- Best CCleaner Like System Cleaning Utilities for Ubuntu Linux
- Does Linux Need System Clean Up Utilities Like CCleaner?
- Does it mean that Linux needs system clean up utilities?
- CCleaner Alternatives for Ubuntu Linux
- 1. Stacer
- Install Stacer in Linux
- 2. BleachBit
- Install BleachBit in Linux
- 3. Sweeper
- Install Sweeper in Linux
- 4. Ubuntu Cleaner
- Install Ubuntu Cleaner in Linux
- 5. rmlint
- Install rmlint in Linux
- Closing Thoughts
- 6 Best CCleaner Alternatives for Ubuntu
- 1. BleachBit
- 2. Stacer
- 3. FSlint
- 4. Sweeper
- 5. Ubuntu Cleaner
- 6. GCleaner
Best CCleaner Like System Cleaning Utilities for Ubuntu Linux
CCleaner is a quite popular PC cleaner to optimize the system. It is a Windows-specific tool for freeing up space, delete junk files and speed up Windows. I know I am not the only one who looked for CCleaner for Linux when switching from Windows.
If you were looking for CCleaner alternative in Linux, you are in luck. Here I am going to list a couple of applications that you can use to clean up Ubuntu or any Ubuntu-based Linux distributions and briefly let you know why you might need one.
Does Linux Need System Clean Up Utilities Like CCleaner?
Let us face it — most of the users do not bother cleaning up of temporary files, application cache, crash reports, logs, or any other unnecessary files manually on a regular basis.
Maybe only when we run out of free storage space, but other than that, not really.
And, system clean up utilities like CCleaner makes it easy for us to quickly get rid of junk files.
Basically, it performs a system wide clean up of a temporary files, be it in your web browser or in your media player.
Unlike Windows, Linux cleans up all the temporary files (store in /tmp) automatically. You don’t have a registry in Linux which further reduces headache. At worst, you might have some broken packages, packages that are not needed anymore and internet browsing history, cookies and cache.
Even though Linux does not have a big junk issue like Windows presents with everyday usage, unnecessary files and cache are still something that can be cleaned.
Does it mean that Linux needs system clean up utilities?
- No, you do not necessarily need system cleaning utilities if you can run few commands for occasional package cleaning, and manually deleting browser history etc.
- Yes, if you don’t want manual work and want one tool to rule them all where you can clean up all the suggested things in one (or a few) click(s).
If you have got your answer as yes, let’s move on to see some CCleaner like utilities to clean up your Ubuntu Linux system.
CCleaner Alternatives for Ubuntu Linux
Please note that I am using Ubuntu here, but you should find them available for other Linux distributions as well.
1. Stacer
Key Features:
- Dashboard to provide you quick look at system resources
- Free and open source
- System cleaner to free up space in one click
- Manage startup applications in Ubuntu to optimize the performance
- Find and manage services, daemons
- Find and uninstall software to free up space
Stacer is a useful Ubuntu system optimizer. Built on Electron, Stacer has a very clean and modern user interface that provides you various functionalities in a tabbed interface. You can read this article to read in detail about how to optimize Ubuntu system with Stacer.
Install Stacer in Linux
You can install it using the PPA mention in the official website or download AppImage/Deb/Rpm packages available from its GitHub releases section.
You can find more details about Stacer on its GitHub page.
2. BleachBit
Key Features:
- Simple GUI check the boxes you want, preview it and delete it.
- Multi-platform: Linux and Windows
- Free and open source
- Shred files to hide their contents and prevent data recovery
- Overwrite free disk space to hide previously deleted files
- Command line interface also available
BleachBit is a cross-platform app available for both Windows and Linux. It has a long list of applications that it supports cleaning and thus giving you the option for cleaning cache, cookies and log files.
Install BleachBit in Linux
You can refer to our BleachBit guide to install it and get started using it.
BleachBit has binaries available for all major Linux distributions. You can download BleachBit from the official website.
3. Sweeper
Key Features:
- Remove web-related traces: cookies, history, cache
- Remove the image thumbnails cache
- Clean the clipboard contents and command history
Sweeper is a system clean up utility which is a part of KDE Applications. It may not be the most comprehensive system clean up tool but it is a lightweight and simple option. Its key features are:
Install Sweeper in Linux
Sweeper is available by default in Ubuntu repository. Use the command below in a terminal to install Sweeper:
4. Ubuntu Cleaner
Key Features:
- Clean browser cache
- Clean Ubuntu software center cache
- Clean thumbnail cache
- Remove apt repository cache
- Remove old kernel files
- Clean package configs
Ubuntu Cleaner takes the janitor section from the discontinued Ubuntu Tweaks tool and gives you a standalone cleaning utility.
It may not be actively maintained, but it saw a significant update in 2020 after 4 years of inactivity, take that as you may. Probably a good alternative option if you dislike other options listed above.
Install Ubuntu Cleaner in Linux
You can find the installation instructions for adding a PPA or getting the DEB file in its GitHub page.
You will not find any other packages available — so you need to compile from source if a binary for your Linux distribution is not available.
5. rmlint
If you have a lot of duplicates files/folders, empty files, and broken symlinks, you might want to try this.
This does not exactly clean cache or cookies, but empty files and duplicate folders are also unnecessary junk which may result in some wasted space.
It is primarily a command-line tool, but you can also use the bundled GUI right after installing it using a command.
