Cleaning and Reviewing Results

Select files to remove

In the cleanup step, select individual category rows or use a drive card's checkbox to select its visible categories. A mixed checkbox means only part of the drive's list is selected. Review the selected total before choosing Clean up.

The Recycle Bin has its own confirmation. A Windows shield identifies locations requiring administrator rights; see Administrator rights.

During cleanup

The status line identifies the current operation. Allow the cleanup to finish. If you cancel, files already removed stay removed, and the final step reports the work completed so far.

Some files cannot be removed because they are open or access is denied. If Explorer holds thumbnail or icon caches open, SystemCleaner can offer to close Explorer, retry those files and restart Explorer afterwards. Accept only when you are ready for Explorer windows and the desktop shell to be interrupted.

Read the summary

The final counts report actual deletions and recovered space, rather than repeating the analysis estimate. Files that could not be removed are counted separately. Close the application using them and run another analysis if you want to try again.

Protected files in Windows.old may remain even with administrator rights. A partial cleanup is not evidence that those protected files were deleted.