BleachBit for Windows

So many software suites claim to delete unneeded files from your system that it's a wonder anyone has any junk in their trunks at all, if by "trunks" we mean those stubborn caches of files and folders that many of your programs and applications store in the out-of-the-way places of your hard disk and Windows installation. BleachBit is a free cache cleaner that's designed to find, identify, preview, and delete unnecessary cached and saved files in your browsers and e-mail clients; programs like Java and Adobe Flash and Reader; communication tools like Skype, chat tools, and media players; and Google Earth, OpenOffice, and other miscellaneous apps, not to mention various system files.

With BleachBit, you can shred sensitive files, ensuring that once deleted, they are gone for good. The software is free to use, so you can download and start using it without spending a dime. There's no need to sign up or create an account, which makes it straightforward and quick to get started. It's easy to use—simply select what you want to clean, preview it, and hit delete. BleachBit works on both Linux and Windows systems, making it versatile for different users. As an open-source tool, anyone can modify or share it. It's designed to be safe, free from adware, spyware, and other malicious programs. The software supports 66 languages, making it accessible globally. It can also overwrite free disk space to ensure that previously deleted files cannot be recovered. BleachBit can be installed on a computer or run from a USB drive, offering flexible installation options. It supports scripting through a command line interface, ideal for those who are more tech-savvy. Users can also customize their experience by writing their own cleaning scripts or importing updates. BleachBit offers a wide range of cleaning tools, capable of working with numerous apps and system components.

You can use BleachBit to free up disk space by removing unnecessary files, which also makes backups faster and reduces the size. It protects your privacy by securely deleting sensitive data, ensuring that it remains confidential. The tool also boosts your computer's performance by eliminating files that can slow down your system. It's also excellent for preparing your system for backups or compressing disk images by cleaning out junk data.

BleachBit's interface is efficient and cleanly configured; aside from File, Edit, and Help menus, there's just a pair of icons marked Preview and Delete above a left-hand tree view of all our system's accessible caches, each with a check box, and a main window that displays and previews files in a registry-like view. It identified and listed caches, logs, form histories, passwords, cookies, and other selections for Adobe Reader, Flash, Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Office, and other programs. BleachBit also offered selections for Deep Scan and System, though the program advised that these processes are slow and that the System cleaner was experimental; we chose not to run these. However, there's an entry for Windows Explorer that has some useful entries, including recently used items, thumbnails, and search history. We selected nearly everything else but our Firefox files (HINT: Don't check Passwords if you don't want them deleted) and clicked Preview. BleachBit displayed a fast-scrolling log of selected files. Seeing nothing critical, we clicked Delete, and BleachBit deleted 3,333 files in about a second, displaying a log on completion. The File menu offered options to Shred Files, Shred Folders, Wipe Free Space, or Shred Settings and Quit, which closed the program while eliminating our session data. The Preferences were fairly typical, except for a "Whitelist" that lets you specify file and folder paths that BleachBit will bypass.

BleachBit quickly and thoroughly purged files from our system that other cleaners had recently missed. It's quite easy to select which files to delete and which to avoid, and the previews help ensure that you're not deleting the wrong things.

• To shred paths from the clipboard, open your operating system's file browser, and copy some files to the clipboard. In BleachBit, click File - Shred Paths from Clipboard. Unlike drag-and-drop, this still works on Windows when running as administrator.
• Major cleaning improvements for Google Chrome, Chromium, and Firefox.
• Clean modern versions of Opera based on Chromium.
• Wipe free space from the command line with the new command --wipe-free-space.
• Improve startup time of application. On some systems, it can be significant.
• Increase resolution of application icon.
• Add cleaner for Waterfox.
• Clean more of aMule.
• Fix: deep scan crashed when encountering paths with special characters.