Cleaning the operating system of temporary files is a habit that has been preserved since the popularity of XP and earlier versions of Microsoft OS. With Windows 10, the situation is somewhat different, but the idea of removing everything unnecessary from the working system, which is firmly entrenched in the minds of users, is difficult to eradicate.
Basic moments
Does the “ten” need cleaning and how can it be carried out more competently? Let's figure it out. What kind of extra load can the system be freed from? Usually we are talking about:
- deleting temporary files of the OS itself;
- destruction of remnants of third-party programs (most often browsers);
- clearing the registry of errors;
- trying to free up disk space by removing “garbage”;
- way to speed up your computer using the same method.
Windows 10 is Microsoft's new and, to some extent, most advanced operating system. Theoretically, it should be smarter than outdated versions and make sure that junk files that accumulate during its operation do not slow down the system. The company employees themselves, in one of the interviews, reacted extremely negatively and with concern to one of the most popular third-party programs for cleaning the registry and temporary files, citing the fact that dubious utilities should not be allowed to “encroach” on data, and especially on the registry.
These words are not so empty and are not an attempt to protect your brainchild from “leftist” applications. Indeed, some “tweakers” can lead to instability in Windows 10, and some of them are simply blocked during installation. The situation has reached the point where some small system setup utilities that have long become familiar may lead to the need to reinstall the system.
What Microsoft itself offers
Therefore, the first step is to evaluate the built-in capabilities of the OS, with the help of which the system partition can be cleaned. You cannot access the registry on the recommendation of the creators of the operating system. All that remains is to clear temporary files and free up drive C from them so that there is some space for something more useful. Windows 10 itself offers an interesting and quite informative tool that was not available in older OSes - “Storage”.
- Press the key combination Win+I...
- In the window that opens with all OS parameters, open the “System” section.
- Here select the appropriate tab:
As you can see, here you can visually examine the contents of your hard drive or SSD and understand whether cleaning is necessary. By clicking on any of the drives, you can get accurate information regarding the number of files of a particular type. At the very bottom of the list there is always a “Temporary files” item, as well as a button for emptying the Recycle Bin as a nested option. By using them, you can free up a specified amount of space on the storage medium.
The second way to clean up a disk in Windows 10 is to right-click on the disk icon and select “Properties”. Here, on the main tab, it’s hard not to notice the “Disk Cleanup” button.
Clicking it by itself will not lead to irreversible changes - Windows 10 will only scan the media for anything that can be safely deleted. At the end, it will display a list in which you can select those items where you need cleaning.
Be careful: what if you need it from a previous installed system (if there is one), because without unchecking the “Previous installations” checkbox, you can immediately lose this folder. Although over time it will disappear on its own.
Here are two main methods by which you can clear your system of excess accumulated junk.
Third Party Applications
As mentioned above, installed programs should be used only at your own peril and risk: only you are responsible for the performance of Windows 10 after they “pass” through the system partition. CCleaner remains the most popular utility since Windows XP. This is exactly what Microsoft programmers don’t like. The application has a simple and intuitive interface:
The “Cleaning” and “Registry” items are the most treasured ones for those who want to clean their Windows 10 of junk. But before you rush to temporary files, carefully monitor the checkboxes:
Without doing this, you may lose important data. For example, in the screenshot just above, there is a checkmark next to the Trash files, as well as passwords and forms saved in the browser. After clicking the “Analysis” button and then the “Cleaning” button, the browser will return to its initial state, only bookmarks will be saved. Therefore, be careful.
This concludes our short tour of system cleaning options. Use only proven and reliable methods and avoid little-known, suspicious applications and utilities.
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In our opinion, it’s easier to buy a 250 GB hard drive for 2000 rubles once than to constantly puzzle over how to clean your computer of debris. Cleaning the C drive in Windows 10 is performed using system tools. So, to be honest, it’s not very difficult to rid your computer of junk. We believe that every student can do this. But those who came here are apparently going to find something new for themselves. This is good, because we are just going to dwell on the topic of cleaning Windows 10 from garbage in a little more detail.
In theory, there should no longer be a Windows.old folder on all PCs, but you can still find a couple of GB of garbage. And this, as you know, is very exciting: cleaning your computer instead of spending 2000 rubles. Why exactly this amount? Ten will work more than tolerably with a 250 GB system disk, and there is no need to clean anything.
