BleachBit 4.4.2 - CCLeaner Alternative

A free and open-source disk space cleaner, privacy manager, and computer system optimizer For Linux.

It is what CCleaner is for Windows, only a bit better.

BleachBit was first publicly released on 24 December 2008 for Linux systems.

The 0.2.1 release created some controversy, by suggesting Linux needed a registry cleaner.

As of October 15, 2009, BleachBit was more active than 99.972% of projects on SourceForge, and according to the Ubuntu Popularity Contest, BleachBit was more popular than 93.44% of all installed packages.

Notice: Version 4.4.2 is released and available for download !

Features:

• Identifying and removing Web cache, HTTP cookies, URL history, temporary files log files and Flash cookies for Firefox, Opera, Safari, APT, Google Chrome.
• Removing unused localizations (also called locale files) which are translations of software.
• Shredding files and wiping unallocated disk space to minimize data remanence.
• Wiping unallocated disk space to improve data compression ratio for disk image backups.
• Vacuuming Firefox's SQLite database which suffers fragmentation.
• Command line interface for scripting automation and headless operation.

BleachBit's file shredder uses only a single, "secure" pass, because its developers believe that there is a lack of evidence that multiple passes, such as the 35-pass Gutmann method, are more effective. They also assert that multiple passes are significantly slower and may give the user a false sense of security by overshadowing other ways privacy may be compromised.

Version: 4.4.2 contains more features and works with Debian 11 "Bullseye" and LMDE5.

The following are a list of cleaners available in BleachBit 4.4.2 for Linux.

• Adobe Reader
• aMSN
• aMule
• APT
• Audacious
• Bash
• Beagle
• Chromium
• Downloader for X
• Deep scan
• EasyTAG
• ELinks
• emesene
• Epiphany
• Evolution
• Exaile
• Filezilla
• Firefox
• Flash
• gedit
• gFTP
• GIMP
• GL-117
• GNOME
• Google Chrome
• Google Earth
• Google Toolbar
• gPodder
• Gwenview
• HexChat
• Hippo OpenSim Viewer
• Java
• journald
• KDE
• Konqueror
• LibreOffice
• Liferea
• Links 2
• Localizations
• Midnight Commander
• Miro
• Nautilus
• Nexuiz by Alientrap Games
• Octave
• Opera
• Pidgin
• RealPlayer
• Recoll
• Rhythmbox
• Screenlets
• SeaMonkey
• Second Life Viewer
• Skype
• sqlite3
• Thumbnails
• Thunderbird
• Transmission
• Tremulous
• VIM
• VLC media player
• Vuze / Azureus
• Warzone2100
• Waterfox
• WINE
• winetricks
• X11
• Xine
• yum
• Add packages for Debian 10 and Ubuntu 19.04.
• Improved detection that Google Chrome is running.
• Delete VIM swap files.
• Fix wiping FAT32 with more than 4GB free space.
• Whitelist the mount point for Flatpak.
• Whitelist the working directory for the Bluetooth daemon.
• And more....

Some interesting news regarding BleachBit from 2016-2017:

In August 2016, Republican U.S. Congressman Trey Gowdy announced that he had seen notes from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), taken during an investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails, that stated that Clinton's staff had used BleachBit to delete emails from her private server. After the announcement, BleachBit's company website reportedly received increased traffic.

In October 2016, the FBI released edited documents from their Clinton email investigation. In part 3 of this release, on page 24, the FBI reports that Clinton aide Cheryl Mills ordered Platte River Networks employee Paul Combetta to delete the emails and approved the use of BleachBit. When questioned by the House Oversight Committee, Combetta invoked his Fifth Amendment rights and refused to testify.

On Sep 12, 2017, the courts in Maryland ordered a proper investigation into three of Hillary Clinton's attorneys, who were accused of deleting thousands of her emails using BleachBit.

How to install in Debian 11 "Bullseye" and LMDE5, via a terminal window:

First download BleachBit here.

How to install via a terminal window:

cd Downloads

Press Enter.

sudo dpkg -i sudo dpkg -i bleachbit_4.4.2-0_all_debian11.deb

Press Enter.

Where can I find the app?

Bleachbit can be found under the "Administration menu".

► Developers website