Question about CCleaner & Chrome

[Willy2]

- See the 2 pictures attached.

-The 1st picture shows a bunch of Chrome related files that CC has found and can be removed (safely).

- The 2nd picture shows a list from Defraggler. These files are related to Chrome as well. The files - as shown by DF - are in the sub-folder called "...... \Code cache\..... ". Based on the word "code cache" I draw the conclusion that these files are temporary files as well and can be removed by CC as well. But these files (in ".... \code cache\.... " don't show up in CC. Does anyone know if can safely remove those files (in ".....\code cache\.... ") as well ? Perhaps this subfolder can be added to the standard CC cleaning of Chrome files as well ?

- The same situation happens in MS Edge because Edge is a Chrome based browser.

[nukecad]

Those are cached JavaScript files that get put there as you are browsing webpages, so that the cached js can be used to open the page slightly more quickly if/when you go back to it.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/these-hidden-cache-files-are-bloating-your-google-chrome/

It should be safe make that Chrome 'Code Cache\js\' an Include in CCleaner to regularly clear it out.
And an include for he same in Edge Chromium as well which I assume is a different path?

Whether they should be added to CCleaner as standard is a question for the development team.

(PS. I wouldn't be at all surprised if these caches are already cleared if you use the winapp2.ini).

[Willy2]

- Thanks !!!

- I use the default Winapp2.ini file and it seems these folders are not included in Winapp2.ini.

- I did "some digging" and I found over 7.500 files in that folder (Chrome) and over 4.800 in a similar folder in MS Edge. The dates (modified) of those files went all the way back to 2019. That would assume that CC didn't clean those files or that I didn't select the right option(s) in CC.

- The path in Chrome is:

C:\Users\<user-name>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Code Cache\Js

But in Edge the path is:

C:\Users\<user-name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\Code Cache\Js,

and

C:\Users\<user-name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge Beta\User Data\Default\Code Cache\Js

I assume the last line ("Edge Beta") originates from the days that Edge was stil "Beta". It seems that MS didn't bother to remove that left over from the past.

I am certainly going to add these lines to CC.

(@Developers, are you reading this ???)

To be continued ..........

[APMichael]

18 minutes ago, Willy2 said:

...
- I use the default Winapp2.ini file and it seems these folders are not included in Winapp2.ini.
...

This folder has been cleaned by Winapp2.ini for a very long time:

[Code Cache *] ...
FileKey11=%LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome*\User Data\*\Code Cache|*.*|RECURSE

[Edge Code Cache *] ...
FileKey1=%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Edge*\User Data\*\Code Cache|*.*|RECURSE

[Willy2]

- This is what I found in Winapp2.ini:

FileKey11=%LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome*\User Data\*\Code Cache|*.*|RECURSE

There are so many Asterisks (*) in this line that I wonder that it will / would work ....................

[APMichael]

2 minutes ago, Willy2 said:

... There are so many Asterisks (*) in this line that I wonder that it will / would work ....................

There is nothing to be surprised about, wildcards have always been functional.

The mentioned Winapp2.ini entries also work without errors.

[Willy2]

- I added those 3 lines (see a previous post, above) to "Include".

- I did the following:

      A) Selected "Edge blob" (under "Edge Chromium")

      B) Selected "Google blob" (under "Google Chrome".)

      C) Un-selected "Custom files and folders".

- Now CC doesn't show how much disk space it would free up as a result of these 3 choices.

- But when I choose to reverse all 3 selections (A, B, C, see above) then CC will show the total amount of disk space that will be freed up (~ 400 MB).  Seems CC doesn't count how much space can be freed up when those 2 blob options are selected. Odd.

Edited May 24, 2021 by Willy2

[APMichael]

15 minutes ago, Willy2 said:

...
- I did the following:
      A) Selected "Edge blob" (under "Edge Chromium")
      B) Selected "Google blob" (under "Google Chrome".)
      C) Un-selected "Custom files and folders".
- Now CC doesn't show how much disk space it would free up as a result of these 3 choices.
...

The entries are actually the following:

[Blob Storage *]
[Edge Blob Storage *]

Are you using a current version of Winapp2.ini?

The "Blob Storage" usually only contains an empty subfolder, which is why CCleaner then also shows no disk space.

However, the "Code Cache" is cleaned by the following entries:

[Code Cache *]
[Edge Code Cache *]

[Willy2]

- I made 2 pictures of this:

The 1st picture is with "Custom Files & Folders" but without both "Blobs".

