Freeware market for disk cleaning tools offers a rich variety of applications to choose from. BleachBit is a simple, yet very capable open-source tool that has a very straightforward layout and easy to understand options.
Installation & Requirements
BleachBit is available in two versions: one requires installation and the other one is portable. Even so, the setup process for the first version is quick and straightforward, users having to face only standard options such as choosing the program shortcuts.
BleachBit is available for Windows and Linux operating systems. We’ll be reviewing the Windows version that runs on all XP, Vista and 7 editions.
Interface
BleachBit’s text-based UI may not be very attractive, but its clean and easy to navigate. The program lists main items it can clean, either system areas or specific applications. Each of these items can have multiple elements. E.g.: for Internet Explorer, BleachBit can clean its cookies, form history, history and temporary files. Of course, users can select only some elements for the cleanup, and a Preview option displays all the files a certain element includes.
You cannot select/deselect files in the preview list but the program’s Preferences offers a customizable whitelist, where you can add any file or folder to be excluded from the cleanup. The Custom tab (also available in BleachBit’s Preferences menu) allows users to select specific files or folders for deletion.
The File menu offers users other interesting options besides cleaning junk files. BleachBit also has options for shredding files or folders and wiping free space. All of these tools can make any kind of data unrecoverable, but they can take a while to complete depending on the size of data to be removed.
Pros
– Simple straightforward installation.
– The program is also available as a portable application.
– Can clean usage data of various system areas and applications.
– The Preview option displays the contents of any listed entry.
– Can shred files or folders to make them unrecoverable.
– Capable of overwriting free disk space to prevent recovery of previously deleted files.
Cons
– Previewed items cannot be selected/deselected before deletion.
Conclusion
BleachBit was designed as a very simple tool to purge your system of files that are no longer necessary. Even so, BleachBit could be more user-friendly if it would improve its currently inflexible Preview mode and lack of description for some of the items that can be deleted.