Via Explorer
What can be cleaned?
The system will think for a while...
and offer your options.
At first glance it doesn’t look very promising, but if you look through it...
then you can find something more interesting. As a rule, all these files can be safely deleted, but we are much more interested in something else: how much space can third-party software give? Let's try!
Third party software
Quite a lot of people preferred CCleaner. Let's see what the discrepancy will be between this application and the system tools of the dozen.
Having launched the application, we saw many unchecked boxes. When installing almost each of them, a sound warning was issued, and the inscription indicated on the screen appeared. But we achieved our goal and began to wait to see what figure CCleaner would show at the maximum of its capabilities. Please note that already at the analysis stage the application closed all running browsers. Please take note. The resulting figure was approximately three times higher. And if we needed free space, we would use the services of the program.
What to clean with?
You just saw that a third-party Windows 10 cleaner can free up more space than the system's built-in tools. If CCleaner is not the best option, it is at least a good one. And most importantly - proven over years of operation. It is also a reliable operating system registry cleaner. For Windows 10 this is an acceptable option.
Additionally
In addition to the built-in system utilities discussed above, some may be interested in deeper depths. We do everything exactly the same:
- Win + E.
- We are looking for the system disk.
- Right click and go to Properties.
- Select Clean...
- We wait.
- In the window that appears, select Clean up system files.
- The same window appears, but it has an Advanced tab.
But it’s too early to rejoice. The top button just leads to the Uninstall programs window (the same as in the Control Panel), the bottom one – control of recovery points. Clear the hard drive and lose the ability to roll back the system? That's bullshit. That is, we would not do what is written in this paragraph at all. Our readers decide for themselves how to clean Windows.
The same applies to the advice of those who suggest cutting up storage space for recovery information. This way you can clean the disk for the time being until the first failure occurs. After this, no one thinks anymore about whether or not it is necessary to leave space for storing such information. It is even given in excess. For those who don’t want to listen, we give the algorithm:
- Win + Break.
- In the left column, click on Advanced options.
- On the System Protection tab, there are options for managing the allocation of space for storing recovery information. Reduce or completely ban collections.
Remove hibernation
Many people complain that the hibernation file takes up a lot of space. Why is it needed at all? To quickly restore your working environment. Ideally, the size of the Hiberfil.sys file should be approximately equal to the size of the RAM installed on the PC. This allows you to save the contents of memory onto the hard drive as efficiently as possible. Hibernation is turned off via the command line (we wouldn't do this, but the choice is up to the readers):
- Win + X to enter the system menu.
- Selecting to run Command Prompt as Administrator.
- Type powercfg -h off
- If the hiberfil.sys file does not disappear, delete it altogether.
We have already told you how to launch (for this) Explorer with the appropriate rights (create a shortcut on the desktop and operate through the properties in the Advanced section)!
Changing the paging file size
Typically the page file is equal to the size of the installed RAM. How to clean?
- Win + Break.
- In the left column Additional parameters.
- Advanced tab.
- Performance section.
- Advanced tab.
- At the bottom of the window you will see a button required to make changes.
A "cleaned" disk may run slower. Because system files are affected. But this is still better than if a third-party cleaner was operating here. There are hundreds more ways. When reading about them, know that all the main things are listed here. Do whatever you want and stop worrying about how to clean your system!
Windows 10, like its predecessors, has the amazing ability to accumulate a bunch of junk files and remnants of long-deleted applications. All this can be aggravated by viruses that accumulate during work. And despite the fact that the operating system has its own resources for automatically removing garbage, they must still be activated, and to fully believe in cleanliness and order, periodically clean the computer manually.
Cleaning the Temp folder in Windows 10
The Temp folder is the main storehouse of junk for Windows 7. All it contains is system garbage in the form of temporary files, which can and should be deleted with an absolutely clear conscience, without the slightest risk of harming your computer.
Through parameters
One of the most relevant innovations in Windows 10 is bringing temporary file cleaning to the user level. Now, in order to get rid of ill-fated garbage, it is not at all necessary to look for specially designated places for it, but rather just use standard services.
Cleaning Temp
This time you won’t have to go far and all you need to do is go to the “Options” tab.
- Right-click on Start and select Settings.
Select Options"
- Open to the “System” section.
Open to the “System” section
- Go to the “Storage” tab and select the drive with your system (usually C:\).
Go to the “Storage” tab and select the disk with your system
- After a short analysis, go to the temporary files.
Go to temporary file
- Check "Temporary files" and delete them. At the same time, you can clean the basket with loads.
Check "Temporary files" and delete them
Enabling Temp autocleaning
To avoid repeating this procedure again, you can set automatic deletion of temporary files.
Traditionally
The other side of the coin of the new Windows functionality is its limitations, as a result of which many users vehemently dislike the very mention of the Settings tab. Moreover, in some cases, cleaning temporary files using standard tools may fail, be unavailable, or do nothing at all. If for one reason or another the methods described above do not suit you, you can always use the old methods of removing system garbage.
How to find
The easiest way is not to go uphill, but to use the search.
If you are using a limited version of Windows, you may not be able to find this folder as it is located in "AppData", which is hidden. Due to the same secrecy, you will also not be able to find it directly and will have to go into the control panel.
- Right-click on Start and go to Control Panel.
Go to Control Panel
- On later versions of Windows 10, this button may not be available. If you don't have it, go through the search.
Can't find it through start, go through search
- Go to “Design and Personalization” when sorting into categories.
Go to “Design and Personalization”
- Go to "Show hidden files and folders".
Go to "Show hidden files and folders"
- Scroll to the bottom, check “Show hidden files, folders and drives” and click “OK”. After this, access to the Temp folder will be open to you in any way.
Check "Show hidden files, folders and drives" and click "OK"
How to clean
Once in the Temp folder, you won’t have to sort through anything. Press the key combination “Ctrl+A” and feel free to delete everything.
When deleting, you can hold down the Shift key so that you don’t have to empty the Recycle Bin later. All files contained here do not have any uniqueness and even after deleting those in use, all the necessary ones will simply be created anew. If some files are not deleted, most likely they are active at the moment and you can forget about them or restart your computer to unlink them and try to delete them again.
How to transfer
If you are tired of looking for the Temp folder every time, you can move it to an arbitrary place where you can walk closer.
- First, you need to create a folder to store temporary files. Select a place on your computer where you want to see system garbage and create it there with any name (preferably in English). Copy the folder path in advance.
Select a place on your computer where you want to see system garbage and create it there with any name
- Now go to the control panel.
You can get there through search
- Go to the “System and Security” tab when categorizing.
Go to the "System and Security" tab
- Open the "System" section.
Open the "System" section
- Click on "Advanced system settings" in the context menu.
Click on "Advanced system settings"
- In the "Advanced" tab, open "Environment Variables...".
Open "Environment Variables..."
- Select TEMP and click Change.
Select TEMP and click "Change"
- Enter the path to the folder you created here and click OK.
Enter the path to the folder you created here
- Repeat what you did with TMP. When finished, click “OK” in all previously opened windows and restart your computer.
Repeat what you did with TMP
- After the reboot, do not forget to delete the old folder with all its contents.
After reboot, don't forget to delete the old folder
How to clean your Windows 10 computer from junk using an application
A bad feature of the Temp folder is that only those files that the system has assessed as temporary are stored in it. But Windows 10 is not omnipotent and it does not consider a large amount of system garbage as such and leaves it lying in place. You can, of course, remove all this junk manually, carefully searching through the dark corners of your system, but it will be much easier and more practical to download a special application that can clean everything in just a couple of clicks. 
When finished, restart your computer and delete your backups
Cleaning the system from viruses
In addition to system garbage and forgotten files, there may be more unpleasant things that it wouldn’t hurt to get rid of. And even if you already have an antivirus, this does not guarantee you protection from all sorts of nasty things and may require checking with a program from alternative developers.
Even after activating automatic removal of temporary files, do not forget to periodically clean your computer yourself, since standard Windows tools are far from all-powerful. And if you start to notice a gradual decline in performance and a long system loading time when you turn on the computer, it’s time to repeat a couple of points from the above.
