This could be the umpteenth article on programs to delete temporary Windows files, which is worth renewing and rewriting in order to see what has changed in Windows 10 and what can be done using external programs that allow cleaning of the computer from unnecessary files, in one click . To tell the story from the beginning, in a synthetic way but without neglecting anything, let's say that Windows, during its operation, creates temporary files in different system folders.
These temporary files are used by Windows to be faster, so as not to have to search and rewrite configuration files, installation files or cache files that could be recalled in subsequent uses.
In the long run, however, after installing programs and after using the PC for many days, these files can start to become many, take up unnecessary space on the hard disk and even cause slight disturbances to the performance and loads of the system.
It is therefore a good habit, in the context of general pc maintenance, to delete these temporary files once in a while, not often, but not even once a year (also because the temporary files are recreated every time after a cleaning ).
To give an example of the temporary files there are:
- Config.msi which contains the backup of applications that are installed which in theory should be automatically deleted.
Since some Installers are not correctly programmed, it happens that the decompressed files after an installation remain inside the Config.msi.
- Thumbs.db is where the thumbnails of thousands of images are stored. Iconcache.db is used to save the icons used; as sometimes you see icons that do not center anything with the file to which they refer, clearing the cache corrects the problem.
- Desktop.ini is used to tell Windows how to view a particular folder and there are customizations related to size, location and way of ordering icons.
- temporary general files of the Temp folder (in C: / Windows / Temp ) and that of the user (who is in AppData -> Local ) all the temporary files of the Windows Update (including the Software Distribution folder) and the trash files -
- Prefetch files, Java cache, history of used files, temporary files of Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera, cookies and, .
Speaking before Windows 10, we find that there are many other types of temporary files than the other versions, including files left after updating the system, reporting errors, after using applications.
Temporary files can be deleted in Windows 10 using the Settings application.
Then open the Settings application from the Start menu.
Go to the System section and then to Storage .
Press on " This PC " disk and scroll down the list of folders and items until you find " temporary files ".
click on Temporary files and select the items to be deleted from the various categories:
- Temporary files
- Download folder
- Trash can
- Previous versions of Windows.
Once the procedure is complete, the selected files will be permanently deleted from the computer freeing up space.
If you are deleting files from a previous version of Windows 10, you will no longer be able to restore this previous version.
However, these files are always automatically removed after 10 days of installation, so chances are they won't be found.
NOTE: In the next version of Windows 10, the one called Creators Update which will be released in June / July 2017, there is also a new option in Settings-> System> Storage that allows you to delete temporary files automatically after 30 days from their creation .
In addition, this option also allows, optionally, to empty the items in the bin after 30 days.
In other versions of Windows, you can empty the trash automatically using some programs.
To delete temporary files in Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and also in Windows 10 you can also delete temporary files using the disk cleaning tool .
Then open File Explorer, go to This PC or My Computer to find the list of disks.
Right click on the main disk, the installation disk (disk C), open the properties and find, in the general tab, the button to open the Disk Cleanup tool.
Alternatively, you can open the Disk Cleanup tool by searching for the word Cleanup on the Windows Start menu.
Wait for the loading and then, in the cleaning tool, select all the items you want to delete, especially the temporary files box.
NOTE: If desired, you can also use this tool to do a complete disk cleanup of unnecessary files on Windows, as explained in another article.
If you want to use an external program that does a check not only of the temporary files created by the Windows system, but also of those created by the various programs used, also including web browsers such as Chrome and Firefox, there are many free solutions.
Among these the most popular is the Ccleaner program, reliable and safe.
In another article, we also found several alternatives to Ccleaner to clean up Windows.
Here are some simpler and more essential programs to delete temporary Windows files in one click.
1) BleachBit, small portable tool that does not require installation, which is used to delete these temporary files on Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10.
2) A similar, immediate and simple program that eliminates temporary files in one click is ATF Cleaner .
3) The Click and Clean tool allows you to quickly delete temporary files both on the desktop and on the Firefox and Chrome browsers.
In another article other programs were reported to eliminate traces of computer use .
