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CCleaner is one of the most popular tools for Windows. However, anyone switching to Linux will search for it in vain. There’s a reason for this: Linux is structured differently from Windows, which is why a program like CCleaner isn’t really necessary. In this article, you’ll learn why that is and what alternatives are available.
CCleaner Alternatives for Linux—Does It Make Sense?
- CCleaner cleans registry files, which is controversial even among Windows users. Under Linux, however, this makes even less sense, since there is no registry in that sense.
- CCleaner is useful for cleaning up temporary files. However, don’t expect a noticeable performance boost from it.
- CCleaner also helps find and delete cookies. While this can be done through the browser, it’s more convenient to use the free tool.
- These and similar tasks can also be performed on a Linux system. Therefore, a cleaning tool certainly has its place, but it is by no means necessary. Below, we briefly introduce three CCleaner alternatives.
CCleaner Alternatives for Linux—The 3 Best Programs
- BleachBit: This system cleanup tool is available for GNOME, KDE, and Xfce. It cleans up a wide variety of temporary files on Linux and runs commands such as “apt-get autoclean” and “autoremove,” but also deletes other junk data and browser data. To do this, select the desired items, have them analyzed, and then confirm the deletion process. You can install the program from the official package repositories using “apt-get install bleachbit” or “aptitude install bleachbit.” By the way: BleachBit is also available for Windows.
- deborphan / gtkorphan: This lightweight system tool is available for Debian-based Linux distributions and primarily searches for and deletes orphaned packages. Here, too, you can select and delete each item individually. gtkorphan has the same functionality as deborphan but offers a graphical interface. On most distributions, you can also install this CCleaner alternative from the included repositories: “apt-get install gtkorphan” or “apt-get install deborphan” (or aptitude).
- Sweeper: This system cleaner is exclusive to KDE and is usually preinstalled in that environment, where it can be found in the list of applications. On Kubuntu, you can install the tool using “apt-get install sweeper” (or aptitude). This CCleaner alternative focuses on unused remnants of KDE applications and the Plasma desktop environment.
