diff --git a/code/Common/Configuration/DownloadCleaner/DownloadCleanerConfig.cs b/code/Common/Configuration/DownloadCleaner/DownloadCleanerConfig.cs
index cfede35c..25ab7b35 100644
--- a/code/Common/Configuration/DownloadCleaner/DownloadCleanerConfig.cs
+++ b/code/Common/Configuration/DownloadCleaner/DownloadCleanerConfig.cs
@@ -33,11 +33,6 @@ public sealed record DownloadCleanerConfig : IJobConfig, IIgnoredDownloadsConfig
             return;
         }
         
-        if (Categories?.Count is null or 0)
-        {
-            throw new ValidationException("no categories configured");
-        }
-
         if (Categories?.GroupBy(x => x.Name).Any(x => x.Count() > 1) is true)
         {
             throw new ValidationException("duplicated clean categories found");
diff --git a/code/Infrastructure/Verticals/DownloadCleaner/DownloadCleaner.cs b/code/Infrastructure/Verticals/DownloadCleaner/DownloadCleaner.cs
index cb486744..4aad682e 100644
--- a/code/Infrastructure/Verticals/DownloadCleaner/DownloadCleaner.cs
+++ b/code/Infrastructure/Verticals/DownloadCleaner/DownloadCleaner.cs
@@ -58,9 +58,12 @@ public sealed class DownloadCleaner : GenericHandler
             return;
         }
         
-        if (_config.Categories?.Count is null or 0)
+        bool isUnlinkedEnabled = !string.IsNullOrEmpty(_config.UnlinkedTargetCategory) && _config.UnlinkedCategories?.Count > 0;
+        bool isCleaningEnabled = _config.Categories?.Count > 0;
+        
+        if (!isUnlinkedEnabled && !isCleaningEnabled)
         {
-            _logger.LogWarning("no categories configured");
+            _logger.LogWarning("{name} is not configured properly", nameof(DownloadCleaner));
             return;
         }
         
@@ -68,9 +71,18 @@ public sealed class DownloadCleaner : GenericHandler
         
         await _downloadService.LoginAsync();
         List<object>? downloads = await _downloadService.GetSeedingDownloads();
-        List<object>? downloadsToChangeCategory = null;
+
+        if (downloads?.Count is null or 0)
+        {
+            _logger.LogDebug("no seeding downloads found");
+            return;
+        }
         
-        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(_config.UnlinkedTargetCategory) && _config.UnlinkedCategories?.Count > 0)
+        _logger.LogTrace("found {count} seeding downloads", downloads.Count);
+        
+        List<object>? downloadsToChangeCategory = null;
+
+        if (isUnlinkedEnabled)
         {
             if (!_hardLinkCategoryCreated)
             {
@@ -89,17 +101,27 @@ public sealed class DownloadCleaner : GenericHandler
         await ProcessArrConfigAsync(_sonarrConfig, InstanceType.Sonarr, true);
         await ProcessArrConfigAsync(_radarrConfig, InstanceType.Radarr, true);
         await ProcessArrConfigAsync(_lidarrConfig, InstanceType.Lidarr, true);
+
+        if (isUnlinkedEnabled)
+        {
+            _logger.LogTrace("found {count} potential downloads to change category", downloadsToChangeCategory?.Count);
+            await _downloadService.ChangeCategoryForNoHardLinksAsync(downloadsToChangeCategory, _excludedHashes, ignoredDownloads);
+            _logger.LogTrace("finished changing category");
+        }
         
-        _logger.LogTrace("looking for downloads to change category");
-        await _downloadService.ChangeCategoryForNoHardLinksAsync(downloadsToChangeCategory, _excludedHashes, ignoredDownloads);
+        if (_config.Categories?.Count is null or 0)
+        {
+            return;
+        }
         
         List<object>? downloadsToClean = _downloadService.FilterDownloadsToBeCleanedAsync(downloads, _config.Categories);
         
         // release unused objects
         downloads = null;
-        
-        _logger.LogTrace("looking for downloads to clean");
+
+        _logger.LogTrace("found {count} potential downloads to clean", downloadsToClean?.Count);
         await _downloadService.CleanDownloadsAsync(downloadsToClean, _config.Categories, _excludedHashes, ignoredDownloads);
+        _logger.LogTrace("finished cleaning downloads");
     }
 
     protected override async Task ProcessInstanceAsync(ArrInstance instance, InstanceType instanceType)
diff --git a/docs/docs/configuration/examples/1_docker.mdx b/docs/docs/configuration/examples/1_docker.mdx
index 763a93c7..85d9d17c 100644
--- a/docs/docs/configuration/examples/1_docker.mdx
+++ b/docs/docs/configuration/examples/1_docker.mdx
@@ -12,8 +12,12 @@ services:
     image: ghcr.io/flmorg/cleanuperr:latest
     restart: unless-stopped
     volumes:
+      # if you want persistent logs
       - ./cleanuperr/logs:/var/logs
+      # if you want to ignore certain downloads from being processed
       - ./cleanuperr/ignored.txt:/ignored.txt
+      # if you're using cross-seed and the hardlinks functionality
+      - ./downloads:/downloads
     environment:
       # general settings
       - TZ=America/New_York
diff --git a/docs/src/components/configuration/download-cleaner/DownloadCleanerHardlinksSettings.tsx b/docs/src/components/configuration/download-cleaner/DownloadCleanerHardlinksSettings.tsx
index cca58352..6eafa50f 100644
--- a/docs/src/components/configuration/download-cleaner/DownloadCleanerHardlinksSettings.tsx
+++ b/docs/src/components/configuration/download-cleaner/DownloadCleanerHardlinksSettings.tsx
@@ -30,11 +30,17 @@ const settings: EnvVarProps[] = [
           title: "Multiple patterns can be specified using incrementing numbers starting from 0.",
           content: `DOWNLOADCLEANER__UNLINKED_CATEGORIES__0=tv-sonarr
 DOWNLOADCLEANER__UNLINKED_CATEGORIES__1=radarr`
-        }
+        },
       ],
       type: "text",
       defaultValue: "Empty",
       required: false,
+      notes: [
+        "The category name must match the category that was set in the *arr.",
+        "For qBittorrent, the category name is the name of the download category.",
+        "For Deluge, the category name is the name of the label.",
+        "For Transmission, the category name is the last directory from the save location.",
+      ],
     }
 ];