The 2nd picture is without "Custom Files & Folders" but with both "Blobs".

There is another inconsistency. CC reports that in the 1st picture some 7.100 files will be deleted but in a previous post in this thread I reported that I found in all 3 chaches some 11.000 files.

 

[APMichael]

Again, the [Blob Storage *] entry does not clean the "Code Cache" folder! You have to use the entry [Code Cache *].

I have already explained why nothing is displayed for the [Blob Storage *] entry:

14 minutes ago, APMichael said:

The "Blob Storage" usually only contains an empty subfolder, which is why CCleaner then also shows no disk space.

[Willy2]

- I now see where I made a mistake.

[Willy2]

- Selecting "Code Cache" did indeed work. Now CC reports that some 7000 files will be deleted.

[APMichael]

7 minutes ago, Willy2 said:

- I now see where I made a mistake.

Ok, well, mistakes happen.

5 minutes ago, Willy2 said:

- Selecting "Code Cache" did indeed work. Now CC reports that some 7000 files will be deleted.

Great! Glad it works now.

[Willy2]

- To be honest: I only today came across these "Code caches".

- But then there is still a discrepancy. CC reports that ~ 7.000 files are to be removed whereas I counted ~ 11.000 files in those "code caches" folders with Voidtools' "Everything". Odd, very odd.

- I think I will continue to use "Custom Files & Folders" instead of those "Code Caches".

- CC shows another discrepancy: When I select "Code caches" + "Custom Files and Folders" (for the same folders) then "Code caches" shows a different  number of files (+ size) than "Custom Files and Folders".

- But cleaning out those "code caches" will free up some 410 MB on my SSD. Still a very good score.

- Perhaps that "Edge Beta" line (see above) also needs to/must be added to "Winapp2.ini" ???

[hazelnut]

@Willy2

I use Vivaldi and to clean its code cache I just select (within the browser)..Menu... Tools..delete browsing data.... and select cache.

I don't use Chrome myself but it is done in a similar way clearing cached images and files.

 https://www.technipages.com/google-chrome-clear-cache#

[APMichael]

3 hours ago, Willy2 said:

... - I think I will continue to use "Custom Files & Folders" instead of those "Code Caches". ...

The Winapp2.ini entry uses "\Code Cache|*.*|RECURSE". This means that everything from this folder including all subfolders will be deleted. Only a completely emptied folder "Code Cache" remains.

Therefore, the entry [Code Cache *] deletes even more than your "Custom Files & Folders", which only deletes the "js" subfolder.

Only my opinion: I have no idea how and what CCleaner counts. I would not take that so important. I am only interested in the real result after running the cleanup. And whether a folder has been completely emptied, you can easily determine via the Explorer.

3 hours ago, Willy2 said:

... - Perhaps that "Edge Beta" line (see above) also needs to/must be added to "Winapp2.ini" ???

The entry [Edge Code Cache *] also cleans the beta versions, hence the wildcard after Edge ("\Microsoft\Edge*\User Data\").

 

[Willy2]

- Agree. "Edge Beta" is indeed covered by "Edge*".

[Willy2]

- Question:  In "Winapp2.ini" I see multiple times this "....\*\.... ". Does CC translate into "one (1) (sub-)directory" or does CC translate this as "multiple (sub-)folders" ?

- Perhaps the following path can also be cleaned ( without catastrophic consequences) ?

         " C:\Users\<---- user --->\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Service Worker\CacheStorage\ "

[APMichael]

12 hours ago, Willy2 said:

- Question:  In "Winapp2.ini" I see multiple times this "....\*\.... ". Does CC translate into "one (1) (sub-)directory" or does CC translate this as "multiple (sub-)folders" ?

It depends on what follows the wildcard folder:

If another folder name follows, then it can be multiple folders.
"...\*\FolderName|SearchPattern"
Although this could theoretically cause a problem, it has never happened in practice.

If, on the other hand, a search pattern follows, then it is only a single folder.
"...\*|SearchPattern"

However, the wildcard folder cannot be omitted because the "Default" folder is no longer named just "Default" when different browser profiles are used.

12 hours ago, Willy2 said:

- Perhaps the following path can also be cleaned ( without catastrophic consequences) ?
" C:\Users\<---- user --->\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Service Worker\CacheStorage\ "

The "Service Worker" folder is already cleaned by CCleaner itself (by the "Internet Cache" entry).