What Are the Best CCleaner Alternatives?

[Julio Franco]

For a long time CCleaner has been the most popular system-cleaning tool for Windows, extending its reach to other platforms like macOS and Android phones. However since security giant Avast acquired it last year, it's been a stormy ride that's had many doubting how effective or trustworthy the tool really is. Let's take a look at some alternatives.

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/article/1677-ccleaner-alternatives/

 

[Uncle Al]

Been using Glary for years and I'd have to give it a 9 on the 10 point scale. I have constantly asked them to extend it's features to web browsers but so far it has not. Other than that, it works great and I'm happy to spend the $$ on it.

 

[veLa]

While CCleaner has certainly growed up since its "crap cleaner" days

Good job. Doing all that "growding" and all.

 

[ShagnWagn]

CCleaner has been a thorn in my side for decades. People use this thing in good faith when it only dumps it's own virus and also destroys the operating system. It leads customers into thinking it will "speed up" the operating system when it doesn't. Complete waste of everyone's time - especially mine on trying to resurrect a dead OS and applications it's killed. You can do the same thing with a few clicks of a button by running "msconfig.exe" from the command line.

I suggest staying away from all of these gimmicks. It's just another way to generate meaningless revenue.

 

[OutlawCecil]

Everybody loved ccleaner because it is slim. So the correct answer here is UnCleaner. It is the best alternative.

 

[EndlessWaves]

CCleaner has been a thorn in my side for decades. People use this thing in good faith when it only dumps it's own virus and also destroys the operating system. It leads customers into thinking it will "speed up" the operating system when it doesn't. Complete waste of everyone's time - especially mine on trying to resurrect a dead OS and applications it's killed. You can do the same thing with a few clicks of a button by running "msconfig.exe" from the command line.

I suggest staying away from all of these gimmicks. It's just another way to generate meaningless revenue.

Yup. As a troubleshooting tool these things are fine. Once you start using them on a regular basis it's more likely to cause issues than fix them.

It's far better to set caches to a size you're comfortable with and let windows manage them, then this sort of forced clearance.

 

[Evernessince]

CCleaner has been a thorn in my side for decades. People use this thing in good faith when it only dumps it's own virus and also destroys the operating system. It leads customers into thinking it will "speed up" the operating system when it doesn't. Complete waste of everyone's time - especially mine on trying to resurrect a dead OS and applications it's killed. You can do the same thing with a few clicks of a button by running "msconfig.exe" from the command line.

I suggest staying away from all of these gimmicks. It's just another way to generate meaningless revenue.

CCleaner was never designed to fix your operating system, only to clean up your OS drive. If you believe it was billed any other way you need only look at the name of the program. CCleaner does have more advanced cleaning options that aren't enabled by default but you decide to take that risk when you decide to clean the registry. The program specifically advises you to perform a registry backup / make a restore point before when enabling those options.

If you wanted a program to fix windows, you should start by looking for a program that's actually billed to do that like Tweaking.com Windows Repair. Otherwise making a claim that they are somehow trying to dump viruses on everyone's computers is a prime example of extreme hyperbole. They had one distribution out of thousands that was infected by a 3rd party. If we believed this to be true, you'd also have to believe that a large portion of software is out to infect your computer because I can guarantee this isn't the first time it has happened to a popular software product.

 

[ShagnWagn]

CCleaner was never designed to fix your operating system, only to clean up your OS drive. If you believe it was billed any other way you need only look at the name of the program. CCleaner does have more advanced cleaning options that aren't enabled by default but you decide to take that risk when you decide to clean the registry. The program specifically advises you to perform a registry backup / make a restore point before when enabling those options.

If you wanted a program to fix windows, you should start by looking for a program that's actually billed to do that like Tweaking.com Windows Repair. Otherwise making a claim that they are somehow trying to dump viruses on everyone's computers is a prime example of extreme hyperbole. They had one distribution out of thousands that was infected by a 3rd party. If we believed this to be true, you'd also have to believe that a large portion of software is out to infect your computer because I can guarantee this isn't the first time it has happened to a popular software product.

First of all, I never said that I did. I tried it on a dummy computer of mine back in the late 90's or so. Never touched it since. You should re-read my post as I was referring to "people". This means other than myself. People think "clean" means to clean it up so it runs faster. Nearly all have no clue how to recover a registry nor operating system. It has directly broken numerous applications and makes operating systems unbootable in my experience as not only with computers as my hobby for 30 years, but also as a professional for 25 years in managing thousands of workstations and now primarily as a server admin. Anything that digs out the registry is scary.

