Using CCleaner (Part 1) - System/App Cleaning

CCleaner is one of my favorite tools when I’m doing almost anything on a Windows-based system. Today I will be going through the first tab of CCleaner and explaining what it all does. This is intended to be a multi-part blog series where I explain the different features of CCleaner.

Let me explain what CCleaner is real quick before I jump in. CCleaner is a system optimization tool created by Piriform. It’s one of the few tools out there that doesn’t try to install adware onto your computer or pretend to clean-up your computer. CCleaner offers the ability to clean up temporary / unneeded files on your system, delete old registry entries, assist in uninstalling programs, and allow you to disable programs from running on start-up. It does all of this for the low, low price of FREE.

You can grab CCleaner from Piriform’s website: http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download

CCleaner - Cleaner Tab

In this post, I will be going over the Cleaner portion of CCleaner. I will go over every section and show my standard settings (shown in each image). I will break down what the scarier settings mean, and then you can decide if you want to check them or not.

In general, checking every option will NOT break your computer. But some temporary files make using your computer more convenient, and you might not want to remove those settings.

Internet Explorer

This block of options controls how CCleaner cleans up files left behind from Internet Explorer.

Cookies - Contains information used to keep you signed into websites (if you checked the box saying keep me signed in), uncheck this if you want to keep these
Autocomplete Form History - Contains anything you’ve saved into autofill (names, addresses, usernames, etc), uncheck this if you want to keep these
Saved Passwords - Any passwords you have chosen to save in Internet Explorer, uncheck this if you want to keep these
Recently Typed URLs - Internet addresses that auto-complete when you start typing a website into the address bar, uncheck this if you want to keep these

Additional documentation on this section: http://www.piriform.com/docs/ccleaner/ccleaner-rules/windows-tab/internet-explorer-files

Windows Explorer

This block of settings controls how CCleaner cleans up Windows Explorer temporary files. These items typically include recently opened files and folders. It also includes icon thumbnail files and other autofill information from Windows Explorer.

Recent Documents - The list of recently opened files inside the Start Menu and inside Windows Explorer, uncheck if you want to keep these
Network Passwords - Passwords used to connect to network shares, uncheck if you regularly use network shares that require passwords

Additional documentation on this section: http://www.piriform.com/docs/ccleaner/ccleaner-rules/windows-tab/windows-explorer-files

System

This block of settings controls how CCleaner cleans up Windows System temporary files.

Empty Recycle Bin - This will empty the recycle bin, uncheck if you want to leave items in the recycle bin
Windows Error Reporting - These are files left behind when Windows runs into an error. These typically get automatically uploaded to Windows but may contain helpful diagnostic information, uncheck if you want to keep this information behind
Start Menu Shortcuts - This will delete all recently used programs from the Start Menu, uncheck if you like having the most recent programs listed in the Start Menu
Desktop Shortcuts - Deletes any desktop shortcuts that are no longer valid, uncheck if you want to keep desktop icons even if they are broken shortcuts

Additional documentation on this section: http://www.piriform.com/docs/ccleaner/ccleaner-rules/windows-tab/system-files

Advanced

This block of settings controls the cleaning of more advanced parts of Windows. I typically leave all but one of these unchecked, Old Prefetch Data. If you are curious about what each one of these settings does, check out the CCleaner Documentation for the Advanced section. Most of these options are for power-users and can be left unchecked.

Applications Tab

The Applications tab covers individual applications installed on your system. I typically check everything for all other programs except web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Opera). The web browser settings are relatively identical to Internet Explorer, so use your best judgement with what you are cleaning. For individual programs, you are typically safe clearing temporary files related to the application.

Additional documentation on this section: http://www.piriform.com/docs/ccleaner/ccleaner-rules/applications-tab

That pretty much covers the Cleaner section of CCleaner. If you have any additional questions about anything covered, feel free to leave a question/comment below. Thanks for reading!