BleachBit 5.1.1 beta

Submitted by andrew on Sun, 03/15/2026 - 16:47

We invite you to test BleachBit 5.1.1 beta, preparing for our biggest release in years. This release stands out for the scale and importance of recent changes. Users can selectively choose cookies to keep using the new cookie manager feature. This released fixes an important bug for Windows Recycle Bin handling, along with adding broader safety improvements and stronger guardrails. Your testing and feedback will help us confirm these changes are solid before the final release.

Since version 5.1.0 beta:

All Platforms

  • d00d5683 - Improve internationalization
    In the applicaiton preferences, change to another language. Verify that placeholders (such as %s) are correctly replaced with their values and that they are in the correct order. Availability of translation depends on the language.
  • a4376b93 - Notify users updating from <5.1.0 that they may need to enable expert mode
    Edit bleachbit.ini. Set the version to 5.0.2 and restart the application. Verify the notification appears at startup.
  • 1dbbfe10 - Improve the contrast of error log text in dark theme
    Start the application without root or administrator privileges. Enable a dark theme. Try to clean a system option (e.g., APT or Windows logs). Verify the error log text is readable. Without clearing it, switch to light theme and verify the text changes instantly.
  • fd4e3fbc - Improve the appearance and layout of the preferences dialog.
    Verify the appearance and functionality of the preferences dialog. Open Cookie Manager via the context menu or through the preferences dialog.
  • 79526ef2 - In the System Information Dialog, add a button to anonymize system information.
    Verify that it anonymizes the user home directory name and username. On Linux, the environment variables LOGNAME and USER are anonymized. The root user is not anonymized.
  • 009ff79c - Improve the speed of chaff generation.
    Generate chaff and verify it works as expected.
  • 460c9149 - Add flexible stop conditions and stop button for chaff. The stop conditions are now: file count, total size, and free space percentages.
    Generate chaff and verify it works as expected.
  • 5d040047 - Show a completion message when chaff generation is finished.
    N/A
  • 6975ba58 - Improve the layout and spacing of the chaff dialog.
    N/A
  • 760158ec - Do not freeze the UI when downloading chaff data.
    Download chaff data and verify the UI does not freeze. If it is already downloaded, delete the .json.bz2 files in the user's configuration directory.
  • 589a890a - Show a spinner while cookies are loading.
    Slow down cookie loading by installing multiple, supported web browsers. Dirty each browser with many cookies. Tip: visit https://browsergym.bleachbit.org/ , scroll to Tracker Tab Workout, enable all websites, and click Open Selected Tabs. Grant permissions to open pop-up windows, and try again. Scroll through each tab, allowing it fully load.
  • bda4ad06 - Fix: empty directories left behind.
    Follow the procedure given here https://github.com/bleachbit/bleachbit/issues/2038
  • 63a5aeaf - Accept text paths pasted from clipboard. To use, press CTRL+V on the main application window.
    In a text editor, list one or more pathnames for files and folders on separate lines. Copy them. In BleachBit, press CTRL+V. To check for regressions in the prior behavior, repeat the procedure by copying from a file manager
  • Fixed (since 5.1.0 beta): Wiping empty space failed when run from application (hamburger) menu (2033).

Windows

  • bfb9a115 - During installation, notify Windows 7 users that this version does not support their operating system.
    Start on Windows 7 and verify the message appears. Start on Windows 11, and verify the message is not there.
  • 43e9c502 - Do not crash when the environment variable SSLKEYLOGFILE is set
    Set the environment variable SSLKEYLOGFILE to any value and run BleachBit. Verify it does not crash.
  • b291a45b - Do not crash when run from a folder with name bin or lib.
    Run BleachBit (portable) from a folder with name bin or lib such as c:\foo\bin\bar\bleachbit.exe. Verify it does not crash.
  • 2f742329 - Improve appearance of the splash screen.
    Set BLEACHBIT_SPLASH_SCREEN_DELAY=10. Start BleachBit and verify the splash screen appears for 10 seconds. Verify it appears as an image with transparent background.
  • 456aa0e4 - Add workaround for blurry and unrecognizable fonts.
    On Windows, verify the font check dialog appears on first startup. If it does not, delete bleachbit.ini and try again. The dialog should appear only once. If the user indicates text is blurry or unreadable, the application should restart with the fontconfig backend.
  • 04085fd9 - Improve the appearance of the Windows application icon.
    Verify the application icon is displayed correctly in the Windows taskbar and window title bar. Verify the icon is displayed correctly in the Windows File Explorer, Windows Taskbar, ALT+TAB switcher, Windows title bar, Windows Programs list. Verify clarity in both dark and light themes.

Linux/POSIX

  • Fixed (since 5.1.0 beta): broken paths caused the application menu and protected paths system to break.

Developers

  • Improve compatibility with pytest
  • Add hidden --no-delete-confirmation CLI argument
    Create a test file to delete. Run bleachbit --no-delete-confirmation --gui --shred /a/real/test/file and verify it does not ask for confirmation.

For more info, see also commit log, list of closed issues.

Downloads

Downloads are mirrored at download.bleachbit.org and at Sourceforge.

Linux users can download .deb or .rpm packages, while Windows users can download a digitally signed installer or a portable package.

After testing

If something is broken, please file a bug report.

Blog tags: 
release
beta