Winapp2.ini is a massive, community-driven database of declarative cleaning routines for Microsoft Windows. It provides a comprehensive mapping of individual applications and system components to their transient files (temporary files, caches, logs, and more). With thousands of contributions spanning over a decade and a half, it is likely the most extensive dataset of its kind available on the internet.
Winapp2.ini is compatible with CCleaner, BleachBit, System Ninja, Avira System Speedup, R-Wipe&Clean, and HDCleaner.
Winapp2.ini avoids the risks of overreach common in generic cleaning tools by adopting an exhaustive, declarative approach. Where many tools rely on sweeping file-type patterns applied across entire drives, Winapp2.ini demands explicitly defined target paths and conceptual linkage between those targets and their parent applications. This prioritizes clarity, specificity, and control over generalization, offering users an inspectable system that can be audited and safely customized to suit individual needs.
Winapp2.ini functions as an extension of the applications with which it is compatible, enabling it to update independently of them. This decoupling grants users greater freedom to move between tools and versions without sacrificing functionality.
Flavors are the result of specific sets of modifications applied to each Winapp2.ini update to produce variants which cater more closely to the features supported by particular applications. This is an automated process carried out when Winapp2.ini is built for each update, so these flavors are always up to date with the latest version of Winapp2.ini even if the copy shipped with the application is not. Flavors are intended to function as drop-in replacements to the Winapp2.ini shipped with each of these applications.
Winapp2.ini is provided as-is and without warranty. Understand that its intent is to enable you to delete files, folders, and registry keys off of your system in a way that is programmatic and potentially irreversible. Please exercise caution and take appropriate backups where relevant while using winapp2.ini. It is advised you use winapp2ool to manage your local copy of winapp2.ini, as it can provide bespoke changelogs which should be read carefully to fully understand the scope of changes made between versions.
- Download winapp2ool.exe
- If necessary, open the winapp2ool settings and select your preferred flavor. The default flavor is the CCleaner flavor.
- Follow the installation guide for your cleaner application below.
- Use winapp2ool to keep your copy updated and trimmed for optimal performance.
| Name | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Winapp2ool | A robust tool that allows you to manage Winapp2.ini for your system, including automatic downloading and trimming. This tool has its own ReadMe here. |
| Winapp2.ini | This is the base winapp2.ini file, it has no content removed or changed, and includes rules which may overlap or conflict with CCleaner/BleachBit rules. |
| CCleaner Winapp2.ini | The CCleaner flavor of winapp2.ini, designed to reduce overlap with CCleaner rules and better integrate with its UI. |
| BleachBit Winapp2.ini | The BleachBit flavor of winapp2.ini, designed to remove unsupported rules and pass the sanity checker. |
| System Ninja winapp2.rules | The System Ninja flavor of winapp2.ini, designed to replace unsupported rules with ones compatible with System Ninja. |
| Tron winapp2.ini | The Tron flavor of winapp2.ini, designed to capture the downstream changes made by Tron to the CCleaner flavor. |
| Winapp3.ini | An extension for an extension; contains entries for use by power users. You should not use this file if you do not know what you are doing. Entries in this file can potentially be very aggressive/dangerous to your file system. |
It is strongly recommended you keep a copy of winapp2ool.exe in the same folder as winapp2.ini for the purpose of keeping it up-to-date irrespective of which application you are using.
You should use the CCleaner flavor for ideal integration into the UI and minimized rule overlap, however the base ("Non-CCleaner") Winapp2.ini will also work
Place winapp2.ini in the same folder as ccleaner.exe. By default this is ..\Program Files\CCleaner
It is advised that you use the Trim function of winapp2ool when updating winapp2.ini to reduce the CCleaner startup time, as the full winapp2.ini file can unnecessarily slow down the CCleaner start up process.
CCleaner will display the set of winapp2.ini entries which it detects as valid for your system inside its Applications tab. In modern versions of CCleaner, this tab is found in the Custom Clean section of the application. All winapp2.ini entries are disabled by default in CCleaner, and must be enabled individually or in groups. To enable an entire group of entries, right click on the section header and select "Check all."
