Temporary files are the most unwanted data on your computer. Due to these temporary files, your PC may work slow or inappropriately. To keep your machine efficient enough, it is recommended to clear cache or temporary files from your computer. Therefore, we will talk about cleaning temporary files in this blog. Learn with us how to clear temp files on Windows 10, 8, 7, and Mac PC.
In this particular guide, you will discover different ways of removing temporary files from your Windows or Mac system.
When you run an application on your computer, the temporary files take place. These temporary files can be created by your operating system itself. Even after you complete the task, the files stay right there on your computer. Not just this, these files get collected in a large number that does nothing but occupies space unnecessarily on your computer.
As a result, it affects your PC functionality or makes it slow during work. To deal with this situation, you should clear Windows temp files. Try a guide to clean Windows 10 cache.
Without further ado, let’s know how to clean temp files on Windows 10, 8, 7 and Mac PC.
To clear out temp files, all you are required to locate the temporary files on your system and remove them instantly. Now, there are different ways that can be followed to find temporary files on your computer. For instance, you can find and delete the unwanted temporary files with the help of the Disk Utility, Command Prompt, and Windows Explorer (This PC).
In case you have no idea how to clean temp files on Windows 10, 8, 7 then you can walk through the following guide. Here, we will tell you the effective ways to clear out temp files based on your Windows version.
Note for you: Before moving forward, make sure you have logged in with the administrative rights. Also, close all the running apps or programs in case you have opened any. Now, let’s continue reading.
As stated earlier, you can follow different ways to delete temporary files on your Windows computer. For Windows 10 you can view hidden files to delete them, clean the disk, or run a command line to delete temporary files.
If you are a Windows 10, 8 user the upcoming instructions are for you. Follow these steps carefully and remove the unwanted data from your PC.
The first method to clean temporary files is to view them on your system via This PC folder. This will display a list of temporary files so that you can delete the one you want. Here is how to do that.
Once you do so, the selected temporary files will be deleted instantly. This is how you can clean out temp files on Windows 10 using the Windows Explorer (This PC) folder.
In this method, we will run the Disk Cleanup tool on your system. Once this tool launches on your computer, it cleans the disk properly. As a result, the temporary files get removed instantly. Now, this can be done in two ways; from Settings and Taskbar. Follow these steps to understand clearly.
You can either follow Settings or Taskbar to reach all the temporary files. Thereafter, you can clear temp files on Windows 10 or 8 through Disk Cleanup. This will free up some space on your computer.
Another method to clear temp files on Windows 10 or 8 is to run the command. This method works better than others. To run the command line, you can follow these steps :
Once you are done running this command, this will clear all the temporary files available on your computer. These are the steps for how to clear temp files in Windows 8 or Windows 10.
Those who use Windows 7 can also follow the same steps to clear the temporary files. However, there can be a slight change in the settings options. To not make any confusion, we will be guiding you with the steps for how to clean temp files on Windows 7.
To clean up Windows 7 temp files, you can go to My Computer to locate temporary files. Then, you can delete them. Besides that, you can run the Disk Cleanup or execute the command line to clear out temp files. Below we will understand the procedure with a step by step guidance.
In this method, you can go through My Computer to reveal all the temporary files. Then, mark the unwanted files to remove. To do so, you can go through the following steps:
This is an easy and manual procedure to get the job done. After following these steps, the temporary files will be removed from your Windows 7 PC.
Another best way to clear temporary files is to run the Disk Cleanup on Windows 7. For this method, you can launch the Disk Cleanup in two different ways; Start Menu and My Computer. Below we will show both the ways with step by step guidance.
Method 2.2: My Computer
These are the two ways to reach Disk Cleanup Utility. Then, you can remove selective or all the temporary files from your Windows 7 computer.
This method provides a command line that you can perform in the Command Prompt window. If you want to know how to clear the temp files in Windows 7 using a command, you can go through the following steps:
When you are done following these steps, the command will start doing its work. As a result, your temporary files will be deleted from Windows 7 PC.
Thus far, you have understood all the ways to clean temp files on Windows 10, Windows 8, or Windows 7.
Suggestion: If you are having issues with your internet browser then you can clear the browser cache to improve your browser experience.
For any reason, if you fail to clean temporary files on your Windows computer then there must be some issues with your machine. Unstable Disk Cleanup, outdated versions, and third-party apps may prevent you to clear all the cache. To solve this problem, you can implement a number of solutions we are providing below.
The most effective way to delete temporary files is to access Disk Cleanup. However, there can be instances when the Disk Cleanup gets stuck in between. As a result, you are unable to delete the temporary files. In this scenario, you can launch the Disk Cleanup with administrative rights.
In addition, you can run the command line: sfc /scannow /offbootdir=D:\ /offwindir=D:\Windows\
Some users have been reporting that they are unable to delete the temporary files on their PC. This can happen due to bugs that prevent certain operations to perform. In that case, you need to make sure that you have the most recent update of Windows PC. You can also turn off automatic windows 10 and Windows 7 updates.
To check the updates of your Windows PC, you can do the following:
If you find any update available, you can download and install it on your computer. Thereafter, you can try clearing the temporary files and delete windows update files.
In the SoftwareDistribution folder, there may be some data that is not allowed to clean temporary files. In this case, you can first delete data from the SoftwareDistribution directory. For this, you can do the following:
In this method, you can first enter into Safe Mode and then try to clear temporary files using the normal method. To get into Safe Mode, you can follow these steps:
After following these steps, when your computer restarts, you will see a list of options on your screen. Here, you can choose the Safe Mode in any version by using the corresponding key. Once you are in Safe Mode, you can delete the temporary files on your Windows PC.
Users reported that third-party applications such as Spotify and Skype can cause issues with temporary files. As a result, you fail to delete them from your system. If that is the case then you should first uninstall such apps and then delete temporary files on your PC.
To uninstall third-party apps, you can do the following:
This is how you can remove the third-party apps from your computer. Thereafter, you can try cleaning the temporary files using the Disk Cleanup.
Till now you have read the method that you need to perform manually on your machine. In case, you want to save your time or are not willing to go through Windows configuration manually, we have got some alternative solutions for you.
You can use PC Cleaner Tools to delete temporary files on your computer. When you download and install a PC cleaner program, it automatically detects and cleans the unwanted files from your machine.
Now, in the upcoming details, we will be talking about the Mac computer. So if you are a Mac user, continue reading to know the best ways to clear temp files on MacBook.
As is well known, one should clean your PC’s cache periodically. If you are a Mac user and want to know how to clean temp files from Mac, we will enlighten you.
All you are required to visit the Finder folder to locate and delete temporary files. Now, the Mac Finder can be approached in two ways; using Shortcuts or open Finder directly. Let’s know how to do that in the following steps.
The first method is to use Shortcut keys in order to open the Finder. For that, you can follow these instructions:
In case, it prompts you for the password, you can enter it in order to complete the process. This is how you can use Shortcuts keys to open Finder.
Another way to open Finder is to reach its folder. To do so, you can walk through the following instructions:
Once you are done executing these steps, the temporary files or cache files will be removed from your Mac computer.
After a period of time, every user should clean the cache or temporary files on their computer. In this guide, we have talked about numerous ways to clean temporary files on Windows and Mac computers.
In addition, if you are unable to clear temporary files on Windows PC, we provided the best possible solutions to fix that. Besides this, if you want to clear temporary files automatically, then you can use third-party programs (PC Cleaner Tools).
We have also covered a detailed guide on clearing cache and cookies and your computer as well as on the browser. Go through these curated articles: