A comprehensive C# .NET console application that performs extensive Windows system cleanup and privacy trace removal.

• ✅ Windows temporary files (%TEMP%, C:\Windows\Temp)
• ✅ Hibernation file (hiberfil.sys)
• ✅ Page file cleared on shutdown/restart (configured via registry)
• ✅ Thumbnail cache (image previews)
• ✅ Icon cache (IconCache.db)
• ✅ Font cache (FNTCACHE.DAT)
• ✅ Prefetch files (program execution tracking)
• ✅ Windows Defender scan history and cache
• ✅ System Restore Points (⚠️ requires admin, irreversible)
• ✅ Shadow Copies / Previous Versions (⚠️ requires admin, irreversible)

• ✅ Recent documents folder
• ✅ Jump lists (taskbar recent items)
• ✅ Quick Access history
• ✅ Start Menu recent items and recommended section (Windows 11)
• ✅ PowerShell command history (system-wide)
• ✅ Command Prompt Run dialog history
• ✅ SSH command history in .ssh folder (keys preserved)
• ✅ Git Bash history (~/.bash_history, ~/.bash_logout)
• ✅ WSL shell histories (bash, zsh, fish) across all distributions
• ✅ File Explorer typed paths
• ✅ File Explorer address bar history
• ✅ Recent file dialogs (ComDlg32 MRU)
• ✅ GitHub Copilot CLI session state, cache, logs, and telemetry
• ✅ VS Code / VS Code Insiders Copilot cache and workspace storage
• ✅ Windows Copilot+ (AI features) cache, logs, and telemetry
• ✅ Windows AI Platform services and ML model cache
• ✅ Copilot Runtime and DirectML cache
• ✅ Windows Studio Effects, Live Captions, Voice Access cache
• ✅ Windows Recall feature cache (if enabled)
• ✅ Edge Copilot sidebar cache and Bing Chat integration
• ✅ NPU (Neural Processing Unit) related cache
• ✅ Scoop package manager cache (downloaded installers)
• ✅ WinGet logs and diagnostic files

• ✅ PowerShell folder
• ✅ Visual Studio project folders
• ✅ Custom Office Templates folder

Note: Only these specific folders are removed from Documents. All other folders and user data remain completely untouched.

Supported Browsers:

• 🔷 Microsoft Edge (Stable, Dev, Beta, Canary/Insider)
• 🔵 Google Chrome (Stable, Beta, Dev, Canary)
• 🦁 Brave (Stable, Beta, Dev, Nightly)
• 🎭 Opera (Regular, GX, Beta, Developer)
• 🎨 Vivaldi (Stable, Snapshot)
• 🦊 Mozilla Firefox (Stable, Beta, Developer Edition, Nightly)
• 🌐 Internet Explorer (Legacy cache, cookies, temp files)

Clears:

• Cache files (main cache, code cache, GPU cache)
• Service worker cache
• Browsing history
• Download history
• Cookies
• Web data (form history, search history)
• Local storage
• Session storage

• ✅ Clipboard history (Windows 10/11)
• ✅ Timeline/Activity history (cross-device tracking)
• ✅ Windows Search history and index data
• ✅ Cortana data and cache
• ✅ Windows Spotlight lock screen images
• ✅ Windows notification history and database
• ✅ Windows Tips and Help history
• ✅ Windows Sandbox logs, caches, and container traces
• ✅ Windows Firewall logs and pfirewall.log files

• ✅ Node.js/npm cache and node-gyp logs
• ✅ NuGet package cache (v3-cache)
• ✅ Cargo (Rust) registry cache and target folders
• ✅ Go module cache
• ✅ Composer (PHP) cache
• ✅ Python pip/pytest/mypy/tox cache
• ✅ Ruby Gem and Bundler cache
• ✅ Perl CPAN cache
• ✅ Nim nimble cache
• ✅ Java Maven/Gradle/Ivy cache
• ✅ Jupyter notebook checkpoints (.ipynb_checkpoints)
• ✅ kubectl cache
• ✅ Azure CLI logs, commands, and telemetry
• ✅ AWS CLI cache
• ✅ Postman logs and cache
• ✅ DBeaver workspace logs