Note: CCleaner 5.64.7577 is the last version to work on Windows XP and Vista (for non-SSE2 CPUs CCleaner 5.26.5937). Winapp2.ini and Winapp3.ini will continue to work with this version.
You should use the BleachBit flavor. This flavor is designed to improve compatibility with BleachBit by eliminating errors thrown by BleachBit's sanity checker when using the base winapp2.ini. Use of any other flavor will throw a small number of errors and not allow you to run any entries which contain them, but will otherwise function correctly.
- Ensure that you have disabled "Download and update cleaners from community (Winapp2.ini)" in the BleachBit settings.
- Place winapp2.ini in
%AppData%\BleachBit\Cleaners.
Likewise, BleachBit maintains their own customized version of winapp2.ini which you can enable the use of from within the application:
- Open BleachBit.
- Select the "Edit" tab, and then "Preferences".
- Check the box that reads "Download and update cleaners from community (Winapp2.ini)".
BleachBit will display the set of winapp2.ini entries which it detects as both having valid syntax and also as being valid for your system in its sidebar. All winapp2.ini entries are disabled by default in BleachBit, and must be enabled individually or in groups. To enable an entire group of entries, select the check box next to the section header.
Note: BleachBit 2.2 is the last version to work on Windows XP. Winapp2.ini and Winapp3.ini will continue to work with this version.
You should use the System Ninja Flavor. This flavor is designed to improve compatibility with System Ninja by replacing keys with unsupported features, such that they become functional in System Ninja. It is not advised you use any other flavor with System Ninja.
System Ninja ships with a copy Winapp2.ini by default, served from their servers, storing it in your ..\System Ninja\scripts\ directory as winapp2.rules
To keep your system ninja winapp2.rules up to date with winapp2.ini using winapp2ool instead:
- Open System Ninja
- Select the "Options" tab
- Uncheck the box that reads "Update cleaning rules and language files automatically"
This will prevent System Ninja from overwriting your local winapp2.rules file on launch
System Ninja does not provide an interface for individually configuring which winapp2.ini entries run, they are all run and their output is displayed in the Junk Scanner window. The "Type" column in System Ninja displays the name of the entry as it appears in winapp2.ini
Note: System Ninja 3.2.7 is the last version to work on Windows XP and Vista. Winapp2.ini and Winapp3.ini will continue to work with this version.
You should use the base winapp2.ini
Avira System Speedup ships with a copy Winapp2.ini by default, served by Avira, storing it in your ..\Avira\System Speedup\sdf directory. You can replace or update this local copy without issue or changing any of the Avira System Speedup settings.
Avira System Speedup scans every winapp2.ini entry and displays the results of that scan in a panel labeled Third Party Applications. You can manually enable/disable items within this menu before activating the clean function.
Note: Cleaning "Third Party Applications" is a paid feature of Avira System Speedup Pro. winapp2.ini is and always will be free, and supported by a variety of free applications.
You should use the Tron Flavor. This flavor is designed to capture the downstream changes Tron makes to winapp2.ini while still otherwise remaining up-to-date with the latest changes.
Tron maintains and ships their own customized version of Winapp2.ini by default, storing it in your ..\resources\stage_1_tempclean\ccleaner directory. You can overwrite this file to update winapp2.ini.
Tron ships with its own configuration. You can modify it by opening the copy of CCleaner or modifying the ccleaner.ini file shipped with Tron.
