Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
running scripts is disabled on this system | You started windowsweep.ps1 directly under the default Restricted policy | Use npx windowsweep, windowsweep.cmd, or powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File windowsweep.ps1 ... |
REFUSE (inside protected: ...) | The path resolves inside a protected folder, sometimes through a junction into your profile | Working as designed. --list-targets shows the protected list; nothing bypasses it |
skipped: chrome is running | The browser or app is open and holds its cache | Close it and run windowsweep --only 7 --yes (the section number is in the message) |
needs Administrator rights - skipped | The console is not elevated | windowsweep --only 12 --yes --elevate, or run the profile system with --elevate |
The walkthrough needs an interactive console | stdin is redirected (a script, a Scheduled Task, CI) | Use --all --yes, --only ... --yes, --scan or --dry-run |
refused in batch mode without --i-understand-deep | A deep section (11, 15, 16, 20) was named in --only or a profile | Add --i-understand-deep with --yes, or run it from the menu |
section 17 is interactive-only | Personal sections never run unattended | Run windowsweep --only 17 from a console; --dry-run lists candidates |
| Reclaimed less than the dry-run estimated | Files were created or locked between the two runs, or an app started in between | Re-run; compare the log's skip (locked) lines |
Reclaimed less than --scan showed on disk | The idle gate kept files used within the window; running apps were skipped | Lower --days, close the apps, or use --purge-all for a full clear |
Docker daemon is not running | Docker Desktop is stopped | Start Docker Desktop and re-run section 5 |
elevation refused or failed | The UAC prompt was cancelled, or the account is a standard user | Approve the prompt; a standard user needs an administrator to run the admin sections |
Glyphs render as ? or boxes | The console font lacks the box-drawing characters | --ascii, or WINDOWSWEEP_ASCII=1 |
| An editor extension folder was removed | The editor's extensions.json no longer referenced it (uninstalled or superseded) | Reinstall the extension from the editor; the tool never removes a referenced folder |
| Cypress/Playwright kept a version I expected to go | One file inside it was touched within the window, or it is the newest of its kind | Lower --days, or remove the version by hand |
| A crash bundle appeared | The run exited with an unexpected error | Inspect ~\.windowsweep\feedback\crash-*.zip, then windowsweep --report-issue |
npm ERR! notsup Unsupported platform | Installing on Linux or macOS | This package is Windows-only: use npx linux-cleanup or npx macleanup |
'windowsweep' is not recognized as an internal or external command from npx windowsweep | You ran it inside a clone of this repository, whose own package.json is named windowsweep; npx picks that local package and finds no installed bin | Run npx windowsweep from any other directory, or node bin\windowsweep.js inside the clone |
Every skipped or refused path is in the session log at %USERPROFILE%\.windowsweep\logs\ with its reason. The log records what happened; it undoes nothing. If your symptom is not in the table, start with that log. windowsweep --report-issue opens a pre-filled GitHub issue after you confirm.
Last Updated: 2026-09-05