You should not need to clear caches, temporary files and junk in Windows. It should be self cleaning and optimizing. In practise however, it does sometimes fix problem and speed up the PC.
When Windows is going about its business of running software, downloading and installing updates, and so on, it creates temporary files. When programs are run, they can also create temporary files. These are not permanent files like programs, documents or Windows files and they contain information that needed to be remembered for a short time, but afterwards, the files and information are no longer needed.
The problem is that temporary files are sometimes not deleted and they can build up day by day until there are hundreds of them. Occasionally, these temporary files can cause a problem with software or with Windows. Clearing out any temporary files that are no longer needed can, in some cases, cure problems. It can certainly recover lost disk space.
It is worth remembering this and the next time you have a problem, try cleaning the PC’s disk drive of temporary files. Even problems that might not seem to be related to temporary files, might be cured too. If you have ever called a tech support service, you will probably have gone through this clean-up procedure and it is one of the standard tasks to perform when things are not going right.
Caches are a special type of temporary file. Information or programs that is often used, is kept on the disk where it is most easily accessed, in a cache. Web browsers store items on web pages in a cache where they can be quickly loaded instead of having to download them again from the internet.
Caches should be self-cleaning and optimizing, and mostly they are. However, when something is not working on the PC, one of the steps taken to fix it is often to clear the caches. In theory, you should never need to, but in practise, if often helps when the PC isn’t working properly.
There are many sources of temporary files and caches, and also many ways to clean them. There are manual methods and utilities that aim to make it easier. Let’s take a look at how to clean up your PC.
Restart Windows so that any caches and temporary files in use are closed.
Show hidden files
Open an Explorer window, click View in the menu bar and then tick two options, File name extensions and Hidden items.
Some of the caches and temporary files are in hidden folders because they are not ones you should normally mess with, unless you know what you are doing.
Empty the Windows Temp folders
Here is a list of places to go in Explorer:
- C:\Temp
- C:\Windows\Temp
- C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\Temp
A quick way to access that last item is to press Windows+R and enter %temp%. Explorer opens Temp folder.
Windows built in cleaning features only deletes items over a week old and that it only if they are enabled. Select Details view and click Date Modified to sort the items by date.
If you just restarted your PC, which is recommended, then only files created today are important and should be kept. Any files older than today can safely be deleted to clear space on the disk and remove clutter. Be careful with folders because a folder may be old, but it may contain new files that are in use.
Empty the CD/DVD burning folder
Not all computers have CD/DVD-writers these days, but if you do use Windows to burn CDs and DVDs, when you create the disc and are about to burn the selected files to disc, they are stored in the Temporary Burn Folder. Clearing it may solve problems with burning discs. It is certainly worth trying.
C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Burn\Temporary Burn Folder
Empty web browser caches
Web browsers like Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera and other, have big caches and tens or even hundreds of megabytes of files are stored in them. The caches contain the items from previously visited web pages and they are designed to speed up the web. The idea is that loading the image from a web page you have visited before from the PC’s disk is quicker than downloading it from the internet.
Caches can normally be ignored and left to the web browser to manage. However, if you are experiencing problems with a website, maybe the browser is loading outdated information from the cache instead of new content from the web.
If you have a problem with a browser or website, clear the cache. It sometimes fixes it and at the very least you can cross it off as a possible cause of the problem.
Each web browser has a different menu system and the cache will be in there somewhere. However, there is a quick keyboard shortcut that works in many browsers, like Chrome, Edge and Firefox.
Press Shift+Ctrl+Del and options to clear items in the cache are displayed.
Clearing everything is best, but be aware that this will sign you out of websites. That is not a problem if you use a password manager because you can just log right back in the next time you visit. However, don’t clear cookies if you have forgotten the password to a site you rely on and don’t clear passwords if you rely on the browser storing them.
Use Windows Disk Clean-up
What else can be cleaned in Windows? Quite a lot actually and it is best to use a utility for it. Windows comes with a good one that goes a long way to cleaning up the junk that accumulates on a PC.
Click the Start button in Windows 10 and type ‘Disk Clean-up’. Click Run as administrator under Disk Clean-up in the search results. Running it as an admin finds and cleans more junk.
There is nothing on the list of items that is important, except the Recycle Bin perhaps. you might want to keep the files in there in case you need them.
Running Disk Clean-up just after a major Windows 10 update can remove several gigabytes of files from the disk. It is great for recovering disk space, but only do it if the PC is running OK after an upgrade because basically you are removing the backup used to undo an update.
Use Wise Disk Cleaner
Wise Disk Cleaner is a free utility that goes even further and cleans even more caches, temporary files and junk from the disk. There is a portable version on the website’s Downloads page that does not install anything. Just download it, unzip it and run it.
The Common Cleaner tab is the default when it is run and this contains seven categories of items that can be cleaned, including Windows system, web browsers, applications and so on.
Expand each section and check what is being cleaned because you might want to keep some things. For example, it can erase passwords stored by web browsers. That’s handy if you are selling your computer and want to erase everything, but it would cause problems if you can’t remember all your passwords.
The default settings are sensible, but check them anyway before going ahead with a cleanup.
On the Common cleaner tab are options to clean the font cache, Windows System Care cache, Windows Installer cache, Windows Update files, caches used by applications, and dozens more items.
On the Slimming System tab are options to remove downloaded installation files, Windows Installer Baseline Cache and more. There is also an option to scan the disk for junk files.
Summing up
There are many ways to clean the disk and remove junk, temporary files and caches. Windows Disk Clean-up and Wise Disk Cleaner are two useful tools that work well, but do not over use them. A once-a-year cleanup is useful for keeping a PC running well. Use them anytime you run into problems because corrupt caches, temporary files and junk can make things worse.
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