Ace Utilities is a Windows maintenance suite from Acelogix Software that gathers more than a dozen cleanup, privacy and system tools in one program. It frees disk space, removes leftover registry entries, erases usage traces, manages startup programs and deletes files beyond recovery. Ace Utilities is paid software and runs fully functional for 30 days. After that, a license removes the time limit and the welcome screen.
Junk files and disk space
Remove Junk Files scans for temporary and unneeded files. This includes temp folders belonging to every user account on the PC, not only the one that is logged in. An exclude-folder list keeps chosen locations out of the scan. Ace Utilities also keeps its own ignore lists of items that should never be treated as junk.
Disk Analysis shows where space is going on a drive or a chosen local or network folder. Results appear as a pie chart by file type group, a breakdown by file and folder, and a list of the 100 largest files. Analysis can also start from the Explorer context menu on any folder or drive.
Duplicate and empty items
The duplicate finder compares file contents using checksums, so files with different names but identical data are grouped together. Searches can be limited by file type, category or size range. Ace Utilities can also find whole duplicate folders. If every file in a group is ticked, a warning appears before anything is deleted. A separate tool lists empty folders on a drive.
Fix Invalid Shortcuts checks the Start Menu, the Desktop, removable media or an entire drive for shortcuts whose targets no longer exist. It either deletes these shortcuts or repairs them.
Registry cleaning and backup
The registry cleaner looks for invalid Windows registry entries, such as references left by removed software, stale firewall rules and leftover startup approval records. You can reverse changes made by Ace Utilities. The program can also create a Windows restore point before cleaning.
Registry Backup saves complete copies of the registry hives, optionally compressed into zip archives. You can restore backups from inside Windows, from the Windows Recovery Console or from a Command Prompt. This helps when Windows no longer starts normally.
Registry Compactor rebuilds the registry files to remove the empty gaps left after keys are deleted, producing smaller, defragmented hives.
Startup and installed programs
AutoStart Manager lists programs, services and scheduled tasks that run when Windows boots or a user logs on. It draws these entries from many registry and folder locations. Entries can be disabled or enabled, including Microsoft Store apps set to launch at sign-in. Ace Utilities alerts you when a program you disabled re-enables itself and can block unwanted startup programs. In its standard mode it prevents inexperienced users from disabling Microsoft’s own Windows entries.
Uninstall Manager lists installed software, uninstalls programs and removes installer entries that point to software no longer present. The suite also includes a tool for viewing and deleting Windows system restore points.
Browsing history and app traces
Erase Your History clears history, cache and session data for Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Opera and other browsers. It also clears Windows usage traces such as recent-document lists. Beyond browsers, it cleans the activity records of more than 300 third-party applications through plug-ins. The Plug-in Maker lets users write their own plug-ins for programs that are not covered. Cleaning can be applied across multiple user accounts.
The Cookie Manager handles cookies separately from the rest of the history. It lists cookies and HTML5 local storage from the supported browsers in one filterable view. You choose which sites to keep. If no exclusions have been set, Ace Utilities protects cookies for some popular sites by default so their logins survive cleaning.
Secure deletion
Securely Delete Files overwrites files and folders before removing them so they cannot be recovered with undelete tools. Four overwrite methods are available. On SSDs, Ace Utilities switches to a normal delete by default. Overwriting does not reliably reach the original data on flash storage. You can change this default deletion behavior.
Wipe Free Space targets the remnants of files deleted earlier. Specifically, it targets file slack space and deleted entries in the NTFS master file table rather than overwriting the entire free area of a drive. Wipe Recycle Bin shreds the current user’s Recycle Bin, with an option to include the bins of all users.
One-click and scheduled cleanup
1-Click CleanUp, also called the Maintenance Wizard, runs junk file removal, registry repair, history erasure and invalid shortcut deletion in sequence. Once started, it requires no further input. It can finish by restarting or shutting down the computer.
Scheduled Cleanup runs the same maintenance at set times through the built-in Windows Task Scheduler, so Ace Utilities does not need its own background service. A schedule can also be tied to user logon.
