In order for a computer to work normally, you need to not only monitor the serviceability and cleanliness of the hardware components, but also the system. The OS tends to become clogged with files over time, so it is necessary to “clean” it regularly. The most common problem is temporary files that are stored in the “Temp” folder of the OS disk, most often “C:\”. Getting rid of them is not difficult, but you need to do it correctly. Let's look at how to delete temporary files from your computer.
There are two ways to clear your system of temporary files. The first is using built-in utilities and manual removal, and the second is using the universal CCleaner program. Let's use both methods in order.
Method #1 – Cleaning using Disk Cleanup
Method No. 2 – Cleaning with CCleaner
As you can see, everything happens quite simply and quickly, the main thing is to follow the instructions. If you do not want to use any utilities or programs, your only option is manual removal. To do this, you need to find the Temp folder through any file manager and delete everything from there. After this, be sure to restart your computer. The disadvantages of this method are that it:
- Unreliable, you can delete system files;
- Ineffective because some temporary files may be in other folders;
- Sometimes it is impossible due to the lack of administrator rights, so it is better to use the first or second method.
After reading this article, you will definitely be able to delete Windows temporary files without any problems or effort.
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Browsers store the following information when you browse the web:
- temporary Internet files;
- Cookies;
- log of visited websites;
- information provided on web pages or in the address bar;
- saved network passwords.
- download log
- site settings
This information can be useful when reopening frequently visited pages, as it speeds up their launch and does not require passwords. This is good if one person uses the computer, but if several people have access to it, then such information should be deleted. Deleting temporary files will help free up significant space on your hard drive, and of course prevent getting outside users computer information about sites visited and content viewed.
Note: files Cookie- small text files that sites place on the user’s computer. Used to provide personalized service to users and collect information about website traffic. Trusted website cookies provide a better browsing experience by providing information about a user's personal preferences or by allowing users to automatically log into a website. However, some cookies, such as those stored by advertisements, may compromise user privacy by tracking the websites visited
Internet Explorer
Open "". This can be done in the browser itself - click Tools and select Internet Options. Or Start - Control Panel - Internet Options.
We mark " Delete browsing history on exit", don't forget to press Apply, and press " Delete"
We mark the items that will be deleted when the browser exits. If in the previous window you click the " Options", you can limit the disk space for temporary files and trace the path where temporary files are stored.
Should be closed Internet Explorer to clear cookies saved during your current browsing and still in memory. This is especially important when using a public computer
Deleting temporary files in the Opera browser
To clear temporary files and cookies, open your browser Opera and in the Menu select Tools - Delete personal data - Detailed settings. Check the boxes whose data needs to be deleted.
Select and click Delete. The following settings in the browser concern automatic cleaning of the disk cache and Cookies. In the browser menu, select Tools - General Settings - Advanced. Select an item Story and check the box Disk cache - Clear on exit. The next item in the settings is Cookie. Check "Delete new cookies when exiting Opera"
If you check "Never accept cookies", you may experience problems when visiting some sites, as they require Cookies to be enabled.
Note: Blocking all cookies protects your privacy but limits the functionality of some websites. We recommend that you carefully select the websites that will allow you to store cookies. You can start by blocking all cookies and then allow them to trusted sites as needed.
Deleting temporary files in Firefox browser
To clear temporary files and cookies, open your browser and select Tools - Settings from the browser menu. Open the tab Privacy. In the history settings, select " Will use your history saving settings" and mark the items that will delete Cookies when closing the browser
Note: files Cookie there are Temporary,Permanent. And Third party
- Temporary(or session) files Cookie are deleted from the computer after closing the browser. Web sites use them to store temporary information
- Permanent(or stored) Cookies remain on your computer after you close your browser. Web sites use them to store information, such as username and password, so that the user does not have to log in again each time he visits the Web site. Persistent cookies can be stored on your computer for several days, months or even years
- Third party files Cookie stored by advertising components (in the form of pop-ups or advertisements) on the website you are browsing. Websites often use these cookies to collect site traffic information for marketing purposes.
If you check the box " Clear history when closing firefox", then the button is activated Options, where you can choose what will be cleared when closing the browser.
Mark the required items and click OK. If you have several browsers on your computer, you can use free program CCleaner. Program website http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner. It is enough to mark the necessary items in the program settings once and the cleaning process will be reduced to two mouse clicks. First we do Analysis, and then Cleaning.
Additionally, you can clean up the disk by deleting unnecessary files that accumulate while working on the computer. To reduce the number of unused files on your hard drive to free up disk space and improve computer performance, use the " Disk Cleanup" It deletes temporary files, empty the Recycle Bin, and removes many system files and other unused items
As you probably already know, temporary files are created by the operating system to work at a specific time. They are also created by browsers and other utilities and applications. Temporary files are created for one time use and are no longer needed by either the user or Windows. The whole problem is that they can all take up quite a lot of space on the hard drive until we remove them from there. In this article I want to show you how to do this in several ways.
Through parameters
Left-click on the “Start” button and select “Settings” from the drop-down menu.
In the window that opens, go to the “Storage” tab and see a list of partitions in front of you hard drive. You can select the hard drive partition from which you want to delete temporary files.
