. Open Windows File Explorer by clicking the yellow folder icon on the taskbar, and make sure the ribbon is not hidden. Just select View tab on the ribbon at top, and check “Hidden Items” box. Type temp into the address bar and press Enter. Then press Ctrl + A keys to select all items, right click them and select Delete option. Delete Temporary Files in Windows 10 using RUN Run command box is the quickest way that most of the people use their computer for cleaning temp files.
- How To Delete Temporary Files
- Manually Delete Temporary Files
- Delete Temporary Internet Files Edge
- Manually Delete Temporary Internet Files Windows 7
Learning how to delete temporary internet files or to learning how to clear internet history is a bit geeky! The average computer user would probably never go near the temporary Internet files and would not even know that they exist. This is probably a good idea but like the word says, these are “temporary Internet files” and they are pretty safe to delete. In fact I am quite vicious with my temporary Internet files and I delete them often as part of my computer maintenance schedule.
Not all computer users know that these temporary files and junk files accumulate to eventually slow your computer down. This is when you need to take charge and speed up your computer by getting rid of some of the junk.
These folders I am going to show you not only stored temporary Internet files, they also store other temporary files. For example when you open a Microsoft word document it is placed into the temporary folder and when you close the document it is taken out again. Unfortunately sometimes the file is not taken out again and the files that buildup. Same with looking at pages on the Internet. Most of the Internet files are stored temporarily and are kept. It is even worse when you open a document that is stored on the Internet because you will have the full file stored in your temporary files. Basically just using your computer creates extra files that you do not know about. This does not matter if you are just working on the computer or browsing the Internet, it’s still creates files.
I’m not going to tell you how to delete temporary Internet files yet. I am actually going to show you where the temporary files are stored as many people ask me so I know this is a burning question.
First – Where are Temporary Internet Files Stored
There are three different places that you can find temporary files on your computer. They are located in different place in Windows Vista and Windows Xp. In Windows Vista there are three file paths below to follow to view the temporary files. If you would like to see someone deleting these files then please see my computer maintenance video.
C:UsersUsernameAppDataLocalTemp (%temp)
C:WindowsTemp (temp)
C:UsersUsernameAppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsTemporary Internet Files
To view these files you can type the exact path into the run box and you will be taken there. Make sure you replace the part where it says “username” with your own username. For the top two there is a shortcut to type in. This is shown at the end of the path. Therefore to see the first temp folder we would follow these steps:
- Press WINKEY and R to open a run box.
- Then type in %temp% and press ok. See the screenshot below.
How To Delete Temporary Files
The window below will appear showing all the temporary files in this folder…This is all junk and although I clean this temporary folder out often, it still has over 26MB of files in it. That might not seem like much but that is only for one week. Image if you left it there to build up over 52 weeks or more. You should simply select these files and right click on them and delete them. There is nothing there that is needed. The only thing is you might not be able to delete a file if it is being used by another program. You can come back later and delete it.
These files are from your computer use and from opening and viewing items from the internet.
If you want to view the second Windows temp folder then simply type temp into the run box. You can find both of these temp folders the same way in Windows XP.
The last place to find temporary files is the temporary internet files. In Windows Vista they are located at C:Documents and SettingsusernameLocal SettingsTemporary Internet Files. These files include cookies, browsing history, and more..
To find your temporary internet files simply type this path into the run box. Make sure you replace the word username with your username (mine is mitz) for your computer. See the screen shot below. All these files have been collected when you browse the internet.
How to delete temporary internet files Windows XP
- Go to the start menu and choose control panel from the menu.
- Double click on the internet options icon. The Windows below will appear.
- Click on the Settings button, just below the heading, browsing history.
- The Temporary Internet Files and History Settings window will open.
- Click on View files to see the temporary internet files.
Manually Delete Temporary Files
This will give the chance to clear internet history,and clear internet browser cache, including cookies and temp files.
If you are using Internet Explorer You just need to find the Internet options. The screen shot below shows how to find the Internet options in Internet Explorer number nine.
This screen shot is for Firefox.
Now you are welcome to delete any of these files manually if you like. This is how to delete temporary internet files.
How to delete temporary internet files using Windows Tools?
You can use The system tools that are included with the Windows operating system to clean up your computer, however it is widely thought that 3rd party programs can do a more thorough job. To find Windows system tools simply go to the start menu, choose all programs, then accessories, then system tools. This applies to both Windows XP and Windows Vista. You will see a list of system tool programs that you can use to cleanup your computer. You can use disk cleanup to safely delete temporary internet files and you can also Delete your visited website history and other temporary internet files via Internet Explorer.
Deleting temporary internet files is not just about deleting cookies as there are so many files to get rid of.
Install a program to do it all for you! Speed up your computer!
Many people are still not sure if it is safe to remove temporary internet files from their computer. I understand this so for those people I would recommend software to do the job for them.
A software program will not upgrade your memory but it will clean out all the junk files, detect Malware, delete unused registry keys, Automatic Driver updates, and more. At the moment I am using PC Matic to maintain everything for me. This software is amazing and has won a number of top awards. You can get a free scan for your computer to see how it works before you buy.
Now you know how to delete temporary internet files!
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.
Delete Temporary Internet Files Edge
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
172949 How to change the location of temporary Internet files
Manually Delete Temporary Internet Files Windows 7
263070 How Internet Explorer cache settings affect web browsing
175885 Cannot view temporary Internet files on shared computer