I have CCleaner installed on a Windows 11 Pro machine and on a Windows 10 Pro machine. With the same settings on both, the Recycle Bin gets emptied on the Win 10 machine when I run a Custom Clean. On the Win 11 machine, the Recycle Bin stays full. (Despite the option being checked, CCleaner's report after completing a clean doesn't say it emptied the Recycle Bin.)
I've already tried erasing the $RECYCLE.BIN directory on all hard drives. That didn't change CCleaner's behavior. Custom Cleans still run without emptying the Recycle Bin. I've also tried de-selecting the Empty Recycle Bin option, running a Custom Clean, exiting CCleaner, re-launching CCleaner, re-selecting the Empty Recycle Bin option, and re-running a Custom Clean. No change.
With some files in the bin:
In Custom Clean, right-click on Empty Recycle Bin and from the context menu that pops-up do an Analyze.
Does it find the files in the bin?
Do the same and this time from the context menu do a Clean.
Does it remove the files from the bin?
Just another thought, and it's only a guess. are you using OneDrive on the Win 11machine, and if so is it Synced?
It’s possible that you may have deleted the binned files from your computer but they are still present in your OneDrive Recycle bin.
TBH though I don't use OneDrive so I'm not at all sure how the syncing works, particularly with the bins.
However with browser syncing the history, cookies, cache, etc. that you clean from your machine will get put straight back from the cloud by a synced browser, and if your OneDrive is synced then it may be doing similar with your binned files.
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With some files in the bin:
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In Custom Clean, right-click on Empty Recycle Bin and from the context menu that pops-up do an Analyze.
Does it find the files in the bin?
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No, it does not. It says "0 bytes to be removed." (There are currently 2 files in my Recycle Bin totaling 11,566 KB.)
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Do the same and this time from the context menu do a Clean.
Does it remove the files from the bin?
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No, it does not.
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Just another thought, and it's only a guess. are you using OneDrive on the Win 11machine?
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No, I am not. I uninstalled OneDrive a long time ago.
Strange, so Custom Clean isn't seeing the files in the bin at all.
Have you tried running a Health Check to see it that can clear the bin for you?
The next thing I'd try is a reinstall of CCleaner, just in case your previous install/update had glitched.
Download an installer from here and double click the downloaded ccsetup625.exe to reinstall: https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/builds
Don't uninstall the old one first and the new one will pick up your current settings, and licence key if you have Pro.
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Have you tried running a Health Check to see it that can clear the bin for you?
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Yes. Health Check reports that my Recycle Bin is empty, even though it now has 6 items in it.
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The next thing I'd try is a reinstall of CCleaner, just in case your previous install/update had glitched.
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Done. No difference.
Thanks for trying. I guess it's some kind of bug.
I don't currently have a Win11 machine here to take a look myself, @hazelnut is the recyclebin cleaning working on Win11 for you?
Working perfectly here nukecad.
Are there any other users on that machine?
Have you done a System File Check ?
Note I turn off my internet before cleaning.
Thanks for checking,
Seth999 won't be back for a few hours. (gone to bed, it's the middle of the night in the USA).
I woke up from almost being asleep when the solution popped into my head.
I'm a dolt. I had turned on the "Only delete files in Recycle Bin older than 24 hours" option under Advanced Options. I cleared that option, and of course now everything works as expected. (Actually, it was always working as expected. I just wasn't expecting properly.)
Total user error here.?♂️
Thank you for your help. Please forgive me! I hang my head in shame.
Ahh, that simple an explanation. but don't kick yourself too much.
We do all tend to forget that those 'older that 24hr' setting are there, I hadn't considered it myself either.