On a Windows PC, if you have a disk drive with 100 GB capacity, not all of that space is available to you. In fact, if you were to take a peek behind the scenes, you’d be surprised by how much space is taken up by random cache files.
What is a cache? It’s not as technical as it sounds. In the context of computers, a cache is a non-permanent file (or files) that may be needed again in the future, and is, therefore, kept hidden away until that time comes. Simple, right?
Cache files are important because they boost your system performance, but the downside is that they take up valuable space — and that can be a problem if you have an SSD with limited capacity. The good news is that, in most cases, cache files can be safely erased to clear up disk space.
1. Windows 10 Update Cache
For your convenience, Windows keeps a cache of all Windows Updates files, which can come in handy when you need to re-apply an update. The annoying thing is that Windows Updates can take up a lot of space.
The worst offender is the recent November Update that Microsoft pushed. The update itself is great, but it uses up to 24 GB of cache space and doesn’t automatically clear itself after the update is applied. Imagine what you could do with all of that extra space!
How to clear the Windows Update cache: Before we can delete these files, we have to disable Windows Update to make sure no updates are currently downloading. To do this, open the Start Menu, launch the Command Prompt app, and type:
net stop wuauserv
Next, open File Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download. Inside the Download folder, you can safely delete everything. Afterwards, you should re-enable Windows Update by typing the following into Command Prompt:
net start wuauserv
2. Windows Store Cache
One of the biggest changes in the Windows user experience was the introduction of the Windows Store and Microsoft’s move to turn all of their software into apps. For many users, this move was a jarring one to say the least.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot to dislike about this, including the fake apps in the Windows Store, which is why many have turned to sideloading apps on Windows instead.
And as you might’ve guessed, Windows also caches downloads made through the Windows Store. Not only does this cache take up space, but it can cause problems when downloads are interrupted or improperly stopped. If this happens, clearing the cache may solve any issues you have.
How to clear the Windows Store cache: Microsoft provides a utility called WSReset.exe that clears the cache for you.
Open a Run prompt (using the Windows + R shortcut), type WSReset.exe into the text field, and click OK. A black window will open and it might seem like nothing is happening, but wait it out. It may take a few minutes on slower computers.
When it’s done, the Windows Store will launch. This means the cache has been cleared and you’re good to go.
3. Temp Files Cache
Windows has a system directory that’s dedicated to holding temporary files. Temporary files are usually created as an intermediary while another file is being created or modified, but they can also hold temporary data that’s only needed by a program for a little while.
Unfortunately, not all programs and processes are good about cleaning up after themselves, which means that the system directory for temporary files ends up being cluttered by a whole bunch of unnecessary junk.
It’s usually safe to delete temporary files that haven’t been used in over a week. Thankfully, the built-in tool provided by Windows can handle that for you.
How to clear the Temp Files cache: Open the Start Menu, search for the Disk Cleanup app, and launch it. When prompted, select the drive that Windows is on (usually the C: drive). Wait as it analyzes the file system.
Under the Disk Cleanup tab, uncheck all boxes except for the one labelled Temporary Files, then click OK.
4. Thumbnail Cache
Windows has a setting that allows for thumbnail previews of files. For example, when enabled, an MP4 video file will be shown with a frame from the video itself while a PNG image file will be a preview of what the image looks like.
Thumbnails are great from a usability standpoint, but where do you think those thumbnails come from? Windows has to generate them on demand. When you use File Explorer to browse folders, every time you encounter a file for the first time, Windows has to create a thumbnail for it.
Not only does this slow down your day-to-day Windows performance, but all of those newly-generated thumbnail images have to be stored somewhere — the Windows thumbnail cache. It’s a good idea to clear this cache every few months because it can get bloated quickly.
How to clear the Thumbnail cache: Head to the Start Menu, search for the Disk Cleanup app, and open it. When prompted, select your system drive (typically the C: drive) and wait as it analyzes the file system.
Under the Disk Cleanup tab, uncheck all boxes except for the one labeled Thumbnails, then click OK.
5. System Restore Cache
System Restore is one of the most useful features in Windows. It’s easy to think that you’ll never need it, but it’s amazing how quickly people will flip-flop on that stance when their system malfunctions.
You never hope to use System Restore, but when you need to, you hope it’s there. Better to be safe than sorry, right? And even with all of the new troubleshooting options in Windows 10, System Restore is still important, so don’t overlook it.
The downside is that System Restore uses a lot of space. Seriously, a lot of space. After all, it has to cache all of the settings and variables that are necessary for a system restoration.
