How to Clean Up /tmp on Linux

Before You Clean

Linux applications can keep live work in temporary directories. /var/tmp may hold data intended to survive reboot. Removing every entry with rm -rf can disrupt applications.

Review and Clean Manually

1. Inspect usage with df -h and the filesystem’s disk usage tools before deleting anything.

2. Save work and finish package operations. Check which application owns a large temporary directory.

3. On a systemd-based distribution, inspect the configured tmpfiles rules and its cleanup timer. The distribution’s age-based policy is preferable to deleting the directory contents wholesale.

4. Follow the owning app’s documented cleanup procedure for an identified stale directory. Do not force-remove live files or sockets.

5. Verify running services and available space. Investigate a recurring leak rather than scheduling blanket deletion.

Where Kudu Helps

Kudu scans configured temporary-file targets and supports recent-file exclusions. Review the paths first; a temporary directory name does not prove its contents are expendable.

Open Clean up > System Cleaner and run Scan. Review the relevant category and expand its results to inspect the paths. Set exclusions for anything you need to keep, then check the full selected total before Clean. Results search filters the view; it does not erase selections elsewhere.

After cleaning, check the summary and Activity > Cleanup receipts for removed, skipped, or failed items. A receipt is an outcome record, not a backup. Recovery Centre restores supported settings, not deleted files. Compare actual disk free space and test the original symptom; cache removal alone is not a promise of better performance.

Download Kudu Free → · Cleaning reference

References

• Official maintenance documentation
• Kudu cleaner rules