Clear/delete 'temporary files' in Windows 7

RainbowsInTheSpray

Hi guys. I've been mooching about on my desktop PC which runs W7. Came by accident to: 'Computer>Local disk(C)>Users>Home>AppData>Local>Temp> ....

... and found literally hundreds of entries going back over years, most of them calling themselves 'tmp' but others labeled variously such as 'scoped', 'SA', 'wmp', 'XPI' and many others. Most of them are in the range 1 - 2000kb but there is also one massive 'Microsoft Update' at 44000kb.

I'd like advice as to whether it's necessary to leave all this untouched or whether I can cheerfully clear (any of) it. Any thoughts?

[Deleted User]

You can usually delete everything in there without any issues but probably best to leave anything less than a few days old that may still be in use.

Running disk clean up is the safest way, just run:

cleanmgr.exe

Select C: drive when prompted, make sure the temporary files selection is ticked. This will clean all temp files that haven't been accessed recently, so it will leave some behind but will get rid of all the old ones.

RainbowsInTheSpray

And this won't lead to any operating issues, for example?

flashg67

running the cleaner as suggested shouldn't cause any issues. I've always made a habit of doing this regularly for years with no problems

RainbowsInTheSpray

Ok, many thanks. Will give it a try.

Movie_Star

Search Tweaking.com windows repair and download the free version. Works beautifully to clear old crud from Windows.

wongataa

Movie_Star said:

Search Tweaking.com windows repair and download the free version. Works beautifully to clear old crud from Windows.

Or just use the built in tools that definitely won't cause an issue.