Where is temporary files in windows 7

Sometimes temporary files will stick around for longer than you want them to and take up hard drive space. The tools will be covered in this guide. You may also want to access temporary files in order to restore data that would otherwise be lost.

Expanding on the first example, if a word processing program crashes while in use the incomplete text file can often be found in one of the temporary file folders. As there are many different types of temporary files, there are several places where temporary files are stored. The two main areas are in the Windows folder and in your user folder:. Online guides of all kinds for accessing specific files are also pretty easy to find with an internet search.

One of the easiest ways to clear up disk space is to use the built in Disk Cleanup tool. It can delete system files that are no longer needed. You can download the free version and use the Quick Clean feature to have CCleaner automatically decide what to remove, or go through the options in Custom Clean to choose what to keep and get rid of. As of the latest Windows updates, it has become much easier to get to your temporary files and even restore them in case you have accidentally deleted them recently:.

Select Restore files from a current backup. Step 2. You can now browse to your temp file folders and you will be able to select the files that you want and then choose to restore them. This is yet another simple task that you can achieve easily. This is for Windows 10, but should work in other Win systems. This will show literally all the files in every subfolder.

This is the folder with the first few letters of your name or username if you signed into your computer using an email address. Double-click the AppData folder.

It's near the top of the window. Double-click the Local folder. This folder is at the top of the window. Select the Temp folder. Click the Temp folder, which is near the bottom of the window, to select it. This tab is in the upper-left corner of the window. Click Properties. It's at the bottom of the drop-down menu. Clicking it prompts a new window to open. Uncheck the "Read-only" box.

You'll find this near the bottom of the window. Click Apply. It's in the bottom-right corner of the window. Click OK when prompted. This will ensure that everything in the Temp folder is affected by the removal of the "Read-only" protection. You may have to click Continue or Skip , or otherwise verify that you want to remove read-only protection from this folder, before continuing.

Click OK. It's at the bottom of the window. You can now proceed with deleting the Temp folder's contents. Double-click the Temp folder to open it in Windows Explorer.

Select all of the folder's files. Click Organize again and then click Select all , or press the Ctrl and A keys at the same time. Delete the files. Press your computer's Del key, or click Organize and then click Delete in the drop-down menu.

Doing so will move the Temp folder's contents into the Recycle Bin. You'll need to empty the Recycle Bin in order to permanently remove these files from your computer. There may be a couple of system files in the Temp folder. If so, you won't be able to delete these. They'll only take up a few kilobytes of space. Part 3. Click the My Computer tab again. It's on the left side of the Windows Explorer window. Double-click your hard drive. This will re-open your hard drive's folder.

Double-click the Windows folder. It's usually near the middle of this window. Scroll down and select the Temp folder. Remove the Temp folder's read protection. Click Apply Click OK when prompted.

Double-click the folder to do so. Part 4. Click the text box. It's the search field at the bottom of the Start window.

Type in internet options. Doing so will search your computer for the Internet Options program. Click Internet Options. It's the globe-shaped icon at the top of the Start window. Click the General tab.

This option is in the top-left side of the Internet Options window. Click Settings. It's in the lower-right corner of the "Browsing history" section of the window. Click View files. This option is near the bottom-right corner of the window. Select the files. Doing so will send the Internet cache folder's files to the Recycle Bin. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. It's good to clear your computer's temporary files once a month or so to prevent them from building up.

Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0. Using Internet Options' or Disk Cleanup's "clear temporary files" feature won't remove the temporary files from these folders. You Might Also Like How to. How to. About This Article. Written by:. Co-authors: Updated: April 15, Categories: Windows 7. Article Summary X 1.

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