• ✅ Adobe applications (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Acrobat, Lightroom, Creative Cloud, and 15+ more)
• ✅ JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, Rider, CLion, GoLand, RustRover, PhpStorm, RubyMine, DataGrip, Android Studio, Fleet, AppCode)
• ✅ Visual Studio (cache, temp files, logs)
• ✅ VS Code (cache, logs, crash dumps)
• ✅ GitHub Copilot (CLI, VS Code extension)
• ✅ Claude Desktop / Claude Code (cache, logs, crash dumps)

• ✅ Hyper-V logs and event traces (ETL files)
• ✅ Hyper-V VM logs (not checkpoints)
• ✅ Windows Sandbox container logs
• ✅ Docker logs and diagnostics
• ✅ VirtualBox logs and dumps
• ✅ VMware logs, dumps, and cache

• ✅ NVIDIA shader cache (DXCache, GLCache) and driver logs
• ✅ AMD shader cache (DxCache, VkCache) and driver logs
• ✅ Intel shader cache and driver logs
• ✅ Qualcomm Snapdragon (Adreno GPU) shader cache and logs
• ✅ DirectX Shader Cache (D3DSCache)

• ✅ Network share MRU (mapped drives history)
• ✅ Network location history
• ✅ Remote Desktop connection history (server list)
• ✅ VPN connection logs
• ✅ Cloudflare WARP logs, cache, crash reports, and diagnostics
• ✅ DNS cache (flushed)

Microsoft Apps:

• ✅ Microsoft Teams (cache, blob storage, GPU cache, databases, temp files)
• ✅ OneDrive logs, cache, telemetry, and setup logs (sync files NOT affected)
• ✅ Windows Store cache
• ✅ Microsoft Office all applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access, Publisher, Teams) - logs, temp files, caches
• ✅ Windows Photos app (cache, temp files, logs, history)
• ✅ Windows Media Player (cache, logs, album art, recent playlists)
• ✅ Windows Camera app (cache, temp state, face analysis)
• ✅ Windows Snipping Tool / Screen Sketch (cache, temp state)
• ✅ Windows Terminal (all variants: stable, preview, canary) - tab backups, temp state, cache
• ✅ Windows Backup (logs, event traces)

Communication & Collaboration:

• ✅ 🎵 Spotify (cache, persistent cache, data storage)
• ✅ 💬 Slack (cache, code cache, GPU cache, service worker cache, logs)
• ✅ 📹 Zoom (logs, VDI cache)
• ✅ ✈️ Telegram Desktop (emoji cache, user data cache, logs)
• ✅ 📱 WhatsApp Desktop (cache, temp state)
• ✅ 💬 Discord (cache, GPU cache, logs - auth preserved)
• ✅ 💬 Signal Desktop (cache, logs - auth preserved)

Productivity & Tools:

• ✅ 📝 Notion (cache, code cache, GPU cache, logs)
• ✅ ✅ Todoist (cache, code cache, GPU cache)
• ✅ 📊 Asana (cache, code cache, GPU cache)
• ✅ 🔐 1Password (logs, cache - credentials NOT affected)
• ✅ 🐙 GitHub Desktop (logs, cache, GPU cache, crash reports, service worker)
• ✅ 🖱️ PowerToys (logs, caches, temp files, crash dumps for all modules)
• ✅ 🖱️ Logitech Options/Logi Tune (logs, caches, crash reports, temp files)

Media & Entertainment:

• ✅ 🎮 Steam (logs, HTML cache, dumps, appcache, overlay cache, all install locations)
• ✅ 🎬 VLC Media Player (logs, crash dumps, media library cache, album art cache)
• ✅ 🍎 iTunes (cache, logs, temp files)
• ✅ 🎵 Apple Music (cache, logs)
• ✅ 📺 Apple TV (cache, logs)
• ✅ 📱 Apple Devices (cache, logs)

Other Apps:

• ✅ 🐳 Docker (logs, diagnostics)
• ✅ 🐍 Python pip cache
• ✅ 🦕 Deno cache (gen, deps)
• ✅ 🔒 Proton VPN (logs, diagnostic logs, cache, crash reports, WireGuard logs, temp files, connection history)
• ✅ 💾 CrystalDiskMark (logs, temp files)
• ✅ 🔊 Dolby Access & Dolby Atmos (cache, temp state)
• ✅ 🔧 CMake (logs, cache)
• ✅ 💻 Lenovo Commercial Vantage (logs, cache, temp state)
• ✅ 🎥 Clipchamp (cache, temp state)
• ✅ 🗜️ NanaZip & NanaZip Preview (cache, temp state)
• ✅ 📁 7-Zip (logs, temp files)
• ✅ ⬇️ Aria2 download manager (logs)
• ✅ 👆 Synaptics Fingerprint Reader (logs, cache)
• ✅ 🤖 Ollama (AI model runner - logs and cache)
• ✅ 📹 yt-dlp / youtube-dl (cache and history)
• ✅ 🎬 ffmpeg (temp files and logs)

Smart App Detection:

• ✅ Program Files scanner: Automatically scans all apps in Program Files and Program Files (x86) for logs/caches/temp folders
• ✅ All detected applications: Automatically scans AppData and clears cache/logs/temp/history folders for all installed applications
• ✅ Comprehensive installed app scanner: Detects ALL installed applications from:
  • Windows Registry (Uninstall keys)
  • Microsoft Store apps (WindowsApps)
  • Running Windows Services
  • Scoop package manager
  • WinGet package manager
  • Chocolatey package manager
  • AppData folders
  • Then clears logs, caches, temp files, and crash dumps for ALL detected apps

• ✅ Crash dumps (%LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps, C:\Windows\Minidump)
• ✅ Windows Error Reporting files
• ✅ Windows Event Logs (Application, System, Security - requires admin)
• ✅ Windows telemetry and diagnostic data
• ✅ Live kernel reports
• ✅ Memory dump files (MEMORY.DMP)
• ✅ Windows Installer logs (CBS logs)
• ✅ Windows Panther setup logs
• ✅ Windows Performance Diagnostics (WER)
• ✅ GameDVR/Xbox Game Bar clips metadata
• ✅ Windows Defender scan history (service logs only)
• ✅ Microsoft Edge update cache
• ✅ BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service) database
• ✅ Windows Performance Recorder traces (ETL files - ALL logs)
• ✅ Windows Application Compatibility cache (AmCache)
• ✅ System Resource Usage Monitor (SRUM) backups
• ✅ Windows Notification history database
• ✅ Windows Installer rollback files (ALL patches)
• ✅ WinSxS component store backups
• ✅ SetupAPI device installation logs (ALL logs)
• ✅ DISM logs
• ✅ Windows Terminal tab backups and temp state
• ✅ Windows Insider Program diagnostic logs
• ✅ Windows Compatibility Telemetry (DiagTrack ETL files - ALL logs)
• ✅ DirectX installation logs
• ✅ Windows Activation logs
• ✅ Windows Performance Analyzer traces (ALL logs)
• ✅ Reliability Monitor state data (ALL logs)
• ✅ COM+ event dump files
• ✅ IIS logs (if installed - ALL logs)
• ✅ SQL Server error logs (if installed - ALL logs)
• ✅ RecentFileCache.bcf (file access tracking)
• ✅ Search logs (Windows Search service logs)
• ✅ Print Spooler logs and cache
• ✅ Task Scheduler logs
• ✅ Windows Feedback Hub logs and diagnostic data
• ✅ Windows upgrade folders ($WINDOWS.~BT, $WINDOWS.~WS, Windows.old)

• ✅ Windows Update download cache
• ✅ Delivery Optimization cache (P2P update files, NetworkService profile)
• ✅ Windows.old folder (previous Windows installation)
• ✅ Windows Installer cache (orphaned installers)
• ✅ Windows upgrade installation files (all variants)