Over time, a large number of unnecessary files accumulate on the main partition of the hard drive, which is called the letter C by default, taking up a lot of space. Since the disk allocated for the system and system elements most often has a small volume, the presence of temporary files and files left over from deleted programs can lead to the fact that free space on the disk becomes catastrophically low. Manually deleting files from this drive is very difficult because they may be located very deep in the folder system, and it is also dangerous because you can accidentally erase items that are necessary for the computer to function correctly. To safely clean up your system disk in Windows 10, your best bet is to use the built-in Disk Cleanup program.
Windows 10 Disk Cleanup: Built-in Tools
There are several ways to open the Disk Cleanup program in Windows 10. Remember that you should only use it if drive C is full and there is no way to clean it by removing third-party programs.
Through command execution
Via control panel
How to use the program
- In the “Disk Cleanup” block, you need to check all the departments that you want to clean.
- Having selected a department, you can read all the information about what it contains, as well as view the files that belong to this section by clicking the “View files” button.
- To proceed to removing system files, click the “Clean up system files” button. You will need administrator rights to access this feature. But it is better not to remove any elements of the system, as this may lead to system breakdown or incorrect operation.
- In the “Advanced” tab, you can proceed to remove unnecessary programs by clicking the “Clean” button in the “Programs and Features” block.
- In the “System Restore and Shadow Copies” block, you can click the “Clean” button to proceed to deleting unnecessary recovery points that also take up space on drive C. It is not recommended to delete all points, and it is also better to save one or two of the last ones in order to always have the ability to roll back the system if some error occurs that cannot be corrected by other methods.
- Once you have selected which partitions you want to clean and have ticked them, click the OK button to begin the process. Do not interrupt the cleaning process or turn off the computer so that no errors occur and all files are deleted correctly.
Advanced Cleaning
Each user with administrator rights has the opportunity to launch the Disk Cleanup program with more options than there are during normal startup.
What to do if the application does not start
The program may not open using any of the above methods only because the file responsible for launching the application is not in the default path. Try to find this file manually, it may be located in the following path: C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386. If it is not there either, or the folder itself does not exist, then there is only one thing left to do - use third-party programs to clean up the disk.
How to clean up drive C on Windows 10 using third-party programs and applications
There are many programs that allow you to clean your hard drive from unnecessary and temporary files. Many of them are distributed on the Internet for free and are in no way inferior to the built-in Disk Cleanup program. Next, we will consider the most popular, convenient and easy-to-use applications.
CCleaner
The positive aspects of this program include the following qualities:
Kaspersky Cleaner
A program from a well-known campaign that previously specialized only in antiviruses, but has now started producing applications with other tasks. You can download Cleaner from Kaspersky from the official website by finding it in the general list of all programs -
The main advantage of the application is its simple design, which allows you to complete all the necessary tasks by pressing one “Start scanning” button.
Also, if you don’t like the changes made by the program after the last session, you can cancel them by clicking the “Cancel Changes” button in the main menu.
What can cause your hard drive to fill up?
If you have cleaned up your disk using one of the above methods, but have not freed up enough space, try the following:
- Manually go through all the files stored on the drive and see which ones can be moved to another drive or deleted. Do not touch system files and programs; you can only move and edit elements that you personally added.
- Remove unnecessary third-party programs that are definitely not useful to you.
- Check your computer for viruses. Perhaps the virus itself takes up some of the free space or regularly downloads advertising files and applications that clog up the disk.
It is recommended that you clean out the C drive regularly, as how busy it is will determine how quickly the computer can find the files you need and present them to the user. That is, if drive C is overloaded, the system runs slower. And also, all browsers and other programs send temporary files and cache to the main disk by default, and if there is no space on it, then there will be nowhere to store the necessary elements. Based on all the problems described, we can conclude that it is worth cleaning the disk using special programs at least once a month.
Some Windows devices, like tablets, have limited memory. From time to time, users encounter a lack of internal space when installing new programs or system updates. In this manual we will tell you how to free up space on the Windows 10 system disk from unnecessary files.
There are many different cleaning programs available, such as CCleaner, but Microsoft strongly discourages their use. That is why we will consider only systemic mechanisms.
How to delete temporary files in Windows 10
Windows 10 has a fairly easy way to delete unused temporary files.
What files should be deleted
Let's figure out what types of files you can delete without any consequences.