You can free up this space by clearing saved restore points. You can also reduce the space allocated for System Restore or disable the feature altogether, but be aware that allocating too little space may cause System Restore to malfunction.
How to clear the System Restore cache: Open the Start Menu, search for the System app, and launch it. When it opens, look in the sidebar for the System Protection link and click it.
Under the System Protection tab, select the system drive and click on Configure. At the bottom, click on Delete to erase all restore points saved for your system. If you do, be sure to create another restore point right away!
6. Web Browser Cache
Whenever you visit a webpage, your browser adds that page — including the HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and image files — to the browser’s cache. The next time you visit that same page, your browser uses the cached files to load the page faster.
It’s actually more involved than that, but that’s the general gist of it.
It’s nice because the cache reduces the amount of bandwidth you use and improves your web browsing experience, but sometimes the cache can cause problems.
For example, if a webpage changes, but your browser continues to load outdated cache data, the site might not work as intended. That’s why one common troubleshooting technique is to clear your browser cache — this takes you back to a blank slate. Plus, it frees up used disk space.
How to clear the Web Browser cache: Every browser has its own cache-clearing process, but none of them are too complicated.
In Firefox, open the Options menu, go to the Advanced section, select the Network tab, and click the Clear Now button where it says Cached Web Content.
In Chrome, open the Settings menu, scroll down and click on Show Advanced Settings, under Privacy click on Clear Browsing Data, select the Cached Images and Files option, and make sure to clear from «the beginning of time».
In Opera, open the Settings menu, go to the Privacy & Security section, under Privacy click on Clear Browsing Data, select the Cached Images and Files option, and make sure to clear from «the beginning of time».
7. DNS Cache
When you access a website, your computer is essentially requesting web data from another computer on the Internet — but how does your computer know to contact that specific computer? It uses something called the Domain Name System.
The Domain Name System is a network of computers that route Internet traffic between them. Think of it like a postal service: mail gets moved from sender to multiple post offices before finally arriving at the recipient, except we’re talking about Internet data instead of mail.
Whenever Windows learns of a certain route — e.g. from your computer to MakeUseOf’s servers — it temporarily remembers that route in its DNS cache. However, when the DNS route changes, your cached copy of the route becomes outdated, and this can cause problems (like not being able to load a website).
How to clear the DNS cache: Clearing the DNS cache is absolutely harmless. At best, it’ll fix whatever routing problems you were having. At worst, it won’t do anything. The clearing process is really simple, too.
Open the Start Menu, search for the Command Prompt app, and launch it. Then type the following:
ipconfig /flushdns
How Do You Free Up Disk Space?
For a more thorough cleaning of your system, we really recommend using a tool like CCleaner, which is optimized to scan your entire system and free up space by deleting anything that won’t have a long-term negative impact on your system.
However, even CCleaner isn’t sharp enough to do everything listed above. Some things, like wiping the DNS cache, will just have to be done manually.
What other Windows caches can be safely cleared without fear of system failure? What do you do when you need to free up disk space? Tell us about it in the comments!
Image Credit: Global Network by teerayut taf via Shutterstock
This article aims to give a detailed information about Windows 10 cache. Besides, you will also learn about how to clean up your computer by clearing system cache with some effective methods provided by MiniTool Solution.
What Is A Cache
Most Windows users might have heard about cache. But what is a cache exactly?
Windows cache is a special high-speed storage mechanism. It can be either a reserved section of main memory or an independent high-speed storage device. In other words, a cache is a hardware or software component which is used to store data. The cached data can be either the result of an earlier request or a copy of the existing data stored in other places.
With a cache, the future requests for the specific data can be responded faster. For example, when you visit a webpage for the first time, the information of this page will be cached on your computer. Then, you can reach this page faster next time, as the requested data can be found easily and quickly in the cache.
The location for Windows cache is not fixed. The cached data from different resources might be saved in different paths. The best-known storage path of cache in Windows should be C:WindowsTemp, which stores a lot of system temporary files.
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Why do You Need to Clear System Cache Windows 10
As you can see in the last part, the cached data is a set of temporary files used by apps, programs or the operating system on your computer. It’s true that your Windows could store a significant amount of cache, making your system run faster and be more responsive.
However, the cached data might bring some problems to your computer, and you need to clear system cache from time to time. Here are some reasons why you need to do this:
- The cache brings convenience only when you have enough free storage space and free RAM, or a high-performance CPU on your computer. If your computer cannot meet the requirement, the cache might slow your PC down in a short period of time.
