Is it necessary to run BleachBit by gksudo bleachbit ?

Submitted by Ordipb on Thu, 02/05/2026 - 09:07
Forums: 
Discussion
Forum tags: 
bleachbit
gksudo
gksu package
full cleaning
cleaning of root files only

Hello.
I red, in https://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/bleachbit , that, for a complete cleaning, it's necessary to run BleachBit with the command line 'gksudo bleachbit' in a Terminal.
If we run bleachBit, the paper says, with its icon (brush only), the files owned by root will not be erased.
And, if we run it with the other Icon (BleachBit (as root)), only the files owned by root will be erased.

Is this true ?.

I shall run BleachBit 4.4.2. I use Ubuntu 22.04.01.

I tried this command line in a Terminal, but I got an error : gksudo does not exist. And I can't install gksu package.

Thank you in advance for your answers.

Kindly.

BleachBit version: 
4.4.2
Your operating system: 
Ubuntu 22.04.01

andrew

Thu, 02/05/2026 - 20:06

In the From the BleachBit FAQ, please see Q: On Linux do I need to run BleachBit both as a normal user and as an administrator?. Because you do not have gksudo, you may choose to install it or one of the alternatives mentioned in the FAQ. If you do want to clean system-owned files, then do not worry about gksudo (or equivalent). There is a plan for a future version of BleachBit to better handle cleaning all files without utilities like gksudo, but this requires major changes "under the hood."

On the topic of versions, your version is outdated by 5.0.0 and 5.0.2. I recommend 5.0.2 for most users, which is the latest stable. See Install on Linux that explains how Ubuntu 22.04 will never include an updated BleachBit: it's frozen on 4.4.2.

---
Andrew, lead developer

Ordipb

Fri, 02/06/2026 - 00:36

Thank you, Andrew, for your answer.
I shall remove the 4.4.2 version and iinstall the new 5.0.2.
After, I shall test and report about.
Have a good day.

Hello.