7 of the Best Linux System Cleaning Tools

Many of us have to deal with slow and unresponsive systems due to improper maintenance and bloated software. This can have a negative impact on productivity and hampers the overall experience. Luckily, there are several ways to tackle unresponsive Linux installations. Cleaning up the system is arguably the most useful among them. This list includes some of the best Linux system cleaning tools.

Also read: How to Detect and Clean Up Hard Disk Storage with QDirStat in Linux

1. Stacer

Stacer is an open-source system monitoring and optimizer tool that makes system cleaning simpler for Linux enthusiasts. It is arguably one of the best Linux system cleaning tools to free up disk space. This is also useful for maintaining older Linux installations.

You can use Stacer to eliminate package caches, crash reports, application logs, and caches. However, sometimes deleting the app caches may slow down your apps. Make sure you’re not cleaning app caches for heavily-used applications such as Linux web browsers.

2. BleachBit

BleachBit is a reliable system cleaner that can save valuable disk space by deleting unnecessary files from your Linux machine. You can use BleachBit for cleaning caches, cookies, history, and temporary files, among many others. Plus, it can also clean application data for many popular Linux software, like Firefox, GIMP, KDE, APT, and Vim.

BleachBit’s ability to hide previously-deleted files makes it a suitable tool for security-focused users. You can also use it for deleting unwanted language files and wiping the swap memory. The whitelisting feature of BleachBit also makes it easy to safeguard essential system data.

3. Sweeper

Sweeper is a simple, yet feature-rich system cleaning tool for Linux. It is designed for cleaning traces of system usage on Linux. If you’re using a shared computer for personal or professional reasons, you can hide your activities via Sweeper.

Additionally, Sweeper makes it easy to regain disk space by deleting unnecessary files. In general, it can delete clipboard contents, web and shell history, caches, thumbnails, completion entries, and many more. Hence, it’ll be an excellent option for people who need a reliable system cleaner.

4. GCleaner

GCleaner is one of the most lightweight system cleaning tools for Linux. It offers an intuitive graphical interface, which makes deleting unnecessary files a breeze. Moreover, this project’s open-source nature allows users to inspect the source code and make necessary customizations.

You can use GCleaner to delete temp files, Internet cookies, caches, history, and so on. All in all, it’s an excellent CCleaner alternative for Linux users.

5. Ubuntu Cleaner

Ubuntu Cleaner is a free and open-source system cleaning software that runs on all major Linux distributions. The simple user interface of this cleaning utility makes it very easy to use for beginners. It allows users to free up disk space occupied by orphaned packages and libraries.

You can also use Ubuntu Cleaner to delete the browser cache, APT cache, thumbnails, obsolete packages, installers, kernels, and many more. It is readily available via PPAs, so you can try it without building from the source.

6. FSlint

FSlint is one of the best Linux system cleaning tools for clearing old lint from your filesystem. You can use it for locating and removing problematic cruft in your files or file names. One key feature of FSlint is its ability to find duplicate files in Linux systems.

Moreover, FSlint offers both console-based and GUI interfaces. You can easily use it for cleaning desktops as well as headless servers. You can install FSlint via your package manager or by compiling from the source.

7. Synaptic Package Manager

Synaptic Package Manager is a GUI frontend for APT(Advanced Package Tool). You can use it for cleaning old packages, caches, unused libraries, etc. Since this is a frontend for APT, you can perform most system maintenance jobs using this tool. Overall, this is an excellent package cleaning tool for starting Linux users.

Wrapping Up

You can choose from several Linux system cleaning tools for eliminating unnecessary data. Tools like Stacer and BleachBit can tackle a wide range of cleaning tasks, whereas utilities like FSlint are useful for handling specific problems. If you are using Ubuntu, learn how you can keep a clean lean Ubuntu machine.