How to delete temporary files in Windows10: One of the easy ways to free up some disk space in the Windows operating system is to delete temporary files, sometimes referred to as temp files. Temporary files are created on your PC for numerous reasons including when you browse the Internet, install programs, and by the operating system itself.
Temporary files are exactly what they sound like, files that your operating system only needed to exist temporarily while in use and become redundant once the task is completed. This guide shows you how to delete temporary files and folders from the Windows 10 operating system.
Continue reading the easy ways to delete temporary files in Windows 10.
How-To:
Method 1. delete %temp%, temp and prefetch folder Using the Run dialog box
Most temporary files are stored in the Windows Temp folder, the location of which differs from computer to computer, and even user to user. The steps for that are below. Before you continue with these sets of instructions, please sure that your user account have administrative rights and exit any running programs.
Step 1: Open Run dialog box (Windows + R )
Step 2: Type %temp% on the run dialog box and press enter.
Step 3: Now you will get the temp folder which holds all the temporary files and folders on your computer. Select all of the files and folders within the Temp folder that you want to delete. Unless you have a reason to otherwise, select them all. You can do that by:
- By pressing Ctrl + A, then press Shift + Delete keys on your keyboard. This will delete all the files and folders you’ve selected.
- You can also right-click on these files and folders and then click Delete. If you opt for this method, empty the Recycle Bin afterward.
Step 4: Click Skip if you’re presented with a File In Use or a Folder In Use warning during the temporary file deletion process. This is Windows telling you that the file or folder you’re trying to delete is still in use by a program, or maybe even Windows itself. Skipping these allows the deleting to continue with the remaining data.
Step 5: Wait while all the temp files are deleted, If you have a few files in this folder the delete process will end up in a few seconds and up to several minutes if you have many files.
Step 6: Finally, locate the Recycle Bin on your Desktop, right-click on the icon, and then choose Empty Recycle Bin. Confirm that you want to delete all the items in the Recycle Bin, which will permanently remove those files from your computer.
You can again continue these steps to remove files in the “temp” and “prefetch” folder as well. Once you open the Run dialog box type temp or prefetch and continue steps from 3 to 6 respectively.
Method 2. Delete using command prompt
- Open command prompt (To know more ways to open the command prompt, click here…)
- Type this command del /q/f/s %temp%\*
Method 3. Using Windows Disk cleanup tool to delete temporary files
If you’d like to know ‘how to delete the temporary files’ and folders using Disk Cleanup (which can also help to delete other unnecessary files from your computer), follow these steps.
- Type “cleanmgr” command in the Run dialog box and press enter.
2. Please select the system drive, which you want to clean up and click OK
3. Now the cleanmgr tool will load some time and will get a Window having several options to select for the disk cleanup process. Tick the boxes of all the different types of temporary files that you would like to clean up. In most cases you would tick all of the boxes, you can view the associated files by clicking the VIEW FILES button.
4. When you have finished with your selections click the OK button.
5. Once the dialogue box has closed your temporary files have been removed.
To know more about the Windows Disk Cleanup Tool, Click here…
Method 4: Using System cleanup software to delete temporary files
There are several system cleanup software in the market. Recommend you to use CCleaner free program to clean up your computer, to download CCleaner, click here…
To know more about Top 5 System Cleanup Software in the Market, click here…
Conclusion:
How’s your experience after following these tips and tricks?. Hope you learned “how to delete temporary files” from your computer now. Please let us know using comments.
Also, you can leave the command below for related queries. We will do our best to help you…
NOTE: If you have any kind of Windows operating system related issue, we recommend you reach a computer expert or download an error repair software, Click here to download repair software.
