Posted by As the name suggests itself, Temporary files are those files that apps store on your computer to hold information temporarily. Apart from that, Windows 11 and 10 also save many other temporary file types, including leftover files after installing a new version of Windows, upgrade logs, error reporting, temporary Windows installation files, and much more.
Usually, these files don’t cause any issues on your computer. However, they can overgrow and may take up a lot of space on your hard drive resulting in your PC may run out of space.
You can save your valuable hard disk space by removing these temporary files from your Windows 11 and 10 devices. It is safe to erase these files. You can safely remove temporary files using the Settings app or Disk Cleanup tool.
In this gearupwindows article, we’ll guide you on quickly deleting temporary files from Windows 11 and 10 to reclaim storage space.
How to Remove Temporary Files using the Settings app on Windows 10?
To erase temporary files on Windows 10, do the following:-
Step 1. First, open the Settings app.
Step 2. Then, select the
Step 3. After that, click the
Step 4. On the right side pane, you can turn the toggle to On next to “Storage Sense can automatically free up space by getting rid of files you don’t need, like temporary files and content in your recycle bin.” So that Windows will automatically clean the temporary files as well as Recycle Bin files.
To manually erase the temporary files from your PC, click the
Step 5. Then, select the temporary files you want to remove in the “Temporary files” settings page.
You can choose the following types of Temporary files:-
- Downloads,
- Windows Update Cleanup,
- Delivery Optimization Files,
- Thumbnails,
- Microsoft Defender Antivirus,
- Temporary files,
- Windows error reports and feedback diagnostics,
- DirectX Shader Cache,
- Temporary Windows installation files, and
- Temporary Internet Files.
Step 6. Finally, click the
That’s it. Windows will now purge the selected files on your PC.
How to Remove Temporary Files using Disk Cleanup on Windows 11 and 10?
Using the Disk Cleanup tool, you can also remove temporary files on Windows 11 or 10.
Step 1. At first, open File Explorer by pressing
Step 2. Then, right-click on the Windows installation drive (usually “C“) and select the
Step 3. In the drive properties dialog, select the
Step 4. Then, click the
Step 5. On the “Disk Cleanup” window, click on the
Step 6. Then, check the items you want to delete. For instance, Temporary Windows Installation Files, Windows upgrade log files, Recycle Bin, Temporary Files, and System created Windows Error Reporting. After that, click the
Step 7. On the pop-up window, click the
Once you complete the above steps, temporary files will permanently be deleted from your computer.
How to Erase Temporary Files using the Settings app on Windows 11?
Similar to Windows 10, you can also erase temporary files using the Settings app on Windows 11. Here are the steps.
Step 1. Launch the Settings app by pressing
Step 2. After that, on the Settings windows, click on the
Step 3. On the right sidebar, click on the
Step 4. Then, click on the
Here, you can also turn on the “Storage Sense” toggle on the Storage settings page to automatically clean the temporary files.
Step 5. On the “Temporary files” settings page, select the files you want to delete and then hit the
Quick Tips: To quickly delete temporary files from your PC, press
