This article describes how to permanently remove the contents of the Temporary Internet Files folder from your computer. Watch a video about how to delete the contents of the Temporary Internet Files folder yourself.
Location of temp files in environment variables Why do you need to Delete Temporary Files and is it Safe? There can be some files that you might need for your daily usage. But most of the other temporary files will have no use. When the temporary files folder gets larger, it can slow down your PC. Delete Temp Files in Windows 10 using CMD Like RUN command, you can also use the command prompt to clean temporary files in Windows 10. In order to open the command prompt on your computer, search CMD on the start menu or right-click on the start menu and select Command Prompt or press Start+R from your keyboard.
Unable To Delete Temporary Files Windows 10
Delete the contents of the Temporary Internet Files folder
Follow these steps according to your version of Windows.
Press and hold (or right-click) Start > Control Panel > Internet Options.
Select the General tab, and then select Delete under Browsing history.
Select Delete all > Yes > OK.
Windows 7 and Windows Vista
Select Start > Control Panel > Network and Internet > Internet Options.
Select the General tab, and then select Delete under Browsing history.
Select Delete all > Yes > OK.
Windows XP
Exit Internet Explorer.
Exit any instances of Windows Explorer.
Select Start > Control Panel, and then double-click Internet Options.
On the General tab, select Delete Files under Temporary Internet Files.
In the Delete Files dialog box, click to select the Delete all offline content check box.
Select OK two times.
Note: If the Temporary Internet Files folder contains a large amount of webpage content, this process may take several minutes to complete.
More Information
The Temporary Internet Files (or cache) folder is used by Windows Internet Explorer and by MSN Explorer to store webpage content on the computer hard disk for quick viewing. This cache lets Internet Explorer or MSN Explorer download only the content that has changed since you last viewed a webpage, instead of downloading all the content every time that the page is displayed.
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:
158769 Emptying Temporary Internet Files folder leaves cookies files For more information about how to delete cookies, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
278835 How to delete cookie files in Internet Explorer
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, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
301057 Temporary Internet files use more disk space than specified
References
For more information about the Temporary Internet Files folder, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
155353How to adjust cache size for temporary Internet files
Cannot Delete Temp Files Access Denied
172949 How to change the location of temporary Internet files
263070 How Internet Explorer cache settings affect web browsing
175885 Cannot view temporary Internet files on shared computer
'My Windows 10 HP laptop won’t delete temporary files! I need to delete temporary files to release some disk space, so I head to Storage Settings and click Remove Files in the Temporary files section. But no matter how many times I hit the button, the function doesn’t work. How can I delete the temporary files on my PC?'
As the user says above, temporary files could occupy disk space and can be removed with Windows built-in function generally. However, things can be different sometimes. If you cannot delete temporary files in Windows 10, what can you do? Don't worry. In this post, 2 powerful tools are shared with you to fix unable to delete temporary files in Windows 10 problem. If you are meeting the same trouble, just try them now.
Tips: You can also apply the tools here to fix unable to delete temporary files issue in Windows 7 .
1. Delete Temporary Files via the Windows Built-in Tool
Coming with Windows OS, Disk Cleanup is a useful tool that can scan and free up disk space. When you fail to remove temporary files in Settings, using Disk Cleanup is an ideal alternative way.
Step 1: Search Disk Cleanup in the task bar and click it.
Step 2: Choose the system drive(usually C drive) in the Drive menu and hit OK.
Step 3: Click Clean up system files in the left-lower area.
Step 4: Select the system drive again and wait for the scanning process.
Step 5: Tick Temporary files to delete and hit OK to run the operation.
2. Delete Temporary Files with the Third-Party Tool
Programs To Delete Temporary Files
Except for Disk Cleanup, you can also consider deleting temporary files with the third-party tool. To help you find the right one, here iSunshare System Genius is highly recommended to you. Designed with the vivid and compact user interface, iSunshare System Genius is a user-friendly Windows optimizer and cleaner that aims to assist users in cleaning up and speeding up Windows OS. It can remove the junk files including but not least to temporary files and disable startup programs. So, when can you apply this helpful tool? Here are some examples.
Should I Delete Temporary Files
- 1. Unable to delete temporary files by using Disk Cleanup.
- 2. Want a specialized tool to conveniently delete temporary files.
Can't Delete Temporary Files Reddit
Steps to use iSunshare System Genius:
Step 1: In your Windows PC, download iSunshare System Genius and install it by following the wizard step by step.
Step 2: Run the tool. After that, click Junk files in the left pane and hit Scan.
Unable To Delete Temporary Internet Files
Step 3: Uncheck the box before junk file scan result option. Then tick Temporary files which is the first option under scan result. Lastly, hit Clean to erase all the temporary files.
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