You are contradicting yourself:
"making a claim that they are somehow trying to dump viruses on everyone's computers is a prime example of extreme hyperbole"
"They had one distribution out of thousands that was infected by a 3rd party"

"we believed this to be true, you'd also have to believe that a large portion of software is out to infect your computer"
Umm, no, but there are several (hundreds/thousands?) apps out there over the years that have known adware,malware,and trojans bundled. Then there are who knows how many that add unknown ones. Then there are the intentional ones like adobe reader that dumps crap such as antivirus and whatnot unless you are careful. Plus others than drop more crap like chrome and hidden services of other apps, etc etc. Are you not aware of this?

So I'm not posting this for the fun of it. I'm posting it as people have no idea how much of a gimmick these are - not to mention destructive. So either take my advice, or believe I'm clueless and move along.

 

[amghwk]

CCleaner has been a thorn in my side for decades. People use this thing in good faith when it only dumps it's own virus and also destroys the operating system. It leads customers into thinking it will "speed up" the operating system when it doesn't. Complete waste of everyone's time - especially mine on trying to resurrect a dead OS and applications it's killed. You can do the same thing with a few clicks of a button by running "msconfig.exe" from the command line.

I suggest staying away from all of these gimmicks. It's just another way to generate meaningless revenue.

I don't think this is just gimmick. When it lists the number of orphaned or missing pointers or missing files in the registry, you can go look for them manually yourself to corroborate the junk.

In all the years I have used it for cleaning the registry, never once it messed up the Operating System. Ironic that as a person who has "...experience as not only with computers as my hobby for 30 years, but also as a professional for 25 years in managing thousands of workstations and now primarily as a server admin" can easily mess up the OS by letting such software ruin it, if you say so.

"...when it only dumps it's own virus and also destroys the operating system."

- Generalized destructive comments are not particularly wise to explain your train of thoughts.

If you really had such 25 years of experience in managing thousands of workstations, you would have done your homework to chose the source of these programs. If the software is directly from the publisher itself, it would long have been the news before you came out with this revelation.

 

[cliffordcooley]

First of all, I never said that I did. I tried it on a dummy computer of mine back in the late 90's or so.

So for the last 20 years, you don't know how CCleaner has been. That is like being badgered at 40, for the crap you did when you was 20.

 

[Stiqy]

First of all, I never said that I did. I tried it on a dummy computer of mine back in the late 90's or so. Never touched it since.

So you're actual experiential "knowledge" of this is 20 years old? K, thanks, bye.

 

[Evernessince]

Wow, that is one hyperbole laden post, let's break it down.

First of all, I never said that I did. I tried it on a dummy computer of mine back in the late 90's or so. Never touched it since. You should re-read my post as I was referring to "people".

Your words

"Complete waste of everyone's time - especially mine on trying to resurrect a dead OS and applications it's killed."

Trying to resurrect a dead OS with CCleaner? Are you going to sit here and argue semantics over the use of resurrect?

I re-read your original post, you state nothing about the time or computer you performed said action on. Go ahead, go back and edit that post, I'll wait.

You are contradicting yourself:
"making a claim that they are somehow trying to dump viruses on everyone's computers is a prime example of extreme hyperbole"
"They had one distribution out of thousands that was infected by a 3rd party"

Since when did "everybody" have it's definition changed to "less than 0.01% of their lifetime downloads"? CCleaner has over 2 billion downloads in it's lifetime. While malware is certainly bad, you are making a chicken out of a feather.

Umm, no, but there are several (hundreds/thousands?) apps out there over the years that have known adware,malware,and trojans bundled. Then there are who knows how many that add unknown ones. Then there are the intentional ones like adobe reader that dumps crap such as antivirus and whatnot unless you are careful. Plus others than drop more crap like chrome and hidden services of other apps, etc etc. Are you not aware of this?

Ya know, you can uncheck the box for "install Mcafee" right?

https://get.adobe.com/reader/

Once again you are going to the extreme. Free Software that installs other legitimate pieces of software isn't wrong and it what allows freeware to exist. FYI McAfee may be annoying but it isn't adware, malware, or a Trojan as you falsely alarm. If you have a problem with sponsored programs in freeware then pay the devs for the pro version or simply uncheck the box when installing. Out of all PC applications, a minute fraction of them install dangerous code onto a users machine without their consent and most of the time that's without the knowledge of the developer. In the cases where software is installed without user's consent it's usually anti cheating services or DRM. Of course though, this is a fraction of a fraction. You make it sound like you unearthed a conspiracy when in reality the examples you point out are benign and the user can opt out.

 

[lazer]

I have used CCleaner free for years and never had a problem. It gets rid of my leftover crap and old registry dead files too.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it....