• ✅ UserAssist (program usage statistics and launch count)
• ✅ ComDlg32 MRU lists (recent file dialog history)
• ✅ Run dialog MRU
• ✅ Typed paths registry entries
• ✅ Last visited folders
• ✅ Office recent documents registry entries (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access - all versions)
• ✅ WordWheelQuery (Windows Search typed queries)
• ✅ StreamMRU (file streams)
• ✅ Find Computer MRU (network computer searches)
• ✅ Internet Explorer/Edge Typed URLs
• ✅ Notepad recent files
• ✅ Paint recent files
• ✅ IME (Input Method Editor) history for Asian languages
• ✅ Map Network Drive MRU (network path history)
• ✅ Remote Desktop Connection history (server list and MRU)
• ✅ Windows Shell Bags (folder view settings and navigation history)
• ✅ Task Manager column preferences (cache-like data)
• ✅ Windows Update detection history cache
• ✅ File type Open With lists (MRU)
• ✅ Explorer Feature Usage tracking
• ✅ Windows Search Recent Apps
• ✅ Program Compatibility Assistant Store (execution tracking)
• ✅ Terminal Server Client history
• ✅ User File History (UFH/SHC) tracking
• ✅ MUICache in Classes (executable names)
• ✅ AppKey tracking
• ✅ Jump Lists registry entries
• ✅ Timeline/Activity Feed registry data
• ✅ Cortana registry traces
• ✅ Notifications registry data

• ✅ Runs Windows Disk Cleanup non-interactively with 25+ options enabled:
  • Active Setup Temp Folders
  • BranchCache
  • Downloaded Program Files
  • Internet Cache Files
  • Offline Pages Files
  • Old ChkDsk Files
  • Previous Installations
  • Recycle Bin
  • Service Pack Cleanup
  • Setup Log Files
  • System error memory dumps
  • System error minidumps
  • Temporary Files
  • Temporary Setup Files
  • Thumbnail Cache
  • Update Cleanup
  • Upgrade Discarded Files
  • User file versions
  • Windows Defender files
  • Windows Error Reporting files (all types)
  • Windows ESD installation files
  • Windows Upgrade Log Files

• ❌ Windows Credential Manager (saved passwords)
• ❌ Browser saved passwords
• ❌ SSH keys (~/.ssh)
• ❌ Certificate store (personal certificates)
• ❌ BitLocker recovery keys
• ❌ Browser cookies (login sessions preserved)
• ❌ Browser Local Storage / Session Storage (auth tokens preserved)
• ❌ Browser IndexedDB (app data preserved)

• ❌ WiFi network passwords and profiles
• ❌ VPN connection configurations (only logs cleared)

• ❌ Downloads folder
• ❌ Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music
• ❌ Desktop files
• ❌ OneDrive synced files (only logs/cache cleared)
• ❌ Application settings and configurations
• ❌ Installed programs and features
• ❌ Browser bookmarks and extensions

• .NET 10.0 SDK or later (for building)
• Windows 10/11 (ARM64 or x64)
• Administrator privileges (recommended for full functionality)

Build standalone executables for ARM64 and x64:

# ARM64 build
dotnet publish -c Release -r win-arm64 --self-contained

# x64 build  
dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained

This creates highly optimized executables (~2.7-2.8 MB each):

• WindowsCleanup\bin\Release\net10.0\win-arm64\publish\WindowsCleanup.exe
• WindowsCleanup\bin\Release\net10.0\win-x64\publish\WindowsCleanup.exe

Native AOT Benefits:

• ⚡ Instant startup (no JIT compilation)
• 📦 Single standalone .exe (no .NET runtime required)
• 🚀 Optimized for speed with full IL trimming
• 💾 Smaller memory footprint

Test what the tool will delete without actually deleting anything:

WindowsCleanup.exe --dry-run

This creates a timestamped log file (e.g., dry-run-20260131-120000.txt) listing all files and operations that would be performed.

Right-click on WindowsCleanup.exe and select "Run as administrator"

The tool will automatically prompt to elevate to administrator if needed.