You should use the base winapp2.ini
R-Wipe & Clean has unofficial support for Winapp2.ini. The steps below are adapted from this thread
- In R-Wipe & Clean, select "Tools" from the menu bar
- From the Tools menu, click R-Wipe&Clean Smart
- In R-Wipe & Clean Smart, select "Settings" from the menu bar
- From the settings menu, select "INI Import Settings"
- In the INI Import Settings window, fill out the following:
- Key Name for Registry Key Detection:
Detect - Key Name for File/Folder Detection:
DetectFile - Parameter for Recursive Subfolder Cleaning:
RECURSE - Parameter for Removing Folder after Cleaning:
REMOVESELF
- Key Name for Registry Key Detection:
- Press OK
- In R-Wipe & Clean Smart, select "Advanced" from the menu bar
- In the Advanced menu, select "Import From .INI"
- Browse to and select winapp2.ini
- Import as either many wipe lists or as a single one, whichever is your preference
- Because you will need to repeat the process of importing winapp2.ini as wipe lists in order to apply updates, it is advised you import it as a single wipelist which you can then easily remove after updating
- Once winapp2.ini is imported, you should see a message saying
LangSecRef,Section, andWarningare unsupported functions, press OK
Configure the imported wipe lists individually just as you would R-Wipe & Clean's native wipe lists
You should use the base winapp2.ini
HDCleaner ships with an internal copy of winapp2.ini. You can override or supplement this by placing winapp2.ini in the same directory as HDCleaner.exe. By default, this is ..\Program Files%\HDCleaner
After placing winapp2.ini in the same directory as HDCleaner.exe, you must configure HDCleaner's response to rule conflicts.
- Open HDCleaner
- From the side bar, select the bottom most icon (settings)
- From the settings panel, select "Options"
- Change the setting "If using Winapp2.ini" to "Ignore duplicate entries in HDCleaner resource file"
This will override the built in HDCleaner entries with your drop-in replacement
Winapp2.ini entries are organized alphabetically, between both sections in the files and individual key values in those sections. Alphabetically, numbers and symbols have precedence over letters. Entries should be ordered with their keys in the same order the appear in this guide (that is, categorization, detection, and deletion). You can use winapp2ool's WinappDebug module to ensure your style and syntax are correct.
Entry names are displayed in the application UI to indicate the name of a set of cleaning rules. They appear exactly in the UI exactly as they are written between the [brackets].
[Entry Name *]
Please include the space between the name and the * when submitting as this is how we visually indicate that Winapp2.ini entries are not built into CCleaner. The * is not displayed in BleachBit or System Ninja
These keys define where the entry will be displayed within the application UI. You must provide one and only one of these keys (ie. not neither and also not both). If neither key is provided, CCleaner appends the entry to the bottom of its Applications tab in a nameless section. BleachBit, however, contains a winapp2.ini sanity checker, and will report an error in the side panel. Entries which fail the BleachBit sanity check are not displayed to the user and cannot be enabled.
- Any value can be provided for
Sectionkeys. - If submitting an entry for a video game or related software, please use
Section=Games. - For
LangSecRef, CCleaner syntax is followed. Tables of valid values are below:
| LangSecRef | CCleaner UI Header | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 3001 | Internet Explorer | No longer used in winapp2.ini |
| 3005 | Microsoft Edge | No longer used in winapp2.ini |
| 3006 | Edge Chromium | Called Microsoft Edge in BleachBit |
| 3021 | Applications | |
| 3022 | Internet | |
| 3023 | Multimedia | |
| 3024 | Utilities | |
| 3025 | Windows | Called Microsoft Windows in BleachBit |
| 3026 | Firefox | |
| 3027 | Opera | |
| 3028 | Safari | |
| 3029 | Google Chrome | |
| 3030 | Thunderbird | |
| 3031 | Windows Store | |
| 3032 | CCleaner Browser | Not available in BleachBit |
| 3033 | Vivaldi | |
| 3034 | Brave | |
| 3035 | Opera GX | Not available in BleachBit |
| 3036 | Spotify | Not available in BleachBit |
| 3037 | Avast Secure Browser | Not available in BleachBit |
| 3038 | AVG Secure Browser | Not available in BleachBit |
| 3039 | Arc Browser | Not available in BleachBit |
| 3040 | iTunes | Not available in BleachBit |
| 3042 | Not available in BleachBit | |
| 3043 | Norton Private Browser | Not available in BleachBit |
| 3044 | Avira Secure Browser | Not available in BleachBit |
LangSecRef=3026 will cause an entry to be displayed under CCleaner's built-in Firefox section.
Section=Games will cause an entry to be displayed in a new section called Games at the bottom of the CCleaner application tab or in the BleachBit side panel.
