How To Delete Temporary Files in Windows 10

By Abby •  Updated: 05/06/20 •  2 min read

Windows 10 builds up a lot of temporary files while you are working across various applications on your PC, including leftover files after updating your system, error reports, temporary Windows installation files, and many more. These temporary files often eat a significant amount of storage. If you are running out of space, deleting temporary files can provide you a helping hand. And the exciting thing about this is removing the temporary files won’t affect your system, it’s safe. 

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In this article, we will teach you how to clear temporary files in Windows 10 in 4 easy ways as follows.

Delete Temporary Files Using Settings

  1. Open the Windows Settings on your PC. You can do it by clicking on the Start Menu icon and clicking on the gear icon to open settings.
    Open Windows Settings
  2. In the settings page, select System.
    Click on System
  3. Select Storage from the left pane.
    Select Storage
  4. Click on Temporary files. You can also see how much space it’s eating up on Windows installed drive.
    Click on Temporary files
  5. Select the ones you want to delete. You will also see Downloads on the list, only select it if you want to delete the downloaded files on your Windows drive.
    Select what you want to delete
  6. Once you’ve selected the files you want to delete, click on Remove files button at the top.
    click on Remove files

Remove Temporary Files Using Storage Sense

  1. Go To Settings and click on System.
    Click on System
  2. Choose Storage from the left pane.
    Select Storage
  3. Click on Configure Storage Sense or run it now option.
    Click on Configure Storage Sense or run it now
  4. Click on Clean now at the bottom of the page and it will automatically clean up the temporary files.
    click on Clean now

Clear Temporary Files Using Disk Cleanup

  1. Search Disk Cleanup from the search bar located in the taskbar. You can use the shortcut key Windows Key + S to launch the search panel.
    Open Disk Cleanup app
  2. A popup window will appear, select the drive where Windows is installed and hit OK.
    Choose Windows installed drive
  3. Mark the checkbox of Temporary Internet Files and Temporary Files, and click OK.
    select termprary files
  4. A confirmation prompt will appear, hit Delete Files.
    Click Delete Files to confirm

Delete Temporary Files Manually

  1. Open the Run box by pressing Windows + R. 
  2. Type in %temp% in the given field and hit Enter.
    Open Run
  3. The temporary files folder will open up, select all by pressing Ctrl + A.
    select all termporary files
  4. Right-click on any selected file and select Delete. Make sure you are using the administrator’s account.
    select Delete
  5. Now, all the temporary files are moved to the Recycle Bin, empty it.
    empty recycle bin

That’s it you have successfully deleted temporary files on your Windows 10 Desktop/Laptop. 

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Abby