How To Clean Up Junk Files In Ubuntu Using Ubuntu Cleaner

One common thing we forget to do in our Ubuntu system is to clean up the junk files regularly. Sooner or later, we realize that our hard disk is running out of space. There are many ways to cleanup the junk files. We can manually delete the unnecessary files, old kernels. However, there are few useful applications available to make this task easy. A while ago, we have covered how to delete old kernels effectively using purge-old-kernels utility. In this brief tutorial, we are going to learn how to clean up junk files in Ubuntu and its derivatives like Linux Mint, Elementary OS and Pop OS etc., using Ubuntu Cleaner.

Clean Up Junk Files In Ubuntu Using Ubuntu Cleaner

Ubuntu Cleaner is the fork of the ‘Computer Janitor’ module of long-defunct Ubuntu Tweak utility. As you might know already, Ubuntu Tweak is discontinued years ago and is no longer in development now. The developer of Ubuntu Cleaner has pulled out the Computer Janitor module from Ubuntu Tweak, refurbished it and released it with new name i.e Ubuntu Cleaner. It is completely free to use and released under GPLv3.

Ubuntu Cleaner will remove the following in Ubuntu and its derivatives:

• App caches
• Browser caches
• Apt cache
• Package config files
• Unneeded packages
• Thumbnail cache
• Old kernels

Ubuntu Cleaner is currently works well with Ubuntu 14.04, 16.04 and 18.04 LTS. To install it, just run the following commands:

$ sudo apt install software-properties-common

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gerardpuig/ppa

$ sudo apt update

$ sudo apt install ubuntu-cleaner

For other Ubuntu versions, you might need to download the latest .deb file from the releases page and install it manually like below.

$ wget https://launchpad.net/~gerardpuig/+archive/ubuntu/ppa/+files/ubuntu-cleaner_1.0.4-1_all.deb

$ sudo apt install ./ubuntu-cleaner_1.0.4-1_all.deb

$ rm ubuntu-cleaner_1.0.4-1_all.deb

Once installed, launch it either from Unity Dash or Menu.

Launch Ubuntu cleaner

The default interface of Ubuntu Cleaner will look like below.

Ubuntu Cleaner Interface

Select the files you want to clean up and hit the Clean button on the lower right corner.

Clean Up Junk Files In Ubuntu With Ubuntu Cleaner

Ubuntu Cleaner will start to clean up the files you have selected.

Cleaning Junk Files

Congratulations! Your Ubuntu system is free from junk files.

Ubuntu system is clean

Now, your system became like a freshly installed one.

Not happy with Ubuntu Cleaner?, run the following commands to remove it (I think you won't).

$ sudo apt-get remove ubuntu-cleaner

$ sudo apt-get autoremove

And finally remove the PPA.

$ sudo add-apt-repository -r ppa:gerardpuig/ppa

Is your hard drive running out of space? Just install Ubuntu Cleaner and purge-old-kernels utility and get rid of the junk files and older kernels which are no longer necessary. Both are must-have utilities in your Ubuntu system.

Resources:

• Ubuntu Cleaner homepage
• Ubuntu Cleaner on GitHub