Knuspii/CrunchyCleaner

💾🧹 A lightweight, software cache cleanup tool for Windows & Linux

Summary

CrunchyCleaner is a lightweight cache and temporary-file cleanup tool for Windows and Linux, distributed as a single executable with a terminal user interface. It supports cleanup targets ranging from browser caches and application data to developer tooling such as Go, npm, Gradle, Cargo, Python, and Playwright.

What it is useful for

Engineers can use CrunchyCleaner when development tools, browsers, package managers, or game applications leave behind cache files that consume disk space. Its supported targets include Visual Studio Code, JetBrains IDEs, Go, Pip, NPM, Yarn, Cargo, Electron, NuGet, Gradle, Playwright, Python uv, and Node.js, alongside Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Steam, Discord, Telegram, Spotify, and several types of system cache.

The tool offers both an interactive TUI and command-line automation. This makes it useful for routine workstation maintenance or for selecting all available cleanup targets before reviewing what will be removed. The README says it deletes only cache files and temporary files, but it also includes a dry-run mode, which is the safer starting point when engineers want to inspect the proposed cleanup first.

Flatpak caches are supported, while Snap is not. The README also warns that the tool is used at the user’s own risk, so engineers should understand the selected targets before deleting files.

How engineers can use it

The simplest documented option is to download the latest release and run the binary. Engineers who prefer terminal installation can use one of the repository’s documented commands.

On Linux:

curl -L https://github.com/Knuspii/CrunchyCleaner/releases/latest/download/crunchycleaner -o cc && sudo install -m 755 cc /usr/local/bin/crunchycleaner && rm cc

On Windows, the README provides a PowerShell command that installs crunchycleaner.exe under the Program Files directory and adds that directory to the machine Path.

Go developers can install the latest version with:

go install github.com/knuspii/crunchycleaner/v2@latest

After installation, restart the terminal and confirm the executable is available:

crunchycleaner -v

For actual use, start with the dry-run option to see the cleanup selections without deleting files:

crunchycleaner -d

Use -a to select all targets and begin cleaning immediately. Other documented options include -s to show all hotkeys and -v for version information. The README does not document scheduled execution, configuration files, or custom cleanup paths, so those workflows should not be assumed.