Is it necessary to run BleachBit by gksudo bleachbit ?
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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
andrew
Thu, 02/05/2026 - 20:06
Permalink
In the From the BleachBit
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On the topic of versions, your version is outdated by 5.0.0 and 5.0.2.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.
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Andrew, lead developer
Ordipb
Fri, 02/06/2026 - 00:36
Permalink
Thank you, Andrew, for your
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.
Ordipb
Sat, 02/07/2026 - 12:07
Permalink
Hello.
Hello.
I report after installing and using BleachBit 5.0.2.
About the necessity to run BleachBit 2 times :
As said Andrew, to known if it is necessary to run BleachBin 2 times, we have to do this :
Running with the BleachBit Administrator icon, click on the 3 short lines to choose System information (just above Help), and look at the value you have for os.path.expanduser ('_') ; if is root, you may run BleachBit 2 times, first with Administrator icon, later with the other icon (without Administrator). Wtih BleachBit 5.0.2 andUbuntu 22.04.01 LTS, it is the case.
About installation (at least with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS):
After downloading, don't click on the downloaded file ; do a right click on it and choose Open with another application, and click on the green button Select. Then, we obtain classic installation window where you click on Install. You obtain the 2 BlechBit icons (one with Adminstrator, the other without).
Using BleachBit.
Run first the icon with Adminstrator, and after, with the other icon.
Very interesting function : when you do a right click on an item (for instance, down System, the Cache item), you see the winning you would obtain (bytes and number of files) and this, before running erasing. It is a good information to choose. Ubuntu recommends to not select, in System, the Disk space and Memory items.
The erasing is fast.
Thank you to Andrew.
Kindly.
Hello.