How To Install Sweeper on Ubuntu 20.04 – A simple system cleaning tool for Linux

Sweeper is a simple yet feature-rich system cleaning tool for Linux. It’s an part of KDE Applications and a great CCleaner alternative for Linux. Sweeper may not be the most comprehensive system clean up tool but it is a lightweight and simple option. It is used to clean unwanted traces of user activity on a system to protect your privacy, and reclaim disk space by removing unused temporary files.

If you’re using a shared computer for personal or professional reasons, you can hide your activities via Sweeper. It can delete web-related traces such as browser history, cookies, cache, image thumbnails cache, list of recently-opened documents, and also cleans the applications and documents history.

In short it’s an exceptional option for people who need a reliable system cleaner.

Key Features of Sweeper

• Free(License: GNU GPL v2) and Open-Source
• Remove web-related traces: cookies, history, cache
• Clean the clipboard contents and command history
• Remove the image thumbnails cache

This article explains two methods of installing sweeper on Ubuntu 20.04. Choose the installation method that is most appropriate for your environment.

Method 1: Installing Sweeper as a Snap Package

The easiest way to install Sweeper on Ubuntu 20.04 is by using the snap packaging system.

A snap package is a type of universal Linux package that you can enjoy irrespective of the distro. Its an self-contained software packages that include the binary all dependencies needed to run the application.

All you need is the snap service pre-configured, In the case of Ubuntu 20.04, it comes with snap pre-installed.

If snapd package is not already installed then you can install it by running following command.

$ sudo apt install snapd

Note: Snap packages can be installed from either the command-line or via the Ubuntu Software application.

This is actually the Snap version of the Sweeper. It can be used on any Linux distribution that has Snap support.

Open your terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and type the following command to install the Sweeper package.

$ sudo snap install sweeper --edge

At this step, you have successfully installed Sweeper on Ubuntu 20.04 system.

Type the following command to update Sweeper package.

$ sudo snap refresh --list

Method 2: Installing Sweeper via apt

Sweeper is available from the official Ubuntu repository. To install it, follow the steps below.

Installing Sweeper using apt is a relatively easy process and takes only a few minutes to complete.

Step #1

Open a terminal (CTRL+ALT+T) and execute the following command to update the apt sources.

$ sudo apt-get update

Step #2

Now type the command below in a terminal to install Sweeper.

$ sudo apt install sweeper

When the new application version will be released you can update with the help of following command.

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Starting Sweeper

In the Activities search bar type “Sweeper” and click on the icon to launch the application.

Sweeper User Interface:

How to Uninstall Sweeper from Ubuntu 20.04

For some reason, If you want to uninstall Sweeper application, refer following methods.

Method #1

If you have installed Sweeper via Snap type the following command:

$ sudo snap remove sweeper

Method #2

If you have installed the appication using apt then uninstall by running the below command:

$ sudo apt-get remove sweeper

Conclusion

I hope that now you have a good understanding of How To Install Sweeper on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa.

If anyone does have any questions about what we covered in this guide then feel free to ask in the comment section below and I will do my best to answer those.