Looking for best CCleaner Alternatives? Then this article is for you. CCleaner has been 1 of the most trusted PC utility programs possible over the past decade, and not without reason. The software is pretty light on resources yet powerful enough to keep your PC in good health over a long time. It appears with the usual set of tools you’d expect from a PC Utility Software but is generally believed to be 1 of the safest and most efficient utility software available in the market today. What’s more, the program was completely free for home use until recently, and although it now has a paid version with some extra bells and whistles, most of the important traits are still available in the free version, which is 1 of the reasons it continues to remain a favorite even today.
Recently, nevertheless, Piriform Software Limited, the London-based software firm that owns and develops CCleaner, was acquired by Avast Software, a Czech software firm best known for its highly popular eponymous antivirus program. The acquisition has left several people on social media and online message boards questioning the future of their favorite PC maintenance utility after the takeover.
[lwptoc]
Best CCleaner Alternatives for Windows, Mac and Linux
Therefore for those who are waiting anxiously to see what comes of Avast’s acquisition of Piriform, we have made a list of the 8 best CCleaner alternatives you can use:
Glary Utilities
The first on our list of CCleaner Alternatives is Glary Utilities. Glary Utilities is 1 of the more well-known names in the world of PC tuneup and comes with a bunch of system utilities that allow users to tweak, repair, optimize and improve the performance of their PC. It comes with multiple built-in utilities, like a disk cleaner, an uninstall manager, a registry optimizer, a memory optimizer, a file shredder, a duplicate file finder, a history eraser, etc.
Like CCleaner, Glary Utilities is lightweight, intuitive, and works as advertised, for the most part, helping users remove unnecessary files from the system and recover space on your hard drive. Glary Utilities also has a feature that enables users to scan the computer for available software updates, so if you are too busy to check every single program for updates on a regular basis, this little utility is likely to benefit you out with that. Interestingly, the program further has a ‘Browser Assistant’ feature that enables users to control their Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer web-browsers all at once from within the program, making the whole process hassle-free.
CleanMyMac 3
As its name implies, CleanMyMac is a Mac-only utility, although its developer, MacPaw, also makes a similar program for Windows PCs called CleanMyPC. While that 1 is still an unproven entity, for the most part, CleanMyMac has been around a little while longer and, alongside CCleaner, is 1 of the most recommended utility software for Macs. Like CCleaner, this one also comes with plenty of bundled utilities, like a software uninstaller, file shredder, iTunes and iPhoto junk cleaner, and other tools, like a Smart Cleanup choice that automates the process of maintaining your PC by using default settings to clean up your beloved Mac. The program can further give you detailed info about the hardware on your Mac, and a hard drive health check, available RAM, and the remaining battery. There’s also a scheduler that enables users to specify when they’d want to run the next scan.
Currently, in its 3rd-generation, the software has added a boatload of features and utilities without making it too much of a drag on the resources. The user interface is now less cluttered than it was in version 2 and each function now also comes with a brief explanation about what it proposes to do. However, the 1 thing to note here is that you won’t be able to try out all the features before you buy it. That’s because the trial variant of CleanMyMac 3 scans your Mac completely but only removes a maximum of 500 MB of junk. Also, the trial only enables you to use 3 of the maintenance utilities.
PrivaZer
The next on our list of CCleaner Alternatives is Privazer. Privazer is 1 of the best, most powerful, and customizable utilities for those who are looking to protect their privacy. It shares a few attributes with CCleaner, insofar as it is simple to use and encourages you to erase temporary files that build up in your PC over time and can prove to be a huge drag on performance, as well as a threat for your privacy if not cleaned up in time. The program enables you to perform on-demand scans and securely cleans the system, wiping out all history from your browsers, photo editors & other programs that may compromise your privacy. PrivaZer may predominantly be a privacy oriented app, but it also enables users to clean out useless files left by previous versions of Windows, system updates, and installers.
The UI is simple and intuitive enough, but, unlike CCleaner, the program does require a little bit of knowhow to set up, mostly because it offers so many different options about what to scan and what not to. Nevertheless, it also includes a ‘Default’ mode that should be good enough for most people.
1 interesting thing is that the program doesn’t have a disk cleanup utility of its own, so it uses the native disk cleanup choice built within Windows to get the job done, making it a notoriously time-consuming exercise, so it is apparently for the best if you utilized some other system service for at least the Disk Clean trait. Like BleachBit, PrivaZer is also donationware; however, you can also download a ‘Donors Version,’ which comes with much the same functions but will get you the warm, fuzzy feeling of doing the right thing and helping in the further development of great software.
AVG TuneUp
AVG TuneUp was 1 of the most bloated and reviled PC utility programs available but has changed quite a bit since being taken over by AVG, 1 of the best-known and well-respected antivirus makers in the world. While CCleaner has a greatly minimalist interface, AVG TuneUp seems more polished, although most of what it offers are along expected lines for a program in its class. The software enables you to remove web-surfing history, temporary files, and other unnecessary elements in just one click. However, you can also have more granular control on what to erase and what not to. AVG TuneUp Is the Best Alternatives to CCleaner.
