Helium
Built on Electron, Helium stores Chromium-style browser data under its profile, including the HTTP disk cache, GPUCache shader and render artifacts, Code Cache V8 bytecode, Service Worker cache storage, and SQLite databases with WAL and SHM sidecar files. These files speed up page loads, embedded app views, and JavaScript startup, but they can also persist stale web assets, invalid GPU state, and fragmented database pages over time. Kudu clears Helium’s temporary web and runtime caches and compacts its SQLite databases, while leaving saved accounts, preferences, and other personal data untouched.
Why clean Helium?
- Stale HTTP cache entries can keep serving old JavaScript, CSS, or images after a site changes, so pages inside Helium load with broken layouts, missing controls, or content that does not match the live version.
- Invalidated V8 Code Cache after a Helium or Electron update can cause an unusually slow first launch, delayed tab rendering, or a brief period where embedded pages feel sluggish until bytecode is rebuilt.
- Old GPUCache data from a previous graphics driver version can conflict with Chromium’s rendering pipeline, leading to black windows, flickering web views, or choppy animations until the shader cache is regenerated.
- Corrupted Service Worker cache storage can trap a web app in an outdated offline state, which shows up as pages refusing to refresh properly, repeated login loops, or features missing even though the site works in another browser.
- A bloated disk cache can grow to hundreds of megabytes or more and cause Helium to spend extra time scanning cache entries, which users notice as slower startup and longer delays before pages become interactive.
- SQLite databases used for cookies, history, and site storage accumulate free pages and fragmentation over time; VACUUM rewrites the database into a compact file without deleting live rows, reducing wasted space and occasional pauses during profile access.
Cache paths Kudu targets
These databases are vacuumed (compacted) — no data is deleted. SQLite VACUUM reclaims wasted space left over from normal usage.
Windows
%LocalAppData%/imput/Helium/User Data |
macOS
~/Library/Application Support/net.imput.helium |
Linux
~/.config/helium |
Common questions about Helium
Download Kudu and reclaim your disk space.
Available on Windows, macOS, and Linux. No account required, no feature gates, no telemetry without consent. All cleaning targets are open source and community-auditable.