 

[tipstir]

I use the one above daily or when I remember to use it LOL
Note: One of my systems running this now. I am on Windows 10 Home 64-bit @2018, 8GB (7.49 usable) DDR3 AMD A4 APU Dual Core System 2.80 GHz 1TB HD . I have more than 20 stuff open up and browsers tab max on dual LED Monitors open. Free Windows Tuner is 2.0.1.3 there was 2.0.1.4 but the author has gone and so has the support. That one told you with a large meter how your system was. 60% is what you have if you never cleaned your system. Clean it with this program it would free -up memory I'll attach a image of what this program looks like. Above image shot.




I've help Wise Team with their Wise Disk Cleaner for many years now as beta tester. I tested all the other cleaners for years some you never mentioned here. Jet Clean was my favorite but it doesn't work right anymore. This is how it looks you get two modes. You see the other one in this Review by TS.

Thanks to me Wise Disk Cleaner Free works a lot better than it did before using some of the methods from Jet Clean found more junk than Wise Disk Cleaner did. But Wise Disk Cleaner does have ads in also popup Notifications you can block those using Windows 7 or 10 Firewall Control Free 32/64-bit. Companion for Windows Firewall. Another great program to use. Wise still doesn't catch everything Jet Clean also cleaned the RAM but didn't do all like Wise Disk Cleaner does. They have another full software to clean the RAM. I could never get them to make it built into Wise Disk Cleaner. I mostly worked on Wise365 version. I don't use that one because Wise Disk Cleaner works just as good. It's free. CCleaner been around for years I use that on Android Oreo 8 cell. Fix some issues with SMS text Not Sending the Text to others on my list.

Then there is Razer Cortex: Boost
This is more for online gaming... It can defrag the gaming folder of your Steam Game. Not bad.

 

[ShagnWagn]

Wow, the lack of operating experience and registry is seriously lacking in this thread. Several feel like they are authoritative and all knowledgeable over everyone. If these apps supposedly make so much of a difference, why doesn't every single company in existence using them? Not a single one I've ever heard of does. Reason? It doesn't do anything. Case in point. But be my guest - install it all you want. Why not install all of them at once? If you think it will be so much faster... lol

As far as my experience with it 20 years ago - read between the lines. I saw what it did to mine, and I witness what it does to everyone else's computers. Why should I keep installing it over and over again? SMH. I avoid it like the plague.

The retorts that modifying the registry won't break the computer? LMAO! This perfectly explains my whole point - none of you who claims this hasn't even an inkling what it can do. Go ahead and delete HKLM and see what it does. I dare ya if you think you are so wise. Even Microsoft tells you NOT to edit anything because it could easily break the OS (and apps obviously). Professionals all over the web/world (including myself) know this. Let me help you with google: https://www.google.com/search?ei=Q9.......0...1.1.64.psy-ab..6.0.0....0.TjN2vtz3i9w

And this is where I leave you to waste your time (and even money) with these if you so wish. Good day!

 

[NimbusTLD]

Out of curiosity, how much would have CCleaner freed up in the same test?

 

[skipmichael]

Dig deep into Glary, see if you can find China lurking there.

 

[gcarter]

Woah, lot of arguing in this articles comments! Im typing this reply on a Macbook

Which kinda raises the next point, although ccleaner started its life on Windoze, they do have a macOS version, android etc..

Would have made a more complete article if they had touched on alternatives for other OS's

 

[MaikuTech]

First of all, I never said that I did. I tried it on a dummy computer of mine back in the late 90's or so. Never touched it since. You should re-read my post as I was referring to "people". This means other than myself. People think "clean" means to clean it up so it runs faster. Nearly all have no clue how to recover a registry nor operating system. It has directly broken numerous applications and makes operating systems unbootable in my experience as not only with computers as my hobby for 30 years, but also as a professional for 25 years in managing thousands of workstations and now primarily as a server admin. Anything that digs out the registry is scary.

"we believed this to be true, you'd also have to believe that a large portion of software is out to infect your computer"
Umm, no, but there are several (hundreds/thousands?) apps out there over the years that have known adware,malware,and trojans bundled. Then there are who knows how many that add unknown ones. Then there are the intentional ones like adobe reader that dumps crap such as antivirus and whatnot unless you are careful. Plus others than drop more crap like chrome and hidden services of other apps, etc etc. Are you not aware of this?

So I'm not posting this for the fun of it. I'm posting it as people have no idea how much of a gimmick these are - not to mention destructive. So either take my advice, or believe I'm clueless and move along.

Don't pay people too much mind, if they become an annoyance, just shut their asses down with an ignore and report it to the staff.
I only use ccleaner to clear out any registry problems that may occur and hard to remove programs that refuse to leave.
CCleaner isn't a bad application if you know how to work it and using sparingly.
If ccleaner had virused packed inside of it, either mssentials, windows defender or my AV eset would have sniffed it out after downloading and destroy it.

