How to Delete Temporary Files in Windows 11

By Ajoy Kumar 9 Min Read
How to Delete Temporary Files in Windows 11

Are you out of space? Then try to delete the temporary files sometimes referred to as temp files. Temp files or temporary files are exactly what they sound like. These are the files that get stored over time while using any programs on the computer. It just starts to take up a lot of space. It is a good idea to delete all the temporary files for your windows computer to free up some space.

Today here we are going to discuss How to Delete Temporary Files in Windows 11. There is no direct way to delete the temporary files with just a click, we have to delete them manually. This will also delete Windows.old folder from your system.

How to Delete Temporary Files in Windows 11

Don’t worry by deleting the temporary files from your windows, it will not affect your windows operating system. These will only delete the temporary files that are just occupying your storage.

Temporary files include windows update logs, windows ESD installation files, windows.old folder, temporary files, temporary internet files, device driver packages, thumbnails, and the files from the recycle bin.

Here are 5 ways to delete temporary files in Windows 11:

1. Delete Temporary Files from Temp Folder

There is no direct way to delete all the temporary files in Windows 11. We have to delete them manually. In Windows, you will find a “temp folder” where it stores all the temporary files. Those files are created by apps while executing a task and are not critical to its functioning.

You can delete them from the temp folder. However, do remember that the folder will again fill up in a while since the apps continue to create temporary files. Thus, it will only clean up space temporarily.

Here is how you can delete temp folder files:

Step 1: Open Run Program. To open the Run Program just search for Run and click on it or you can use another method for open Run Program, use the “Win + R” Keyword shortcut.

Step 2: In the Run window or search box, enter the “temp” command and click “OK.” If you find any permission-related warning then just continue it.

Step 3: This will open your temp folder, select all of the files and folders within the temp folder that you want to delete. You can use Ctrl + A to select all and to delete using the “Delete” Key.

Step 3: Click on “Skip” if you’re presented with a File In Use or a Folder In Use warning during the temporary file deletion process.

Step 4: Similarly, use two more commands “%temp%” and “prefetch” to delete temporary files. To delete these files follow steps 1, 2, and 3.

Note:- If you have other versions of Windows then also you can follow the following steps to delete the temporary files from your computer.

2. Delete Temporary Files using Disk Cleanup

Now if you want to delete windows update files, windows upgrade log files, downloaded program files, and temporary internet files then you can use the “Disk Cleanup” features.

Here are the steps to delete the temporary files using the “Disk Cleanup” features:

Step 1: For that, open “This PC” then select the “C Drive” right-click on it, and choose the “Properties” option from the menu.

Step 2: It will open the properties option for “C Drive“, here click on the “General Tab“. There you will find the “Disk Cleanup” option, just click on it and it will scan the files.

Step 3: After the scan, here you will get an option to select the type of temporary files you want to delete. If you want to delete the temporary system files then just click on the “Clean up system files” and it will scan the temporary files again. 

Step 5: After the scan is completed, you will see a new window where you can select the files types you want to delete then click on “OK”.

Step 6: On the next window, you will find a warning that says “Are you sure you want to permanently delete these files”. If you are sure, click “Delete Files” and wait for the process to complete.

Note:- Don’t worry it will not delete your windows operating system files and programs. It will only delete the unnecessary files from your C Drive.

3. Empty Recycle Bin

Windows operating system will not delete the files permanently, it will move all the deleted files to Recycle Bin. If you want the file then you can restore it from the Recycle Bin.

This option is very helpful when you delete some files accidentally so, that you can recover them.

Whatever the files you deleted so for are moved to Recycle Bin. Now you have to delete those files from Recycle Bin. For that, right-click on the “Recycle Bin” icon and select the “Empty Recycle Bin“ option.

Now, you permanently deleted some important files, don’t worry, we have a solution for you. You can check our guide on how to recover permanently deleted files from windows 11.

4. Delete Temporary Files Through Settings

To delete temporary files, you can also use the Windows settings option. Here is how you can delete temporary files through settings.

Step 1: Click on the “Start” button and click “Settings“.

Step 2: Next, click on the “System” tab from the left panel of the “Settings” window. Then, select the “Storage” options present to the right of your screen.

Step 3: Here, you will find a brack down of your C Drive, simply select the “Temporary files” option.

Step 4: On the next window, you will find the list of temporary files categorized under various types that we discussed earlier. Tick the checkboxes for the files you want to delete and uncheck the ones you want to keep. 

The total space that will be clear is mentioned above in the list of temporary files. After you have made the necessary selection, click on ‘Remove files’ to delete them.

Delete Temporary Files 7

The selected temporary files will be deleted, thus clearing storage on your computer. Do you know deleting temporary files can improve you windows performance?

5. Automatically Delete Temporary Files with Storage Sense

All the about steps are manual methods, you can also delete temporary automatically using the “Storage Sense“.

Storage Sense is a feature in Windows that automatically deletes the temporary files on the computer. You can configure the “Storage Sense” settings as per your requirements.

Here are the steps to delete temporary files using storage sense:

Step 1: To enable “Storage Sense“, navigate to the “Storage” settings as discussed earlier. Now, turn on the toggle next to “Storage Sense” to enable the setting.

Step 2: Now, click on the “Storage Sense” option to configure the various options. From the drop-down menus for each of the options under “Configure cleanup schedules” select the desired option.

Once you have configured Storage Sense, it will automatically delete the temporary files on your system as per the set schedule.

Step 3: Now if you want to delete the temporary files right away using the “Storage Sense” feature. Then click on the “Run storage sense now” option at the bottom.

Conclusion

That’s it, this is how you can delete temporary files in Windows 11. I hope this article was helpful to you. If you liked the article then you can share it with your friends.

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He is a prominent tech writer with over six years of experience and the founder of TheCoderWord. He delivers high-quality content revolving around troubleshooting and how-to guides for Windows, Linux, macOS, Chrome, and more.
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