- If you don’t clear cache regularly but let it cumulated overtime, the disk space might run out quickly and your computer might run into dreaded problems like Windows 10 blue screen of death or other unforeseen issues.
- Sometimes, certain cached data used to help your operating system function might get corrupted. If you don’t clear the corrupted cache on time, your PC might crash and the performance will be affected.
Therefore, it should be a routine for Windows users to clear cache regularly to get some fresh and intact data.
How to Clear System Cache on Your Windows 10 Computer
After learning about why we need to clear cache, it’s time to take action if you haven’t managed cache for long time. Do you know how to clear cache on Windows 10 computer?
Actually, there are several types of cache, and they are stored in different place. So, you might use different ways to delete these cached files. Fortunately, this post displays how to delete cache of different type, and you can have a try.
How to Clear System Cache Windows 10
- Clear the Temporary Files in Settings
- Employ Disk Cleanup Utility
- Clear the Windows Store Cache
- Clear Browser Cache
- Clear Cache in File Explorer
- Clear System Restores Cache
- Clear DNS Cache
- Clear System Cache Windows 10 Using MiniTool Partition Wizard
Method 1: Clear the Temporary Files in Settings
Temporary file is a common type of cache in your computer. By default, temporary files are stored in the path of C:UsersAdminAppDataLocalTemp. To clear them, you can press Windows + R to open Run window, input %temp% and click OK to open the Temp folders. Then, delete all the temporary files and folders in it.
However, if you want to clear other system cache together with temporary files, it should be a better choice to make it in Windows Settings. This is also a commonly-used method to remove cache for Windows users. Here’s how to do it.
Step 1: Right-click Start button and click Settings to open it.
Step 2: Choose System category.
Step 3: Turn to Storage tab in the left pane and click Free up space now under Storage sense section in the right pane. It will start scanning the data on your hard drive and you need to wait for the process to be completed.
Step 4: Check the items you want to delete and click Remove files button.
Note: Before you select and remove an item, please read carefully its description.
After that, just wait patiently until the cleaning process is finished. This is an effective way to clear various cache and is also a nice method to free up disk space.
Method 2: Employ Disk Cleanup Utility
Disk Cleanup is a built-in feature in your Windows 10. You can also use this tool to clear different types of system cache and other unnecessary files. Here’s a simple guide for you.
Step 1: Press Windows + S, search for Disk Cleanup and double-click the search result to open this tool.
Step 2: In the pop-up window, select the drive you want to clean up from the drop-down menu and click OK.
Step 3: Wait patiently until the tool finishes scanning this drive. Then, in the new window, click Clean up system files to scan for more system cache.
Step 4: Now, the files that can be cleared will be listed here, and you just need to check the items you want to delete. Then, click OK button to clear all the selected files.
Method 3: Clear the Windows Store Cache
Windows Store will create temporary files when you are downloading apps. Sometimes, you might run into certain problems while using your Windows Store. Chances are that the Windows Store cache is corrupted or faulty. Thus, one of the methods to solve issues related Store app is to clear its cache.
To remove your Windows Store cache, just type wsreset.exe in Run dialog and click OK. Then, the Command Prompt will appear without text. You need wait patiently, as it is deleting Store cache in background. Once it’s done, the Store app will launch and the Command Prompt window will disappear automatically.
Note: To open WSReset.exe, you can also go to C:WindowsSystem32 to find WSReset file. Right-click it and click Run as administrator.
Method 4: Clear Browser Cache
When you visit websites on your browser, some cached files will be created. You can delete these cached data within your browser. How to delete cache in browser? Here, I take Google Chrome as an example:
Step 1: Open your Chrome, click the three-dot icon, and choose More tools > Clear browsing data.
Step 2: Set the Time range to All time, check Cached images and files, and click Clear data button to clear all your browser cache. Of course, you can choose other items to clear.
Then, the cached files related to your browser will be removed soon.
Method 5: Clear Cache in File Explorer
As most cached files can be found in File Explorer, you can also go to File Explorer to clear certain types of cache in a targeted way. Except the temporary files mentioned before, some other cache that are commonly managed in File Explorer are listed here.
Note: Some of these system cached files might be hidden in File Explorer. Before clearing cache, you’d better go to View tab in tool bar and check Hidden items to show all the hidden files.
- Windows thumbnail cache: To clear Windows thumbnail cache, you can go to “C:UsersUsernameAppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsExplorer”. Then, open Explorer folder and delete all the files with the word thumbcache in their names.