- Windows Update files. You can and should get rid of them (since Update Center in Windows 10 often forgets to do this automatically), but we recommend using the utility for this Disk Cleanup or clear the update center folder manually (this will be discussed a little later in our instructions). Application Options sometimes it fails to remove these system files and freezes.
- Windows Error Reporting Files. This temporary data can be safely deleted.
- Windows Defender Antivirus. You can also safely get rid of these files.
- Sketches. You should not delete these files on weak devices or on devices with a slower drive, especially if you view photos in Explorer quite often. The thumbnail cache usually doesn't take up much space, but it greatly speeds up Explorer.
- Files from previous versions of Windows. During the first 10 days after installing a major update, you have the opportunity to roll back to a previous version of Windows using these files. If you do not intend to do this, or 10 days have already passed, you can delete them. True, as in the case of the Windows Update cache, for this we recommend using the utility Disk Cleanup.
- Temporary files. They can be removed without problems.
- Temporary Internet files. After removing them, you may notice a slight slowdown in the Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer browsers, but this will go away very soon - as soon as the browsers create new cache files.
- Delivery optimization files. You can easily remove them.
- DirectX Texture Builder Cache. You can also get rid of these files without any problems.
How to enable and configure automatic deletion of temporary files
How to clear app cache from Windows Store
Each application from the Windows Store creates its own temporary files in order to work correctly. Some of these objects are deleted automatically, but some are not. For manual cleaning, there is a separate option for deleting unnecessary temporary files.
Note: Please note that after such an operation you will have to log in to your account in the application again and configure it. All current data will be lost.
How to remove unnecessary applications
Almost everyone has unused applications on their computer. To prevent them from taking up extra space, it makes sense to get rid of them.
- Go to Settings - Applications - Applications and features.
- Click on menu Filter by and select the item This computer (C:).
- Find programs you don't need in the list of applications.
- Click on such an application and click Delete.
Please note that not all standard applications can be removed using this method. If you want to get rid of standard programs, the "" instruction will help you.
How to use the built-in Disk Cleanup utility
For many years now, Windows has had a special utility for deleting most non-critical system files. It works quite well, so you shouldn’t neglect it.
How to clear folders with cache of Win32 programs and Update Center
Above we showed how to delete temporary application files from Windows Store. But regular Win32 programs often create even more cache. In addition, Windows Update often stores files of already installed system updates for a long time. Fortunately, all this is easy to get rid of.
How to move system folders to another drive
Many users unknowingly store their documents, presentations, music and other files on the system drive, often without even knowing it. Recall that folders like Documentation, Music, Downloads, Desktop, are located on the system drive by default. In addition, the OneDrive folder is usually placed on drive C.
How to clean up or move system folders in Windows 10
Some system folders with temporary files cannot be cleared using normal actions. The most voluminous of these directories is WinSxS. You can read about that in the corresponding article.
How to activate Compact mode in Windows 10
A special system operating mode has been added to Windows 10 - Compact. It is intended for devices with SSD storage, but can be useful on regular computers as well.
The essence of Compact mode is to compress rarely used system files, which allows you to free up up to 2 GB of space on the system disk. You can find detailed instructions on how to activate this mode in the article "".
How to Shrink or Delete the Hibernation File in Windows 10
Windows 7 debuted this feature hibernation, which migrated to Windows 10. Its essence is to save all files from RAM on the system drive, so that even after turning off/on the computer you can continue working from where you left off. Also part of the hibernation function is quick start- a special mode that speeds up system loading.
The advantage of hibernation is convenience. The downside is that for it to work, the system creates a special file on the system disk, the size of which often exceeds several gigabytes. And even if you don't use it, the hibernation file will still take up precious space. But Windows developers have provided the ability to reduce the size or delete the hibernation file.
How to reduce hibernation file size
Reducing the file size will disable the ability to directly hibernate, but will retain the Fast Launch feature.
How to delete the hibernation file
Deleting the hibernation file completely will free up more space, but will remove both the hibernation feature and the Quick Startup feature.
How to reduce or delete the page file in Windows 10
(or virtual memory) is used by the system as a replacement for RAM. It has a beneficial effect on multitasking and performance in Windows 10, but it also takes up several gigabytes of your system disk. The system contains tools that allow you to change the file size or delete it.