Since they are usually stored on the system partition, that is, on the one on which the operating system is installed, and this is usually drive C:, then we click on the corresponding drive:
A window appears in which information about all the data stored on this partition of the hard drive is displayed. We find "Temporary files" and click on this item with the left mouse button:
In the window that opens, click on the button "Deleting temporary files"
Using the Disk Cleanup utility
Opening "This computer" and see in front of us a list of hard drive partitions. Right-click on the section you need. In this article, we have already decided that this will be the C: drive. From the drop-down menu, select “Properties”:
In the “General” tab, click on the “Disk Cleanup” button
Place the checkmarks next to the required items and click on the OK button:
Manual cleaning
The folders in which such files are stored are called Temp. There is already a detailed article on the website about that. The first of them is located at:
And the second one is at: C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Temp
Before going down this path, you must enable the display of hidden files and folders. To do this, in any of the folders, click on the “File” tab and select "Change folder and search options".
A window will open in front of you, in which you will need to go to the “View” tab and put the switch in position "Show hidden files and folders":
Only after this do we follow the above path and observe another Temp folder:
You can safely delete everything that is in the Temp folders and not be afraid, because they no longer affect anything, but only take up free space.
Well, I, in turn, hope that I helped you with one more problem, and you have more space on your hard drive.
And also watch a video on the topic:
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This is the data that the operating system and programs create while running. In order not to store all current information in random access memory, applications save documents in separate folders, from where they load them as needed. These could be browser files, distributions, and document backups. For example, if you don't save text in Word and accidentally close the program, it will offer to restore the data using temporary files.
Some applications clear temporary files themselves, but this can usually only be done manually or using special utilities. When too much data accumulates in memory, the computer may begin to slow down. And it’s not surprising that sometimes software junk takes up tens or hundreds of gigabytes.
Why delete temporary files?
As you know, you need to delete temporary files, and that's why. They slow down your PC, the symptoms look like this:
- Windows startup takes longer than usual;
- programs open more slowly;
- There is not enough space on the system disk to install new programs.
This is your loaded system It is possible and necessary to delete temporary files, and this will not make things worse - the operation of the system will not be disrupted, and programs will launch faster.
How to delete temporary files?
There are two ways to delete temporary files: manually, using built-in Windows tools, or using special programs.
Disk Cleanup in Windows
With this tool you can remove everything unnecessary files without downloading additional applications. Open “Control Panel” through the menu “Start” - “Accessories” - “System Tools”. Find the section "System and Security" - "Free up disk space" ("Disk Cleanup").
A program for deleting temporary files will open. To remove garbage created by applications, check the boxes next to the appropriate sections and click “OK”. To delete temporary system files, open the “Clean up system files” menu, select the drive on which the system is installed, and also click “OK”.
Clear memory through Windows Settings
Windows 10 has another handy tool for cleaning your system from excess junk. It can be found in the Settings section by clicking on the gear in the Start menu.
- Open the “System” - “Storage” block.
- Select the system drive and wait for the analysis to complete. The utility will show how much space temporary and other files take up.
- Go to the temporary files overview, check the boxes next to all the items and click “Delete files”.
Temporary files are stored in the Temp folder on the computer's system drive. The folder itself should not be deleted, but you can manually clear its contents. However, this method does not always work, since data that is currently being used by the system or programs cannot be deleted. Therefore, we recommend using Windows tools as described above, or one of the programs to free up computer memory.
Cleaning using third party apps
You can use many programs to remove software and system junk. For example, or Advanced Systemcare from IObit. One of the most popular applications to clear temporary Windows files CCleaner remains - so we’ll tell you how it works.
Many Windows users have heard the term “temporary files,” but not everyone fully understands the essence of these elements and why they are created by the system and applications. Some people think that they should be removed and that they are unnecessary, while others try not to touch them and carefully avoid them. Let's look at this issue in more detail from all sides.
Windows temporary files
What it is?
Temporary files in Windows are created in the system by various applications and the operating system itself in order to store data that is required for the current task.
Why are temporary files created?
Temporary files are most often created to transfer large amounts of information that are not profitable to store in RAM, or their volume is larger than the amount of RAM. Therefore, program developers temporarily store this data in a folder with temporary files, so that after some time their program or a separate module can use this information.
Temporary files are also created as a backup copy of the data you are currently working with. For example, programs in the Microsoft Office suite create temporary files with backup copies of the documents you work with. This is in case the office program crashes or the PC suddenly reboots. The next time you start it, you can continue working from the same place without losing the data in the document.
As a rule, temporary files should be deleted automatically after the application exits gracefully. But in fact this does not always happen. As a result, we observe a cluster large quantities temporary files that lie like dead weight and take up useful disk space on the system disk.
Where are Windows temporary files located?
In the operating system itself there are two places where it is customary to store temporary files. You can go to them from Explorer at the following addresses:
- %systemdrive%\Windows\Temp
- %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Temp
You can paste one of these lines into the Explorer address bar to navigate to them.
Temporary Windows folder usually used by the operating system itself. The temporary folder in your user profile is usually used by the programs you use. If you have multiple user accounts on your computer, then there are several folders with temporary files, one for each user profile.
Some programs use their own temporary folder to store such data and often place it inside their own folders - there may be a temp subfolder in the folder with the program name.
There are also cases when individual programs create a Temp folder in the root of the system drive C.
How to change where temporary files are stored
The operating system provides a way to change the variable folder in the user profile. To do this, in the environment variables ( Control Panel → Properties of the system → Additionally → Environment Variables) you need to change the storage folders for temporary files.
If you have several user profiles on your computer, you should not move the folder with temporary files for all users into one folder. First of all, this is not recommended for security reasons and maintaining stability, since it is unknown how this or that application will behave if it sees temporary files from another user in the folder. It's best to leave them where they are.
How to delete temporary files?
To remove unnecessary temporary files, you can use specialized utilities like Reg Organizer or.
The standard disk cleaning tool is also suitable for this. operating system, but third-party applications usually have more capabilities to clear the system of unnecessary data, which makes them more effective.
