Removing Temporary Files on a computer

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Removing Temporary Files on a computer

Microsoft continues to push the Settings application in Windows 11 just like it has done in Windows 10. The latest victim of the replacement policy was the classic Disk Cleanup tool. Used among other things to clean up old versions of Windows to free up Gigabytes of storage space, Microsoft announced in 2018 that it would replace the Classic Tool with Storage Sense, which it added to the operating system's Settings application.

 Up until now, Disk Cleanup was accessible from the Properties dialog window of drives. Microsoft replaced the link to the Disk Cleanup tool with a link to Storage Sense in the latest Windows 11 build.

Temporary Files on a computer

As a computer runs programs, temporary files are stored on the hard drive. Deleting these temp files help improve computer performance. It’s a good idea to delete temporary files from your computer now and then.

They take up space that could be used for other data (or that could be left free, which helps your computer run faster). Temporary files slow down your computer and make it difficult to work sometimes, it can even be hard to perform basic operations.

Here’s what each file type means in Disk Cleanup:

• Downloaded Program Files: These are temporary ActiveX and Java applet files that were downloaded to let you view your content. You can safely delete these files.
• Temporary Internet Files: These are the cache files for Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer. You can delete these files without any issues. Note that this won’t delete your Chrome or Firefox cache.
• Windows Error Reports and Feedback: These are various Windows error reports and feedback generated on your system. You can delete them.
• Delivery Optimization Files: These files are used to upload Windows Updates to other PCs. Feel free to remove these files.
• Recycle Bin: Choosing this option deletes the files currently sitting in Recycle Bin.
• Temporary Files: This option deletes your apps’ various temporary files. It only removes the files that haven’t been used recently.
• Thumbnails: These are the thumbnails of your various file types. You can delete them and Windows will recreate them when you open your folders.

Windows Disk Cleanup utility:

• Open Disk Cleanup by press the Windows + R keys at the same time.
• In the RUN box, type cleanmgr.exe, and then, in the Disk Clean-up: Drive Selection, select the drive that you want to clean up, and then select OK.
• In the Disk Cleanup dialog box in the Description section, select Clean up system files.
• If prompted, select the drive that you want to clean up, and then select OK.
• In the Disk Cleanup dialog box, on the Disk Cleanup tab, select the check boxes for the file types that you want to delete, and then select OK.
• In the message that appears, select Delete files.
• Go back to Computer in File Explorer, select the drive you cleaned up, and then select Refresh. If you need to free more space (the drive is still marked red), go to the next tip.

Note: the tool may recommend deleting “Windows ESD Installation Files,” but you shouldn’t delete them. This is because Windows uses those files to helps with the reset PC.

Unfortunately, the windows Disk Cleanup utility may not delete all file in the temp directory, try deleting the temporary files manually:

1. On your keyboard, press the Windows + R keys at the same time.
2. In the Open field, type %temp%, then press ENTER. The temp folder will open.

     3. Press the CTRL + A keys at the same time to select all the .tmp items.

     4. Press the DELETE key, and then click Yes when the User Account Control window appear to Confirm. You can delete all Files and Folders found in Temp folder and if any Files or Folders are in use and cannot be deleted, they can be skipped.