- Windows icon cache: This is a hidden file named IconCache.db under the directory of “C:UsersUsernameAppDataLocal”. Besides, you can also find this type of cache in Explorer folder and these files have iconcache in their names.
- Windows update cache: This is also hidden by default. You can go to “C:WindowsSoftwareDistributionDownload” and delete all the content of Download folder to clear Windows update cache.
- File Explorer history: Besides the cache created by your system or from other resources, File Explorer also maintains its own cache. You can also clear it to improve performance or free up disk space. Just go to View tab and click Options in the ribbon. In the General tab, click Clear button in Privacy section.
Method 6: Clear System Restores Cache
It is a nice choice to create a system restore point before big events like Windows update for system protection. Because certain operations might be risky and bring some issue to your computer, and even may crash your system down. With the stem restore point, you can restore your computer to earlier date to resolve various problems.
You are allowed to set the maximum disk space used for system protection. When the assigned space is running out, you might need to delete the older restore points to spare room for new one. You can follow the steps below to clear your system restores cache.
Step 1: Type restore in the Search bar and double-click Create a restore point from the search result.
Step 2: Under System Protection tab, choose your system drive and click Configure button.
Step 3: In the new window, click Delete button.
This operation will delete all the restore points for this drive, and then you can create a new restore point.
Method 7: Clear DNS Cache
If you are experiencing certain problems during browsing on the internet, clearing DNS cache is another great solution. This is also a rather simple operation.
You just need to open Command Prompt, type the command ipconfig/flushdns, and press Enter. To get more detailed information on flushing DNS cache, you can read this post: How to Flush DNS Resolver Cache in Windows 10/8.1/7
Method 8: Clear System Cache Windows 10 Using MiniTool Partition Wizard
After learning about some types of cache in Windows 10 and how to clean up your computer by clearing these cached data, you might want to clear cache for your PC immediately. But wait for a moment. I will introduce a useful third-party program – MiniTool Partition Wizard to help you remove cache more conveniently.
This is an all-in-one disk manager designed for Windows users. It offers a feature of Space Analyzer to help you view the hard drive space usage intuitively. You can also use this tool to help you clear system cache. Just download and install it on your computer to have a try.
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Step 1: Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard and click Space Analyzer in the tool bar to activate the feature.
Step 2: Select a hard drive to scan from the drop-down menu and click Scan button.
Step 3: After the scanning process is completed, all the files or folders stored on this drive will be displayed. To clear certain cached files, choose File View and input file name in the empty box. Then, check Match file name only or Match entire path as your needs and click Apply button to filter the files you want.
Note: You can also go to Folder View and locate a certain folder according its path to delete the whole folder if needed.
Step 4: Now, right-click the cached files you want to remove and choose either Delete (to Recycle Bin) or Delete (Permanently).
Also watch this video guide to go through all the solutions above.
This post introduces how to clear cache on Windows 10 and recommends a useful assistant. Share it with you all and hope this article could be helpful for you.Click to tweet
Bottom Line
This post has introduced how to clean up your computer by clearing cache. If you are running out of the storage space, or notice some problems on your computer, don’t hesitate to clear the cache. Now, it’s your turn. Just choose one method to clear a specific type of cache as your needs.
If you have any problems with this post, please let us know. You can either leave a message on the comment zone below or send an email to [email protected].
Clear System Cache Windows 10 FAQ
How do I run a disk cleanup from Command Prompt?
To run a disk cleanup from Command Prompt, follow the steps below:
- Press Windows + R to open Run.
- Type cmd and press Enter to open Command Prompt.
- Input the command cleanmgr.exe and press Enter to invoke the tool.
- Choose your desired drive to perform a disk cleanup.
How do I clear my Run history in Windows 10?
You need to delete Run history in Windows 10 in your Registry, as follows:
- Open Run window, type regedit and click OK to open Registry Editor.
- Navigate to the following path: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerRunMRU
- In the right pane, delete all the strings except the Default string.
Кэш обновлений Windows — уже скачанные на компьютер файлы обновлений, готовые к установке. При возникновении проблем с их установкой, для освобождения места на диске или для того, чтобы после удаления обновлений они не отображались в Центре обновлений Windows с кнопкой «Установить», вы можете очистить этот кэш.
В этой пошаговой инструкции несколько простых способов очистить кэш обновлений в Windows 11 и Windows 10 встроенными средствами системы, все они безопасны и не должны привести к каким-либо проблемам в работе. Также может быть полезным: Сброс компонентов Центра обновлений (включая очистку кэша) в PowerShell.
