CCiniDebug

July 27, 2026 · View on GitHub

CCiniDebug is a winapp2ool module that performs housekeeping on CCleaner Classic's configuration file, ccleaner.ini. When winapp2.ini is used with CCleaner 1-6 (classic), CCleaner stores the enabled/disabled state of each winapp2.ini entry as a key in ccleaner.ini's [Options] section. As entries are renamed or removed from winapp2.ini over time, their corresponding configuration keys are left behind as orphans in this section. CCiniDebug finds and removes these orphans, and can also sort the keys in the section alphabetically.

Should I use CCiniDebug with CCleaner 7?

No. Although CCleaner 7 has a ccleaner.ini file, it holds cleaning definitions instead of CCleaner's configuration. Running CCiniDebug on CCleaner 7's ccleaner.ini will, at best, do nothing.

What does CCiniDebug do?

CCiniDebug can perform up to three operations on ccleaner.ini, each independently toggleable:

Prune: Scan the [Options] section for winapp2.ini configuration keys that no longer have a matching entry in winapp2.ini and remove them
Sort: Sort the keys in the [Options] section alphabetically
Save: Write the result back to disk

Requirements
Quick Start
Menu Options
Operations
- Pruning
- Sorting
- Saving
Command-Line Arguments
Tips & Best Practices
Troubleshooting

Requirements

A ccleaner.ini file to be debugged
A winapp2.ini file to check against (only required when Pruning is enabled)

Quick Start

Common Workflow

Locate your ccleaner.ini (typically in %ProgramFiles%\CCleaner\) and your current winapp2.ini
Select both files in CCiniDebug
Run — pruning, sorting, and saving are all enabled by default

Option	Effect	Notes
Run (default)	Execute the enabled operations	Requires at least one operation to be enabled
Toggle pruning	Enable or disable removal of orphaned winapp2.ini settings	Default: `True`
Toggle saving	Enable or disable writing the result to disk	Default: `True`
Toggle sorting	Enable or disable alphabetical sorting of `[Options]`	Default: `True`
Choose winapp2.ini	Select the reference winapp2.ini file	Only visible when Pruning is enabled
Choose ccleaner.ini	Select the ccleaner.ini file to debug
Choose save target	Select the output location	Only visible when Saving is enabled

At least one operation must be enabled before Run is available.

Operations

Pruning

Scans the [Options] section of ccleaner.ini for stale winapp2.ini entry settings and removes them.

How CCleaner stores winapp2.ini settings

When CCleaner 6 loads winapp2.ini, it creates a key in the [Options] section for each entry, recording whether it is enabled or disabled:

[Options]
(App)Some Application *=True
(App)Another Application *=False

When entries are later renamed or removed from winapp2.ini, these keys remain in ccleaner.ini indefinitely. Over time, a large number of orphaned keys can accumulate.

How pruning works

CCiniDebug scans every key in the [Options] section and identifies candidates by checking that the key:

Starts with (App)
Contains * (the winapp2.ini entry name indicator)

For each candidate, it strips (App) from the key name to recover the raw entry name, then checks whether a section of that name exists in the provided winapp2.ini. If no matching section is found, the key is flagged as orphaned and removed. The lookup is case-insensitive.

What pruning reports

Each orphaned key found is listed by name
A count of total orphaned settings removed is shown at the end

Requirement

Pruning requires a winapp2.ini file to compare against. The winapp2.ini selector in the menu is only available when pruning is enabled.

Sorting

Sorts the keys within the [Options] section of ccleaner.ini alphabetically. Sorting is applied after pruning (if both are enabled), so the output reflects the pruned state.

Saving

Writes the result of all enabled operations back to disk. When saving is disabled, CCiniDebug still performs pruning and sorting in memory and reports what it found, but makes no changes to any file.

The save target defaults to ccleaner-debugged.ini in the current directory. Change it with Choose save target if you want to overwrite your original file directly or save to a different location.

Command-Line Arguments

CCiniDebug supports command-line automation. All three operations are enabled by default; the command-line flags disable them selectively.

Toggles

Arg	Effect
`-noprune`	Disable pruning of stale winapp2.ini entries
`-nosort`	Disable alphabetical sorting of `[Options]`
`-nosave`	Disable saving the result to disk

File Selection

Arg	Effect	Default
`-1d path`	Set winapp2.ini directory	Current directory
`-1f name`	Set winapp2.ini file name	`winapp2.ini`
`-2d path`	Set ccleaner.ini directory	Current directory
`-2f name`	Set ccleaner.ini file name	`ccleaner.ini`
`-3d path`	Set save target directory	Current directory
`-3f name`	Set save target file name	`ccleaner-debugged.ini`

Examples

Command	Effect
`winapp2ool -ccdebug`	Prune, sort, and save using default file names in the current directory
`winapp2ool -ccdebug -nosave`	Prune and sort, report results but make no changes to disk
`winapp2ool -ccdebug -noprune -nosort`	Save only — write ccleaner.ini to the save target with no modifications
`winapp2ool -ccdebug -2d "%ProgramFiles%\CCleaner" -3d "%ProgramFiles%\CCleaner" -3f ccleaner.ini`	Debug ccleaner.ini in place from its default CCleaner location

Tips & Best Practices

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause
Run is red and prompts an error	All three operations are disabled — enable at least one
No orphaned entries detected despite expecting some	Your winapp2.ini may be outdated; the entries may still exist in it. Use the current version.
A valid entry was pruned	Its name in ccleaner.ini may not exactly match the section name in winapp2.ini (e.g., extra spaces or punctuation differences)
The save target is not being updated	Saving is disabled — toggle it on or check the save target path