CCleaner 7.11.1509 for Windows

CCleaner 7.11.1509 is Piriform's suite of utilities for cleaning the disk and the Windows environment. It removes temporary files and traces left by browsers and programs, and you can download it from the official CCleaner website; the first version appeared in 2006.

Specifications

What CCleaner does

Over time Windows collects files nobody needs: browser caches, temporary installation files, logs and leftovers from programs you removed. CCleaner scans for these, shows how much space they take and deletes them after you confirm. It is classed as utility software with a focus on data erasure, which also makes it useful before you hand a computer to someone else. The benefit is real but modest: freeing disk space helps when a drive is nearly full, while on a healthy system with plenty of room the speed difference is small. The most useful habit is to review what it wants to remove instead of accepting every default, because clearing browser data also signs you out of websites.

Installation

1. Download the installer from the official download page.
2. Run it and read each screen carefully; decline any bundled offers you do not want.
3. Start with an analysis to see what would be removed.
4. Untick items you want to keep, such as saved browser sessions, then clean.

Release notes for each version are on the version history page.

Using it safely

Close browsers before cleaning so their files are not locked. Be cautious with registry cleaning in any tool: the gain is tiny and a wrong deletion can break a program, so back up first if you use it. Create a restore point before large clean-ups. Download CCleaner only from its official site, because cleaning tools are frequently imitated by fake optimisers full of adware.

How often to clean

There is no need to run a cleaner every day. Once a month, or when Windows warns that a drive is almost full, is enough for most people. Temporary files come back quickly, and browsers rebuild their caches the next time you visit a site, so constant cleaning mostly makes pages load more slowly for a while. If disk space is the real problem, uninstalling programs you no longer use and moving large videos or photos to an external drive usually frees far more room than any cleaning pass.

Free and paid editions

The free edition covers basic cleaning. Paid editions add more features; compare them on the official site before buying.

Pros and cons

• Pro: clear overview of what can be deleted.
• Pro: long-established tool.
• Pro: free edition available.
• Con: frequent prompts to upgrade.
• Con: aggressive cleaning signs you out of sites.

Alternatives

Our listings include Advanced SystemCare Free for system maintenance and Mem Reduct for freeing memory. Windows also has its own Disk Cleanup and Storage Sense tools.