These keys specify the condition under which the entry should be considered valid for a system.
If the target of at least one of these keys exists, the entry will be shown to the user. Otherwise, it won't. Detect keys point to Windows Registry paths and DetectFile keys point to Windows Filesystem paths. You should select a detection criteria that is only valid to the scope of a particular application's installation for best results, however you can use any key. You can define as many detection criteria as is necessary.
- System Ninja does not support wildcards anywhere in the DetectFile
- Nesting wildcards in DetectFiles is supported by winapp2ool but not by CCleaner.
- If you place a wildcard in a DetectFile, ensure that it is in the last part of the parameterization.
- Wildcards are not supported in the registry by any application.
To set a Detection criteria using the registry, simply point a Detect key at a valid registry path.
Detect=HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windowswill return as valid on every copy of WindowsDetect=HKCU\Software\GRAHL\PDFAnnotatorwill only return as valid on systems which have PDF Annotater installed.
To set a Detection criteria using the file system, simply point a DetectFile key at a valid file or path on the system
DetectFile=%WinDir%will return as valid on every copy of windowsDetectFile=%LocalAppData%\Packages\9E2F88E3.Twitter_*will return as valid on systems which have Twitter installed from the Microsoft Store
This key provides a notice to the user with important information about the entry. It should be provided when running an entry may have unforeseen consequences for the user. This information is only displayed when an option is elected (which is effectively only once for most users), so it is wise to keep warnings short and concise so users may read and fully understand them. This key is only supported by CCleaner and BleachBit.
These keys specify a file system location to be cleaned. They support wildcards and nesting wildcards. You can specify multiple file parameters in a single statement by appending them to the first file parameter as comments. Additionally, this key supports two flags: RECURSE and REMOVESELF. The RECURSE flag executes the deletion pattern across all subfolders of the given folder. REMOVESELF does the same, removing any empty subfolders left behind.
FileKey1=%SystemRoot%\junk|filewill deletefilefrom%SystemRoot%\junkFileKey1=%SystemRoot%\junk|file1;file2will delete bothfile1andfile2from%SystemRoot%\junk.FileKey1=%SystemRoot%\junk|junkfile*|RECURSEwill delete any files whose name begin withjunkfilefrom%SystemRoot%\junkand all of its subdirectories.FileKey1=%SystemRoot%\junk|junkfile*|REMOVESELFwill delete any files whose name begin withjunkfilefrom%SystemRoot%\junkand all of its subdirectories, also removing any empty folders either found or left behind by this operations.
These keys specify a registry location to be cleaned. They do not support wildcards of any sort. Cleaning is supported for both keys and subkeys. To specify a subkey, use | after the key and then specify the sub key name
RegKey1=RegKey1=HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CD Burning\StagingInfowill delete the registry keyHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CD Burning\StagingInfoRegKey1=HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\Debug|StoreLocationwill delete the sub-keyStoreLocationfrom the registry keyHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\Debug, but will not delete the key itself.
These keys specify a file (or files), directory, or registry path to be excluded from cleaning, even if they would otherwise be deleted by a FileKey or RegKey. These keys support three flags for their parameters: FILE, PATH, and REG. Use the FILE flag to specify just a single file for exclusion. Use the PATH flag to specify an extension type. Use the REG flag to exclude a registry key.
ExcludeKey1=FILE|%WinDir%\System32\LogFiles\|myfile.txtexcludesmyfile.txtin the%WinDir%\System32\LogFilesdirectory from being deleted.ExcludeKey1=PATH|C:\Windows\|*.exeexcludes files of type.exein theC:\Windowsdirectory from being deleted.ExcludeKey2=PATH|C:\Temp\|*.*excludes all of the files located in theC:\Tempdirectory and all sub directories from being deleted.ExcludeKey3=PATH|%WinDir%\System32\LogFiles\SCM\|*-*-*-*.*excludes all of the files whose name matches the pattern*-*-*-*.*in the%WinDir%\System32\LogFiles\SCMdirectory from being deleted.ExcludeKey2=REG|HKCU\Software\Piriformwill prevent registry keys inHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Piriformfrom being deleted.
