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Why are there temporary internet files in AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE when I don't use IE?

Anonymous
2017-10-17T21:58:06+00:00

I use Chrome, just a preference, and I never ever use IE. Or Edge.

Today I was cleaning up my drive of temporary files and the drive tools > Cleanup tool showed me that I had 8GB of temporary internet files. So I chose to delete them. It failed (although it didn't actually tell me it had failed). So I dug into the file system and found that AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE had 8GB of internet cache. All the stuff I browse in Chrome!?

Why does IE cache my Chrome webpage history? 

I launched IE (which asked me loads of first-launch questions), settings > internet options > browsing history > delete. I unchecked "Preserve..." and watched it delete that 8GB of files. Nice.

But WHY? Why is it there? Why is IE caching this stuff? I presume Chrome isn't putting it there. Will it rebuilt more files as I use Chrome further? I expect so, thus am I obliged to load IE once in a while to delete it all again?

Moved from: Internet Explorer / Internet Explorer 11 / Windows 10

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Files, folders, and storage

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-10-18T15:13:13+00:00

    Hi,

    The Google Chrome browser has no specific folder to hold all its internet cache causing it to store its temporary files in the Internet Explorer cache folder.

    Are you sure? According to here and here Google Chrome keeps its cache in: \AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Profile 1\Cache

    or

    \AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cache

    (depending on whether you are logged into Chrome with your Google acount or not)

    There's no indication the Chrome ever stores its cache in the IE cache folders. To me, it's almost as if Windows is copyingthe Chrome cache for itself, for some reason.

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-10-19T10:52:06+00:00

    Thank you for this information. We will surely investigate this matter. For now, we suggest that you post your concern in our Windows Feedback hub so our engineers will be aware of this issue and will come up with a resolution to this concern.

    Regards.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2017-10-18T09:10:25+00:00

    Hi,

    The Google Chrome browser has no specific folder to hold all its internet cache causing it to store its temporary files in the Internet Explorer cache folder.

    Thank you for bringing this to our concern. Your idea will help us improve our service. We encourage that you submit your issue using the Feedback Hub, so we can do a further investigation on this. Submitting your feedback in Windows Feedback hub will help us gather information regarding your concern so we can determine what's causing the issue. Your feedback will also help collate bugs and known issues, as well as the suggestions that will help improve the Windows operating system. Using the collected data, the engineers will come up with an update that will improve Windows operating system.

    In order to submit a new feedback, please follow these steps:

    1. On a Windows 10 device, search for "Feedback Hub" in Cortana search, and then launch the app.
    2. Navigate to Feedback in the left menu, and then press + Add new feedback.
    3. Select the Problem, and share any details you think are relevant, and then choose an appropriate category and subcategory.
    4. Important: If possible, reproduce the problem(s) after clicking Begin monitoring (or Start capture) near the end of the form; Stop monitoring when you're done.
    5. Once you've completed the form and monitoring, click Submit.
    6. Click Continue using Feedback Hub.
    7. Click My Feedback at the top, and then find the item you submitted (it may take a while to appear).
    8. Open the item you submitted, and then click Share.
    9. Click Copy link, and then paste the link in your response (it will look like https://aka.ms/<unique link>).

    Regards.

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