What happens if I delete files in Temp folder in Windows 7?

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What happens if I delete files in Temp folder in Windows 7?

Anonymous

What goes in the Windows-->Temp folder in windows 7, and if I delete the files there, will that cause any problems? I want to free up the 1.8G disk space, but can find no info anywhere of the consequences of deleting these files, what they're for, or how they got there. Thanks!

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Answer 1

In general, it's safe to delete anything in the Temp folder. Sometimes, you may get a "can't delete because the file is in use" message, but you can just skip those files.

For safety, do your Temp directory deleting just after you reboot the computer. Sometimes, a program installer will put something in the Temp directory that it needs to complete the installation after a reboot. If you reboot and wait a bit so that everything has settled down, anything left in the Temp folder should be OK to delete.

If you want to be conservative, use the built-in Disk Cleanup tool (type Disk Cleanup in the Search box). If you select "Temporary files" as one of the items to be cleaned (deleted), by default Disk Cleanup only deletes files that haven't been modified within the past 7 days.

Answer 2

On Fri, 17 Jan 2014 18:56:47 +0000, steveoverholt wrote:

What goes in the Windows-->Temp folder in windows 7, and if I delete the files there, will that cause any problems? I want to free up the 1.8G disk space, but can find no info anywhere of the consequences of deleting these files, what they're for, or how they got there.

Yes, they can, and should be, deleted periodically.

The temp folder provides workspace for programs. Programs can create
temporary files there for their own temporary use. Each program should
delete all its temporary files when it closes, but for various reasons
it doesn't always happen (for example, if the program crashes, it
never gets to do this). That's why it's a good idea to periodically
clean out anything left there.

Also note that there are some program installations which work in two
steps. The first step concludes by writing temporary files and
rebooting. The second step starts automatically after rebooting and
needs to find those files there (and then deletes them when it's
done).

Other than doing it automatically when rebooting (that would interfere
with installations like the kind I described), it's always safe to
delete the contents of the temp folder. Because it's safe to delete
any temp files that aren't open and in use by an application, and
since Windows won't let you delete open files, it's safe to (try to)
delete them at any time. If any fail to delete because they're open,
they'll either be deleted automatically when the app using them
closes, or you'll get them the next time you delete manually.

Some people may suggest that you reboot before deleting anything, but
that's not necessary, for the reason described above (on the other
hand, it doesn't hurt to do it).

Answer 3

You can do that by simply using the Disk cleanup tool. Launch the disk cleanup tool as you normally would.....

Read more:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2852386

I recently found out about this add-on and installed it. I saved me close to 5.00gb of space.

<added>

Automation eliminiates the worry about which files you can delete, no?

Answer 4

What goes in the Windows-->Temp folder in windows 7, and if I delete the files there, will that cause any problems? I want to free up the 1.8G disk space, but can find no info anywhere of the consequences of deleting these files, what they're for, or how they got there. Thanks!

Hi

When a software application runs, it may create a file in the default Temp folder that contains configuration information for the application. If an application is running you will not be able to remove the temporary files associated with that application. These temporary files are normally removed when the application is closed, but not all applications will remove these files.

Use the Disk Cleanup utility to remove the temporary files.

The utility will will remove the files that are safe to delete.

Go to Start and type Disk Cleanup.

In the Results click Disk Cleanup.

See the following tutorial for more information.

Disk Cleanup - Open and Use:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/818-disk-cleanup-open-use.html

Regards

Answer 5

I agree with everything said above but would like to add an additional suggestion, which is to clean out your temp folders and files frequently. Besides taking up space on your hard drive, temporary files can pose a privacy hazard as well. Many forms of malware search your computer for personal information and vulnerabilities, which they send back to the malware operators. One of the places they look for this information is in your temp folders and files. Cleaning out your temp folders in the ways described above helps to minimize the information malware operators can access this way.

You shouldn't assume your computer is free of malware just because you have antivirus and/or malware protection in place. Even the best of these products can take days or weeks to respond to new forms of malware. Also, you don't have to engage in "risky" Internet behavior to get infected by malware... your computer can be infected just by visiting even a "reputable" web site, and you wouldn't even be aware of it. If you want to know more about this, there are plenty of good articles on the Internet that describe other ways to help protect yourself... this is just one of them. And if you're technically minded and want to know more about how your computer can be infected in the way I described, use the search terms "drive-by infections" and "cross-site scripting."

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What happens if I delete files in Temp folder in Windows 7?

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