The following are functions that are not used in the official Winapp2.ini file, but are valid syntax.
This key is used by only by CCleaner to decide whether or not an entry is enabled by default when it is loaded for the first time. Default=True causes an entry to be enabled by default, Default=False will not. CCleaner assumes Default=False when no Default key is provided.
This key is used only by CCleaner and is used to limit the set of Windows version for which an entry should be considered valid. DetectOS failure supersedes Detect and DetectFile successes in CCleaner and winapp2ool. Kernel version numbering is used, below is a table for reference. To specify a minimum version number, use DetectOS=num|. To specify a maximum version number, use DetectOS=|num. To limit an entry to a set of windows versions, use DetectOS=num1|num2. To strictly limit an entry to a particular Windows version, use DetectOS=num|num.
| Kernel Number | Windows Version |
|---|---|
| 5.0 | Windows 2000 |
| 5.1 | Windows XP |
| 5.2 | Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, Windows Server 2003, Windows Home Server |
| 6.0 | Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 |
| 6.1 | Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Home Server 2011 |
| 6.2 | Windows 8, Windows Server 2012 |
| 6.3 | Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2 |
| 10.0 | Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019 |
DetectOS=6.0|will only run on versions of Windows including and newer than Windows Vista.DetectOS=|6.1will only run on versions of Windows including and older than Windows 7.DetectOS=5.1|6.1will run only on Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.DetectOS=5.1|5.1will only run on WindowsXP.
This key is used only by CCleaner and provides the same search patterns used by some of the internal CCleaner rules for detection. Like DetectOS, this key supersedes successes or failures from Detect or DetectFile keys.
SpecialDetect=DET_CHROME will return valid on any system for which CCleaner detects chrome
These are all the possible variables that can be used for defining filesystem paths in Winapp2.ini.
| Variable | Windows Vista-11 Path | WindowsXP Path | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
%AppData% |
C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Roaming |
C:\Documents and Settings\%UserName%\Application Data |
|
%CommonAppData% |
C:\ProgramData |
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data |
CCleaner only |
%CommonProgramFiles%* |
C:\Program Files\Common Files |
C:\Program Files\Common Files |
|
%Documents% |
C:\Users\%UserName%\Documents |
C:\Documents and Settings\%UserName%\My Documents |
CCleaner only |
%LocalAppData% |
C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Local |
C:\Documents and Settings\%UserName%\Local Settings\Application Data |
|
%LocalLowAppData% |
C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\LocalLow |
N/A | CCleaner only |
%Music% |
C:\Users\%UserName%\Music |
C:\Documents and Settings\%UserName%\My Documents\My Music |
CCleaner only |
%Pictures% |
C:\Users\%UserName%\Pictures |
C:\Documents and Settings\%UserName%\My Documents\My Pictures |
CCleaner only |
%ProgramData% |
C:\ProgramData |
N/A | |
%ProgramFiles%* |
C:\Program Files |
C:\Program Files |
|
%Public% |
C:\Users\Public |
N/A | |
%SystemDrive% |
C: |
C: |
|
%UserProfile% |
C:\Users\%UserName% |
C:\Documents and Settings\%UserName% |
|
%Video% |
C:\Users\%UserName%\Videos |
C:\Documents and Settings\%UserName%\My Documents\My Videos |
CCleaner only |
%WinDir% |
C:\Windows |
C:\Windows |
These are all the possible variables that can be used for defining registry paths in Winapp2.ini
| Variable | Registry Path |
|---|---|
| HKCR | HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT |
| HKCU | HKEY_CURRENT_USER |
| HKLM | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE |
| HKU | HKEY_USERS |
| HKCC | HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG |
Winapp2.ini does not support non-English system configurations or portable software natively. If you have need for these features, we recommend you utilize a "Custom.ini" file, and use Winapp2ool's Transmute feature with the Transmute mode set to Add to add your custom configurations while keeping winapp2.ini up to date.
Winapp2ool 1.6 removed the Merge feature and replaced it with Transmute. If you were previously using Custom.ini with Merge, please see Migrating From Merge in the Transmute ReadMe.