The program also comes with utilities that allow you to optimize system startup, defragment the hard drive, cleanly broken keys in the Windows Registry, check your hard drive for errors, modify hidden settings, customize Windows appearance, restore accidentally deleted files, and more. There is a file shredder, a startup optimizer as well as a defragmenter that comes bundled with this program. There’s likewise an Economy Mode that promises to extend your laptop battery, but I could not check that out on my office desktop. Overall, the program seems fairly promising, but it’s a late entrant in a segment that has a lot of competitors; therefore, it will be interesting to see how successful it is, going forward.
BleachBit
The next on our list of CCleaner Alternatives is BleachBit. BleachBit is a free of cost, open source computer maintenance software that’s available on all 3 major platforms – Windows, Linux, and Mac. Like CCleaner, it’s a lightweight, but powerful application that bundles a disk space cleaner and privacy manager that can recognize and delete temporary and cached files in web-browsers, mail clients, and other software, like Java, Google Earth, Adobe Reader, Skype, Flash, MS Office, Libre Office, and various other apps. The program appears with a clean and minimalist interface and enables users to check and approve files in each category before deleting them so as to limit any accidental deletions.
BleachBit can also do a deep scan of the system, but it’s somewhat slower and took about a minute on my admittedly clogged-up office PC with a 500GB hard drive. Nevertheless, it can clean up unnecessary cached files for Windows Explorer, like recently used items, thumbnails, and explorer/start menu search history. You can further shred files, folders and wipe free space for even more privacy. As is the case with the largest FOSS software hosted on Github, BleachBit is a donationware, therefore do consider rewarding the developers for their hard work if you like the program.
jv16 Power Tools
The next on our list of CCleaner Alternatives is jv16 PowerTools. jv16 PowerTools is a PC utility that appears with a lot of advanced options to clean your computer and get rid of all the junk files, folders, registry entries, and leftovers from previous uninstallations. The UI is not as attractive and colorful as some of the other utilities on this list, but the program is usually aimed at slightly more experienced users who are unlikely to be put off by the relatively bland interface. While there’s a ‘Simplified UI’ for beginner users, there’s also an ‘Advanced UI’ option that enables you to tweak and fine-tune settings that you won’t find in too many other software.
It is a full fledged optimization suite, and like CCleaner, it gives you multiple options, like Registry Cleaner, File Tools, System Tools, Privacy Tools, and a startup manager, while other utilities include a software uninstaller, an anti-spyware scanner, a startup timer, and even a website black-lister, none of which are possible with the Piriform app. Overall, jv16 PowerTools is surely more customizable than not only CCleaner but several others on this particular list as well, although it can be a little sluggish at times.
Windows Disk Cleanup
A lot of people do not always realize that Windows already has a built-in disk cleaner. It is fairly straightforward to operate, in so far as you can pick only one drive to scan at a time, and once done, the utility will give you a list of objects that it thinks can be deleted. You can then choose the ones you want to get rid of and keep the ones you consider might be important for you. While the original Windows disk cleaner does get the work done, for the most part, it takes up way too much time and, from what I have noticed on multiple PCs, even starts to hang unless you have got a lot of free space on your hard drive. Windows Disk Cleanup Is the Best Alternatives to CCleaner.
Windows Disk Cleanup may not be a smart way of getting rid of unwanted files, nor will it give you all the bells and whistles that are offered by even free 3rd-party utilities, but if you don’t want to install any more programs on your overloaded computer, or are confused by all the convenient options in the market, the native cleaning utility within Windows is definitely worth giving a go.
Iobit Advanced SystemCare
The last on our list of CCleaner Alternatives is Iobit’s Advanced SystemCare. Iobit’s Advanced SystemCare is 1 of the most popular and efficient PC utility programs available today. It comes with several more utilities than CCleaner, most of which are obtainable in the free version. Iobit also gives a paid version of the program that comes with many more bells and whistles. Alongside CCleaner, this is 1 of the programs I use on my Windows PCs, so I can vouch that most of the functions in the program’s toolbox works. However, I’ve no idea about the efficacy of its malware scanning feature because I can not remember getting infected with malware in a very long time. 1 thing I can tell you is that, unlike many AV programs, it doesn’t give you any false positives, so that’s a definite plus.
The utility provides you the option to defrag your hard disk, manage your drivers, shred files, scan disk for bad sectors, clean and defrag the Windows registry, change OS settings, and plug security and privacy loopholes. Then there’s likewise the Performance Monitor widget that goes above and beyond what you get from perfmon.exe and in a more user-friendly interface. It shows you the RAM, CPU and hard disk usage, and network traffic in a tiny little window on the top right, but you can get rid of that from the settings. You can further free up your RAM by killing off unnecessary, resource-hogging background processes. Rescue Center enables you to create and delete system restore points, while Turbo Boost supports speed up Windows by disabling unnecessary processes and services.
Also, Check :
The Best CCleaner Alternatives You Could Use
While most of the problems fixed by PC maintenance utilities can be taken care of manually, it requires an excellent deal of patience and knowhow to do so without messing something up, which is why PC maintenance suites come in. They make it simpler for you to detect some of the more glaring issues with your PC that may be degrading the performance of your beloved machine.
So that was our listing of the best CCleaner Alternatives you can use on your PC. Do you use any 1 of them, or do you use any other PC maintenance software obtainable on the market? Whatever be the case, feel free to leave your opinions in the comments section below because we enjoy hearing from you.