Cleaning Tools & Junk File Removal
Scan supported cleanup targets, review paths and exclusions, and understand cache resets, native maintenance, privacy traces, and cleanup receipts.
Kudu’s System Cleaner brings several cleanup categories into one review workflow. The available targets depend on the operating system, installed apps, permissions, and current cleaner rules. A scan is an estimate of candidates, not a guarantee of space recovered or better performance.
Scan, Review, Clean
- Save work and close the affected apps. Let installers and updates finish.
- Open Clean up > System Cleaner and select Scan.
- Review the relevant categories and expand groups to inspect the paths.
- Set exclusions for anything you need to preserve. Keep Skip recent files configured in Settings; it does not replace reviewing the selection.
- Check the full selected total before Clean. Search and category filters change what is visible, not which other items remain selected.
- Read the completed-cleanup summary and Activity > Cleanup receipts. Investigate skipped or failed items instead of forcing their deletion.
The Recycle Bin/Trash contains personal files. Review it explicitly before emptying it. Administrator permission can expose more system targets; it is not a reason to clean every one of them.
What Each Category Does
| Category | Scope and limits |
|---|---|
| System | Supported temporary files, logs, error reports, dumps, and OS cache targets. Preserve diagnostics while investigating faults and rollback data while it is still needed. |
| Browsers | Cache and related reusable resources from supported browser/profile locations. Ordinary browser cleanup preserves cookies, history, bookmarks, passwords, and sessions. |
| Applications | Specific cache, log, and temporary targets for supported apps. It does not treat entire profiles, project folders, or app data directories as junk. |
| Gaming | Supported launcher caches and GPU/game cache targets. Preserve installations, saves, mods, and configuration. Performance caches need a separate reset decision. |
| Databases | Compacts supported SQLite databases using VACUUM rather than deleting their rows. Close the owning app; locked or busy databases can be skipped. |
| Recycle Bin / Trash | Removes discarded files permanently. Review contents and backups first. |
| Shortcuts | Reviews supported broken shortcuts. Confirm the target is genuinely unwanted or missing. |
| Environment | Reviews supported environment/path cleanup candidates. Check tools and workflows that depend on a path before removing it. |
| Privacy Traces | Separate opt-in activity records, such as supported recent-file and shell-history traces. These groups are not included by a normal cache-cleanup selection. |
The AI Tools view groups applicable app targets; it is not permission to delete models, conversations, repositories, or other user data. See the cleaner catalog and source rules for current coverage.
Optional Performance-Cache Resets
Some caches exist to improve later launches. Supported Prefetch and compiled-shader targets appear as optional resets and are unselected by default. Reset them only for a specific troubleshooting task and expect a slower next launch or shader recompilation.
CLI cleanup excludes these resets unless --include-cache-resets is supplied. Cloud cleanup excludes them. Repeatedly resetting healthy caches is not a routine speed improvement.
Optional Native Maintenance
Some targets use the OS or app’s own maintenance operation rather than ordinary file deletion. Review these separately; their savings are not estimated from the entire displayed directory.
- Windows Component Cleanup: native servicing removes superseded components immediately. It does not use ResetBase. Never manually delete WinSxS.
- Delivery Optimization: Windows-managed cache cleanup preserves pinned content.
- Linux journals: native cleanup targets archived persistent journals, using age and size limits. A size limit can remove archives newer than the age limit; active journals are preserved without forced rotation.
- Docker build cache: where offered, pruning is limited to the active local engine’s eligible build cache. It is not a container, volume, image, remote-engine, or custom-builder cleanup.
These actions are optional. CLI cleanup requires --include-maintenance to include them. Read the displayed action and its impact before selecting it.
Sensitive Targets Need a Deliberate Decision
- Windows Installer: a specific Installer Patch Cache target is not permission to remove all of
C:\Windows\Installer. Preserve the installer cache and rollback options needed by the job. - Windows.old: removing a previous installation removes an OS rollback route. Keep it until that decision is intentional.
- Logs and dumps: preserve evidence for unresolved crashes and support cases.
- Downloads and duplicates: use the separate review tools and make decisions about personal files yourself.
- Uninstall leftovers and drivers: use their dedicated tools, review ownership and shared components, and avoid bulk removal as ordinary maintenance.
Receipts and Recovery
Cleanup receipts record selected, removed, skipped, and failed items. They are not backups of deleted files. Recovery Centre restores supported settings and records; it does not restore arbitrary deleted documents or caches. A Windows restore point is also not a backup of every selected file.
After cleaning, compare actual free space and test the original symptom. An app can rebuild cache immediately, and a storage cleanup may not resolve a slowdown or crash.
For Technicians and Automation
Use the repair-shop & IT toolkit for a service checklist, customer handoff template, and scan-only CLI examples. Review the CLI reference before adding deletion flags to a script. JSON output and detailed receipts may contain private paths: retain them with the job record and redact before sharing.