstall, and would leave tracking software behind to spy on you. As I said earlier, I take things like this very seriously as it would be a cause for concern, so I installed and uninstalled MacKeeper on my iMac and my MacBook Pro.

MacKeeper also has won several awards, not by some unknown websites or organizations, but by those that are at the top of their industry. Just to mention a few would include MacWorld, which is also an official sponsor of MacKeeper, Forbes, TopTenReviews.com, Brothersoft.com and Tucows.com. You can see all of MacKeepers awards on their site. MacKeeper has also linked to each award or review so that you click on the award or MacKeeper review to see them for yourself on the giver’s site.

Support

MacKeeper’s support is available 24/7. I tested this out with my own copy and contacted them directly from the desktop app. I used the Chat feature, which is easy to find and is in the right side pane. The chat begun immediately and the representative was able to answer all of the questions I asked of him. They also have other forms of support available on their Contact page, such as through a toll free number, email, or the live chat feature on their site.

MacKeeper Review

After doing a complete review of MacKeeper, downloading and installing it to two Mac’s with different OS X’s, we found that MacKeeper will keep your computer safe, secure and clean, without any worry about it violating your privacy, or showing popup advertisements. Should you decide to uninstall it, you also will not suffer any repercussions from that decision, and it’s super simple to delete from your Mac.