.\WindowsCleanup.exe

• --dry-run - Preview mode: logs all operations without executing them

Critical Notices:

• 🔴 System Restore Points will be DELETED - This is irreversible! You won't be able to restore Windows to a previous state.
• 🔴 Shadow Copies will be DELETED - The "Previous Versions" feature will no longer work. You cannot recover old file versions.
• 🟡 Running this tool will delete browsing history, download history, and cached data from all detected browsers
• 🟡 PowerShell and command history will be permanently deleted
• 🟡 Recent file lists will be cleared (you won't see recent documents in File Explorer or Start Menu)
• 🟡 ALL logs, caches, and temp files are deleted regardless of age - no time-based filtering is applied
• 🟡 Page file will be cleared on next shutdown/restart (slightly slower shutdown time)
• 🟡 Some cleanup operations require administrator privileges
• 🟡 Close all browsers, IDEs, and applications before running for best results

🔐 Authentication & Sessions Preserved:

• ✅ Browser login sessions preserved (cookies, Local Storage, Session Storage, IndexedDB)
• ✅ Application credentials and auth tokens preserved
• ✅ SSH keys and certificates preserved
• ✅ License keys and activation data preserved

• ✅ First time users: Run with --dry-run flag to preview what will be deleted
• ✅ Run as administrator for maximum effectiveness
• ✅ Close all applications before running
• ✅ Review the dry-run log file before executing actual cleanup
• ✅ The tool shows progress and statistics for each operation
• ✅ Some operations may be skipped if files are in use
• ✅ Create a System Restore Point BEFORE running if you want to preserve that option

The tool automatically detects installed browsers (all release channels) and clears their data. If a browser is currently running, some cleanup operations may be skipped with a warning message.

Scans multiple sources to detect ALL installed applications:

• Registry (Uninstall keys)
• Microsoft Store apps
• Running Windows Services (extracts app names)
• Package managers (Scoop, WinGet, Chocolatey)
• AppData folders

Then intelligently clears logs, caches, and temp files while preserving authentication data.

The tool has built-in safeguards to NEVER delete:

• Browser cookies
• Local Storage / Session Storage
• IndexedDB databases
• Application credential files
• License keys

This ensures you stay logged in to all your applications after cleanup.

When run as administrator, the tool clears PowerShell history and other traces for all users on the system, not just the current user.

The tool uses try-catch blocks extensively to skip files/folders that are in use or inaccessible, ensuring it won't crash if something can't be deleted.

D:\cleanup\
├── README.md                       # This file
├── LICENSE                         # MIT License
└── WindowsCleanup\
    ├── Program.cs                 # Main application code (~14,600 lines)
    └── WindowsCleanup.csproj      # Project file with AOT config

This tool is designed to clean privacy traces and free up disk space. It does NOT:

• 🚫 Send any data over the network
• 🚫 Modify system files outside of standard cleanup locations
• 🚫 Delete user documents or important files
• 🚫 Require internet access
• 🚫 Install any services or background processes
• 🚫 Collect telemetry or analytics

All operations are performed locally and the tool exits when complete.

The release build uses .NET 10 Native AOT (Ahead-of-Time) compilation for optimal performance:

Optimization Features:

• ✅ Native AOT compilation - compiles to native machine code
• ✅ Single-file deployment - no external dependencies
• ✅ Full IL trimming - removes unused code
• ✅ Optimized for speed - ILC optimization preference set to Speed
• ✅ Instant startup - no JIT compilation overhead
• ✅ Small binary size (~2.6 MB standalone executable)
• ✅ No .NET runtime required on target machine
• ✅ Supports both ARM64 and x64 architectures

Performance Comparison:

• Standard build: ~30ms startup time, requires .NET runtime
• AOT build: <5ms startup time, self-contained

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details.

This is a personal cleanup tool. Feel free to fork and modify for your own needs.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. This tool permanently deletes files including System Restore Points and Shadow Copies. Always run with --dry-run first to review what will be deleted. The authors are not responsible for any data loss.

See Releases for version history and changelog.

Made with 💙 for Windows privacy and performance