Windows 10 stores a lot of temporary files in order to make sure that the operating system and its features work flawlessly. In addition to the operating system itself, applications installed on it also make use of temporary files that will no longer be needed after a certain period of time. So once in a while, it is a good idea to clear these temporary files in order to save up some space. If you are seeing unusual disk usage without any significantly bigger files or frequent actions, you might want to check your temp folder size and clear it.
While the size of the temporary files can be anywhere from a few bytes to several GBs, clearing the temp files may not always help you to save a lot of space. However, we have had users saying there were even several gigabytes of temporary files stored on their computer created by various programs. So be sure to clear your Windows 10 temporary folder every once in awhile in order to make sure that your valuable disk space is not being used to by some unnecessary temporary files.
Steps to Clear Temp Files in Windows 10
Before continuing, make sure that you do not have any programs open just to be sure that we are not deleting any temporary files used by any active programs.
- Press Win + R to open the Run prompt.
- Type %temp% in the window.
- Press Enter. It will take you to the temp folder where Windows stores temporary files.
- Select all the files by pressing Ctrl + A.
- Then press the Delete button on your keyboard.
- Confirm the action by clicking Yes. Now Windows will start deleting the temporary files.
- During the process, it might tell you that some files are being used, your can Skip them.
- Once you have deleted the unnecessary temp files, you will see some disk space has been freed on Windows 10.
Your temp folder is located at C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Local\Temp.
Do not worry because we are deleting some files. Temporary folders and files inside the temp folder are safe to be deleted. So there is no need to worry about any data loss. Repeat the same steps mentioned above every once in a while, especially if you actively work with your computer and programs.