cleanit

A terminal-based cache and log cleaner for Linux. Pure bash, no dependencies, installs in one command.

Features

• 14 cleaning targets — package caches, logs, browser data, Docker, and more
• Dry-run mode — preview exactly what would be deleted before committing
• Scan mode — disk usage dashboard for all targets, no cleaning
• Age filtering — only remove files older than N days
• Exclusions — run --all but skip specific targets
• Quiet mode — silent output for cron/scripting
• Run log — every run is recorded to /var/log/cleanit.log
• Built-in scheduler — install/remove a weekly cron job in one command

Install

tar -xzf cleanit.tar.gz
cd cleanit
sudo bash install.sh

This copies cleanit to /usr/local/bin so it's available system-wide.

Quick start

cleanit --scan                             # see what's taking up space first
cleanit --dry-run --all                    # preview everything, no changes
sudo cleanit --all                         # clean everything
sudo cleanit --logs --journal --varlog     # target only logs
cleanit --pip --npm --yarn                 # dev caches, no root needed
sudo cleanit --all --exclude docker        # everything except docker
sudo cleanit --apt --logs --older-than 14  # only touch files >14 days old

Targets

Flag	What it cleans	Root
--apt	APT package cache + autoremove	yes
--snap	Disabled snap revisions	yes
--flatpak	Unused Flatpak runtimes	no
--pip	pip3 cache	no
--npm	npm cache	no
--yarn	yarn cache	no
--cargo	Cargo registry & git cache	no
--docker	Stopped containers, dangling images, unused volumes	yes
--browser	Chrome, Chromium, Firefox, Brave, Vivaldi, Opera caches	no
--thumbnails	GNOME/KDE thumbnail cache	no
--trash	User trash	no
--journal	systemd journal (keeps last 7 days / 200 MB)	yes
--varlog	Rotated logs in /var/log (.gz, .1, .old)	yes
--logs	Active system logs, app logs (nginx/apache/mysql), user logs	yes
--tmp	Stale files in /tmp not accessed in 3+ days	no

Use --all to run every target at once.

Options

-h, --help            Show help
-v, --version         Show version
-n, --dry-run         Preview only — no files deleted
-V, --verbose         Show each command as it runs
-f, --force           Skip all confirmation prompts
-q, --quiet           Suppress output (errors + final total only)
    --scan            Show disk usage of all targets, no cleaning
    --older-than N    Only remove files older than N days
    --exclude t1,t2   Skip these targets even with --all
    --schedule        Install a weekly cron job (root)
    --unschedule      Remove the weekly cron job (root)
    --last            Print the last run summary from the log

The --logs flag

Cleans logs in three layers:

1. Active system logs — truncates (zeroes, doesn't delete) /var/log/syslog, auth.log, kern.log, daemon.log, etc. Running services keep their file handles open; only the content is cleared.
2. App logs — prompts before clearing logs in /var/log/nginx, /var/log/apache2, /var/log/mysql, /var/log/postgresql if present.
3. User logs — removes *.log files under ~/.cache and ~/.local/share, and clears ~/.local/share/recently-used.xbel.

Pair with --journal and --varlog for a full log wipe:

sudo cleanit --journal --varlog --logs

Scheduling

The built-in scheduler drops a script into /etc/cron.weekly:

sudo cleanit --schedule    # install — runs every week automatically
sudo cleanit --unschedule  # remove

Or add your own crontab entry for more control:

0 3 * * 0 root /usr/local/bin/cleanit --all -f -q >> /var/log/cleanit.log 2>&1

Run log

Every execution appends a timestamped entry to /var/log/cleanit.log:

[2026-05-15 03:00:01] cleanit v1.0.0 run
  apt: 340.00 MB freed
  journal: 1.20 GB → 45.00 MB
  logs: active system + app + user logs cleaned
  total freed: 1.52 GB

View the last run anytime:

cleanit --last

Uninstall

sudo bash uninstall.sh

Compatibility

Requires bash 4.0+. Tested on Ubuntu 22.04+, Debian 12+, and Arch Linux. Works on any systemd-based distro. Non-installed tools (snap, docker, flatpak, etc.) are detected and skipped automatically.