You don't need to know what each temp file you're going to delete is for, or what or how many files are included in any subfolders you select. Windows won't let you delete any files or folders that are still in use. More on that in a bit. Delete all the temporary files and folders you've selected, either using the Delete key on your keyboard or the Delete button from the Home menu.
Depending on your version of Windows, and how your computer is configured, you might be asked to confirm that you wish to Delete Multiple Items. Handle any messages about hidden files in this folder the same way—it's fine to delete those, too. This is Windows telling you that the file or folder you're trying to delete is locked and still in use by a program, or maybe even Windows itself.
Skipping these allows the deleting to continue with the remaining data. If you're getting a lot of these messages, check the Do this for all current items checkbox and then select Skip again. You'll have to do it once for the file messages and again for the folder ones, but warnings should stop after that.
Rarely will you see a message like Error Deleting File or Folder that will stop the temp file deleting process completely. If this happens, restart your computer and try again. If even that doesn't work, try starting Windows in Safe Mode and repeating the steps above.
Wait while all the temp files are deleted, which could take anywhere from a few seconds if you only have a few files in this folder, and up to several minutes if you have many and they're large. You won't be prompted when the process is complete. Instead, the progress indicator will just disappear and you'll see your empty, or almost empty, temp folder up on the screen.
Feel free to close this window. If you happen to be deleting so much data that not all of it can be sent to Recycle Bin, you'll be told that they'll be permanently removed.
Confirm that you want to delete the items, which will permanently remove those temporary files from your computer. The next time you delete temporary files in Windows, feel free to hold down Shift as you delete the files. It's a trick that will skip over storing them in Recycle Bin, essentially "permanently" deleting them and saving you this last step.
You now, in the short term, have an empty temporary files section. The steps shown above are considered the normal way to delete temporary files, but you have to do it manually. You can do this using the rd remove directory Command Prompt command to delete the entire folder and all of the subfolders. Type the following command into Notepad or some other text editor, and save it with the. BAT file extension:. The q parameter suppresses confirmation prompts to delete the files and folders, and s is for deleting all the subfolders and files in the temp folder.
The Windows Temp folder isn't the only place that temporary files, and other no-longer-needed groups of files, are stored on Windows computers. Feel free to open that Temp folder and delete anything you find in there. Your browser also keeps temporary files, usually in an attempt to speed up your browsing by loading cached versions of web pages when you revisit them.
Other, harder-to-find locations contain temporary files, too. Disk Cleanup, a utility included in all versions of Windows, can help remove the contents of some of those other temp folders for you automatically.
An administrator might have customized the settings for your Temporary Internet Files folder to prevent you from changing the settings. For example, the administrator can remove the General tab from the interface in the Internet Options dialog box. If you cannot access the Internet Options dialog box or the General tab, contact your administrator for more information. Files that start with the word "Cookie" may remain in your Temporary Internet Files folder after you follow these steps.
These files are pointers to the actual cookie files that are located in your Cookies folder. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:. In some cases, files that are downloaded from websites may remain in your Temporary Internet Files folder but will not be visible in Windows Explorer after you follow these steps.
For more information about the Temporary Internet Files folder, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:. Windows 8. Exit Internet Explorer. Exit any instances of Windows Explorer. Select OK two times. Need more help? The second is the Temp file related to the user currently logged into the system. Here is how to find those temporary folders.
The folder at the top of the results is the Temp folder. You can follow this procedure on both the WindowsTemp folder as well as the folder returned from the searches listed above.
Performing this type of cleanup on a regular basis can help optimize your system and keep your hard drive free of useless files. It is possible that in your quest to clean up the temporary files and folders on your machine some files may be accidentally deleted. As you go about deleting temporary files and then emptying the Recycle Bin to actually regain the storage space, you may realize that you have gone too far and removed a file or folder inadvertently.
Disk Drill data recovery software can recover those files for you, even after they are no longer visible to your OS.
As soon as you discover that there are files you need to recover, stop using the computer. This gives you the best chance of recovering the files by limiting the possibility that the OS will overwrite the files before they can be restored. It is a great tool to have available in case you make a mistake when you are cleaning up your machine by deleting temporary files.
Arthur Cole is a freelance content creator. Arthur Cole is a writer with deep expertise in programming, who can easily Updated on April 24, Written by. Arthur Cole. Approved by. Brett Johnson.
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