Mac PowerSuite - How to remove

Mac PowerSuite by Fireebok is a Mac cleaner that, like most cleaners, is little more than a placebo. Mac PowerSuite has a lot of useful features, however, these features offer almost nothing over the features that already exist on macOS. Anti-malware apps have started flagging Mac PowerSuite as a potentially unwanted app to warn users to consider carefully if they really want to use it.

About Mac PowerSuite:

Type of threat	Potentially unwanted program (PUP).
Problems and issues	It’s detection by anti-malware scanners as a potentially unwanted app, its features are redundant to those already available on Macs.
Alternatives to Mac PowerSuite	MacOS Storage Management and System Preferences, browser settings.
Removing Mac PowerSuite	Drag Mac PowerSuite to Trash, find malware with Combo Cleaner, Malwarebytes, or other scanners.

Problems with Mac PowerSuite

Detection by anti-malware apps

People find Mac PowerSuite when they search the web for solutions to specific macOS and iOS issues. Fireebok has a bunch of articles that advise on issues and then recommend using Mac PowerSuite to solve them. The app costs around $10.

If you download Mac PowerSuite by Fireebok, though, your anti-malware tools might flag it. It’s detected by antivirus apps as “Misleading” and a “Deceptor” (VirusTotal link). This means that though Mac PowerSuite is not dangerous, it should still be treated with some caution. These labels mean that the app might use scareware tactics and be dishonest.

It’s only some months ago that Mac PowerSuite started getting flagged. A year ago, its installers didn’t trip any alarms. Then, it started getting labeled as DMG/Deceptor.LBVU-6, Misleading:Win32/Lodi, PotentialRisk.PUA/FPowerSuite.A, and other names meant for potentially unwanted software. Risky, Unwanted, Malicious, Deceptive – such apps are not necessarily malicious, but they still shouldn’t be used.

Then again, the more recent Mac PowerSuite installers only get flagged barely, or not at all: Virustotal.com.

Redundant features

There are many such applications that appear to be useful and practical but are actually a little bit deceptive and dishonest. AweCleaner for Mac and Apeaksoft Mac Cleaner come to mind. They are very similar to Mac PowerSuite: they all promise to help free up space ad improve privacy by deleting files and improve Mac performance by managing load items.

On Fireebok.com, Mac PowerSuite is presented as a macOS utility that helps users clean up their Mac and improve its performance. It promises to find large files, duplicates, logs, various unnecessary files and data that can be deleted. It also helps manage startup apps. Mac PowerSuite can be used to automatically delete certain files. It can be used to shred files and uninstall apps.

Sounds like a lot of features until you remember that macOS already provides them for no additional fee:

• Manage startup items in System Preferences -> Users & Groups -> Login Items.
• Manage and optimize storage in Apple menu -> About This Mac -> Storage -> Manage.
• Shredding files doesn’t make sense for most modern Macs, especially if you use an SSD, so that’s hardly a useful feature. Use FileVault instead (Why You Can’t Securely Delete a File, and What to Do Instead).
• Browser data can be managed and deleted from the browsers themselves. Safari, Chrome, and other browsers already provide tools that give you control over individual site data.

And it’s not enough that Mac PowerSuite does nothing that macOS can’t do, it’s not even free. There is a free version of Mac PowerSuite but it can only scan your Mac and show you the results. Well, it does do something else – run and scan your Mac in the background, taking up space and processing power.

Generally, experts recommend staying away from cleaners and optimizers. You can use the free tools that Apple provides and be just fine. But be especially wary of memory cleaners and optimizers. Compared to all the Mac malware that exists out there, Mac PowerSuite is very mild.

How to remove Mac PowerSuite

Uninstalling Mac PowerSuite is simple enough – go to Finder, Applications, find Mac PowerSuite, grab its icon, and then drag it to Trash (Support.apple.com).

If you want to be safe and check your Mac for any other potentially unwanted apps, you can scan it with an anti-malware application, like Combo Cleaner, Malwarebytes, and others. While there are no viruses for Macs, there is plenty of adware and other various malware that can cause issues and problems.

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