Install rmlint in Linux
You can find it in the default repositories and to install it, type in:
Once installed, you can launch the GUI using the following command:
One of the third-party apps available way back with elementaryOS Freya, GCleaner aimed to be CCleaner in GNU world. The interface resembled heavily to CCleaner. Some main features of GCleaner were:
- clean browser history
- clean app cache
- clean packages and configs
- clean recent document history
- empty recycle bin
It looks like the project has been discontinued with no activity in its GitHub page for over 2 years.
Closing Thoughts
There are multiple options to choose from to clean your system and get rid of the junk files.
Depending on what you consider “junk”, the tools might differ. Also, you need to consider the ease of use, if you do not want to manually clean up things.
What is your favorite tool as the closest CCleaner alternative for Linux? Let me know in the comments down below.
6 Best CCleaner Alternatives for Ubuntu
A common category of software you will find on many Windows PCs are system optimizers and cleaners. One such application is CCleaner, a powerful and popular Windows PC cleaner which scans for and deletes unwanted files, private information such as browsing cache and history, freeing up space and guarding your privacy and more.
Unfortunately, there is no CCleaner release for Linux systems, so if you were using it on Windows and made a switch to Ubuntu Linux (one of the recommended distros for Linux beginners), you are probably wondering which software to use for the same purpose on your new platform.
Whether you have just made the switch or you have been using Ubuntu before, if you are looking for an alternative to CCleaner, you have landed in the right place. In this article, we will share 6 best CCleaner alternatives for Ubuntu Linux.
1. BleachBit
BleachBit is a free open source, powerful, feature-rich, and cross-platform software to easily and quickly clean your system, free up disk space and protect your privacy. It runs on Linux systems and Windows.
It’s easy to use, and it supports up to 65 languages around the world. It helps clean your system thus freeing up disk space, reducing the time it takes to create backups, and improving overall system performance. It also assists you to maintain privacy by shredding files (any type of file) to securely hide their contents and prevent data recovery, and overwrites free disk space to securely hide previously deleted files.
Importantly, it comes with a command-line interface for those who enjoy working from a terminal, it’s therefore scriptable and also allows you to create your own cleaners via CleanerML, and many other features.
To install BleachBit on your Ubuntu and its derivatives, use the APT package manager as shown.
$ sudo apt install bleachbit
The version of BleachBit in the repositories of many Linux distributions is often stale, so to use the latest version, use the .deb or .rpm package for the most similar Linux distribution at the BleachBit Download page.
2. Stacer
Stacer is a free, open source system optimizer and monitoring tool for Linux systems, with an elegant and intuitive GUI. It comes with useful features you would expect from a system optimizer, and a real-time system resource monitor, such as a system cleaner.
Its beautifully designed dashboard gives you access to a wealth of system information; allows you to clear app caches, analyze system start-up, start/stop system services, and more so uninstall applications. In addition, it seamlessly adapts to your pre-configured system look and feel.
To install Stacer on your Ubuntu and its derivatives, use the following official PPA to install it as shown.
$ sudo apt install software-properties-common $ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:oguzhaninan/stacer $ sudo apt update $ sudo apt install stacer
For other Linux distributions, head over to installation instructions at https://github.com/oguzhaninan/Stacer.
3. FSlint
FSlint is a free open source, simple and easy-to-use application for finding and cleaning various kinds of lint on a Linux filesystem. It has both a GTK+ GUI and a command line interface allowing you to automate certain operations via scripts.
It helps to remove/delete duplicate files in Linux, find and delete empty directories, unused temporary files, unwanted and problematic cruft in files and file names, bad symlinks, thus keeping your system clean. After performing all the above operations, you will regain disk space that was being hogged by unnecessary and unwanted files residing on your filesystem.
To install FSlint on your Linux systems, use the appropriate package manager to install it as shown.
$ sudo apt install fslint [On Debian/Ubuntu] $ yum install fslint [On CentOS/RHEL] $ dnf install fslint [On Fedora 22+]
4. Sweeper
Sweeper is a simple and the default system cleaner for KDE. It is used to clean unwanted traces of user activity on a system to protect your privacy, and reclaim disk space by removing unused temporary files. It can delete web-related traces such as cookies, history, cache; image thumbnails cache, and also cleans the applications and documents history.
To install Sweeper system cleaner on your Linux systems, use the appropriate package manager to install it as shown.
$ sudo apt install sweeper [On Debian/Ubuntu] $ yum install sweeper [On CentOS/RHEL] $ dnf install sweeper [On Fedora 22+]
5. Ubuntu Cleaner
Ubuntu Cleaner is also a free open source, simple, easy-to-use Ubuntu system cleaner. It frees up disk space and gets rid of all private information from your system such as browser cache. It also removes: APT cache, thumbnail cache, unused packages, old kernels as well as old installers. This way, it keeps your system clean and helps you regain some disk space.
To install Ubuntu Cleaner on your Ubuntu and its derivatives, use the following PPA to install it as shown.
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gerardpuig/ppa $ sudo apt update $ sudo apt install ubuntu-cleaner
6. GCleaner
GCleaner is a free open source, intuitive, simple and fast system cleaner for Ubuntu Linux and its derivatives. Its a port of CCleaner developed using Vala, GTK+, Granite and Glib/GIO. Like all the above system cleaners, it protects your privacy and makes your computer faster and more secure to use.
To install GCleaner on your Ubuntu and its derivatives, use the following PPA to install it as shown.
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libredeb/gcleaner $ sudo apt update $ sudo apt install gcleaner
Note that you can also check out Ubuntu Tweak Tool, however, the project is no longer actively maintained–install and use it at your own risk.
That’s all! In this article, we have shared 6 best CCleaner alternatives for Ubuntu Linux. If we have missed any software you know should be in this list, let us know via the comment form below.