 

[tipstir]

You all need some sort of cleaner to clean out the junk files in applications. Windows OS has a ton of that should be cleaned out. Wise Disk Cleaner Free is free. That does a lot more. It can be set to auto clean. But I don't do that. I only clean when I uninstall massive files or after windows updates. I keep the HDD running at max. Some of you are on SD drives. But in all Windows doesn't cleanup for itself. That's on thing MS never through about. Auto Smart Clean. Even iPad, iPhone, iMac Mac Pro systems hey need cleaning as well as Windows PCs, tablets laptops, netbooks, desktop, workstations and even servers. Smartphones too. No harm using those to cleaners.

 

[MaikuTech]

You all need some sort of cleaner to clean out the junk files in applications. Windows OS has a ton of that should be cleaned out. Wise Disk Cleaner Free is free. That does a lot more. It can be set to auto clean. But I don't do that. I only clean when I uninstall massive files or after windows updates.

Windows 10 will autoclean for you and auto defrag on a hdd if you set it up correctly.
Have a read through on you're own time:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...ndows-10/66aa9f2d-8834-438e-a2d3-4318dcb976ab

One program suite I have used for 10 years now is system mechanic standard.
Some people swear to hate it and cry about it because they don't know how to work it and configure it right.
I just spend maybe 10 minutes configuring the program to clear out any debris while I am not home.
It will defrag at night time as I specify or when it senses windows is just outright laggy and jittery.
So if its not doing ccleaner once a month, system mechanic daily-weekly.
I would just let windows 10 do the basic clean up and defragging when my license expires every year.
http://www.iolo.com/downloads/download-system-mechanic/

 

[Evernessince]

Windows 10 will autoclean for you and auto defrag on a hdd if you set it up correctly.
Have a read through on you're own time:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...ndows-10/66aa9f2d-8834-438e-a2d3-4318dcb976ab

One program suite I have used for 10 years now is system mechanic standard.
Some people swear to hate it and cry about it because they don't know how to work it and configure it right.
I just spend maybe 10 minutes configuring the program to clear out any debris while I am not home.
It will defrag at night time as I specify or when it senses windows is just outright laggy and jittery.
So if its not doing ccleaner once a month, system mechanic daily-weekly.
I would just let windows 10 do the basic clean up and defragging when my license expires every year.
http://www.iolo.com/downloads/download-system-mechanic/

Most of the complaints for system mechanic were about it's background services and their related CPU clock cycle consumption. I haven't used the software myself in 8 years but back when I did that seemed to be true.

 

[Tace3]

I had a paid subscription to CCleaner that expired with perfect timing. I don't like Avast and want nothing on my computer with that name. I had tried Advance System Care and wasn't happy with it and it's popups. I have bleachbit in the context menu and I use it. I find it to be fast and simple. My favorite is not named here and it has a scan for duplicates. This one is Reg Hunter that comes with Spy Hunter. I know Malwarebytes deems them an enemy and Spy Hunter has a major lawsuit against Malwarebytes about this. Malwarebytes just doesn't want the competitiion and Spy Hunter is way better than Malwarebytes. S.H. gets tons of bad stuff that the big M never picks up in a scan. I would drop M but, I have a lifetime license with them.
If you want a good scanner and duplicate scanner try R.H. You want go wrong. It also defrags the registry. I love it for replacing CCleaner. It is so much better.

 

[Tgard]

I have been building my own computers and building for others for about 27 years. I have been tech support to a couple dozen people, companies and family for a majority of that time. I guess I am just one of the clueless peons that use CCleaner also. I have not found or actually looked for a replacement as it does what is necessary if you have even an ounce of sense about using it. Every computer I service has a folder in My Documents that says CCleaner backups. There is a copy of what is removed from the registry every time and I can say with authority that CCleaner has never hosed one single system I have used it on. I also only use the open CCleaner from the Recycle bin and get rid of the run CCleaner shortcuts by hiding or just telling it to only install the shortcut that I need. One thing I will say though is I never set it to auto-update and only manually update, so I am not sure how good or bad the newest versions are. SMH and some of the comments on this thread by people who are supposed to be professional...

 

[DAOWAce]

BleachBit can import CCleaner's winapp2 file, making it basically a drop-in replacement.

Doesn't do registry stuff or have the useful features CCleaner does (startup, task scheduler, etc), but in my eyes it seems like the closest thing you can get to CCleaner.

Still, I'm using 5.40 with a custom winapp2 and don't plan on updating anymore, as the company cannot be trusted. The community will keep updating the winapp files, so it technically won't be out of date.

Either way, RIP a very useful tool.