If you've done any kind of search for a free PC or computer 'cleaner' then you've likely encountered many that were anything but free.
Sadly, it's become increasingly common to advertise that a registry or other PC cleaner program is free to 'download' even though the all-important 'cleaning' part will cost you.
How these companies get away with that sort of practice is beyond belief.
Fortunately, among the hundreds you'll find in a search, there are several very good, completely free PC cleaner tools available.
- PC tune-up utilities are a great way to get a performance bump for personal computers without upgrading hardware. They can repair issues that lead to instability, and help make a computer more secure by removing traces of personal information.
- PC Manager is a free PC optimization tool that lets you remove unused files from your system which frees up valuable hard disk space. It clears recycle bin, recent documents, temporary files, log files, clipboard, DNS cache, memory dumps etc. It also cleans the traces of your online activities such as your Internet history to maintain privacy.
Where to Get a TRUE Free PC Cleaner
May 28, 2019 CCleaner is a free system optimizer tool that makes your PC faster and more secure and protects your privacy. It is the world’s favorite PC optimization tool that is easy to use. It provides one click cleaning and optimize your PC in seconds. If you've done any kind of search for a free PC or computer 'cleaner' then you've likely encountered many that were anything but free. Sadly, it's become increasingly common to advertise that a registry or other PC cleaner program is free to 'download' even though the all-important 'cleaning' part will cost you.
Completely free PC cleaner tools are available from many companies and developers and we've put together a list of the very best to choose from in our article List of the Best Free Registry Cleaners.
Only freeware cleaner programs are included in this list. There are no shareware, trialware, or other for-pay cleaners.
In other words, we do not have any programs that charge a fee of any kind. You will not have to pay for anything, there are no donations required, the features will not expire after a certain period of time, a product key is not necessary, etc.
Some computer cleaners do include extra features that you have to pay for, like scheduled scans, auto-cleaning, malware scanning, automatic program updates, etc. However, none of the tools from our list above require you to pay in order to use the PC cleaning features.
But I'm Looking for PC Cleaners, Not Registry Cleaners!
Back in the 'old days' there were many programs that billed themselves as registry cleaners and that's pretty much all they did. However, as registry 'cleaning' became less needed (it never was, really), these programs morphed into system cleaners with the ability to do a lot more than remove unnecessary entries from the Windows Registry
So what has happened over time is that our list of registry cleaners has become primarily a list of system cleaners, adding many more features than they had ten years prior.
![Free Pc Optimizer Free Pc Optimizer](https://thewindowsclub-thewindowsclubco.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/toolwiz-care.jpg)
If you want to skip right on to our favorite, check out the 100% freeware CCleaner program that lets you do lots of system cleaning with just a couple clicks of your mouse.
Free Pc Optimizers For Windows 10
CCleaner, in particular, is a full suite that includes lots of features in addition to registry cleaning. It lets you clear your private web browser data like the history and saved passwords, delete temporary program and operating system data, disable programs that startup with Windows, find duplicate files, wipe an entire hard drive, manage browser plugins, see what's filling up all the space on your hard drive, and more.
If you're instead looking for a PC cleaner that checks for viruses and other malware, see our list of the best free spyware removal tools or install a dedicated antivirus program from our Best Free Antivirus Software list to always be on the watch for malware threats.
Important Note About Other Free PC & Registry Cleaner Lists
There are certainly other lists of free PC and computer cleaner programs out there but many of them include cleaner tools that, at some point during their download or use, charge you something.
The scanning may be free but when you get to the cleaning part, you're prompted for a credit card number. Worse yet, sometimes only the 'download' is free but actually using the program is not. It's all semantics — and it's not very ethical.
We are not affiliated with any of the companies in our curated list, nor do we receive any compensation from any of them for promoting their programs. We have tested each of them personally and, at least as of the date in the piece, each one was completely free to download, scan, and clean your system and registry.
Free Pc Optimizer Download
Registry cleaning should only be used to troubleshoot actual issues and should not be part of regular PC maintenance. System cleaning (e.g. removing temporary files, clearing cache, etc.), while useful to free up hard drive space and solve some browser error messages, is also not something you actually need to do on a regular basis to keep your computer working.