Кэш обновлений в утилите «Очистка диска»
Самый простой способ очистки кэша обновлений — встроенная в Windows утилита «Очистка диска». Шаги будут следующими:
- Нажмите правой кнопкой мыши по кнопке «Пуск» и выберите пункт «Выполнить».
- Введите cleanmgr и нажмите Enter.
- При появлении запроса на выбор диска выберите диск C.
- Нажмите кнопку «Очистить системные файлы».
- Отметьте пункт «Очистка обновлений Windows».
- Нажмите «Ок» и дождитесь завершения очистки.
В Windows 11 и 10 вы также можете использовать функции очистки диска в «Параметрах», подробнее об этом в инструкциях Очистка диска Windows 11 встроенными утилитами, Автоматическая очистка диска Windows 10.
Очистка кэша обновлений вручную в командной строке
Кэш обновлений хранится в папке C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download и мы можем удалить её содержимое вручную с помощью командной строки. Для этого потребуется временно отключить службу Центра обновлений Windows с повторным её включением по завершении процесса.
- Запустите командную строку от имени Администратора. Для этого можно использовать поиск по «командная строка» в панели задач и пункт «Запуск от имени администратора».
- По порядку введите следующие команды
net stop wuauserv cd C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution del /f /s /q Download net start wuauserv
Удаление кэша обновлений Windows в проводнике
Этот способ, по своей сути повторяет предыдущий, но без использования командной строки:
- Нажмите клавиши Win+R на клавиатуре, введите services.msc и нажмите Enter.
- В списке служб найдите «Центр обновления Windows», дважды нажмите по ней и нажмите кнопку «Остановить».
- В проводнике перейдите в папку
C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download
- Выделите всё содержимое папки (клавиши Ctrl+A) и удалите его.
- Снова зайдите в «Службы» и запустите Центр обновления.
Сброс кэша обновлений и его параметров без фактического удаления
Если задача — исправить ошибки центра обновлений, а не выполнить удаление кэша, можно использовать следующий набор команд в командной строке, запущенной от имени администратора:
net stop wuauserv net stop cryptSvc net stop bits net stop msiserver ren C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 catroot2.old ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old net start cryptSvc net start bits net start msiserver net start wuauserv
Если ошибки были исправлены, созданные папки SoftwareDistribution.old в папке Windows и catroot2.old в папке System32 можно будет удалить.
Очистка кэша обновлений также доступна в сторонних утилитах, предназначенных для исправления ошибок при обновлениях, подробно: Как исправить ошибки Центра обновлений Windows.
Также, в контексте рассмотренной темы могут быть полезными следующие материалы:
- Как удалить обновления Windows 11
- Как удалить обновления Windows 10
- Как отключить обновления Windows 11
- Как отключить обновления Windows 10
Cache. Что это за папка?
Она представляет собой промежуточный буфер доступ, к которому является самым быстрым в системе. Содержит информацию, которая чаще всего запрашивается оперативной памятью компьютера. Есть мнение, что удалять с нее файлы нельзя. Это не так, делать это не только можно, но и нужно, ведь со временем в ней накапливается большое количество информации, которая не востребована пользователем и попросту засоряет память устройства. Можно ли удалить? Да можно, но для начала ее необходимо найти. Она является скрытой папкой и найти ее можно, после того как задействована функция «Показать скрытые файлы».
Удаление позволит освободить достаточно большой объем памяти. Конечно, в настоящее время многие жесткие диски имеют до террабайта памяти и больше, поэтому 1 гигабайт, который максимально может занимать эта папка, покажется не таким большим. Но, тем не менее, это место, а чем свободней диск, тем лучше его быстродействие, которое соответствующим образом влияет на скорость обработки информации компьютером.
Делается это одним из двух способов.
- Первый. Выделяем ее и жмем клавишу «Del».
- Второй. Жмем клавишу «Пуск», выбираем «Все программы», далее «Стандартные», «Служебные», в завершение нашего пути нажимаем на «Очистка диска». В открывшемся окне галочкой отметьте искомую нами папку и нажимайте «Ок».
Она содержит исполняемый файл, который используется операционной системой Виндовс. Но нередко под такой исполняемый файл маскируются вредоносные программы, поэтому нужно быть осторожным. Перед удалением проверить — это вирус или все же полезная программа?
Удаляется она простым способом выделения и кликом на правую клавишу мыши, после чего в показавшемся меню выбираем «Удалить» и жмем «Ок».
Это папка, в которой накапливаются временные файлы, которые при нормальном выходе из системы попросту автоматически удаляются, но если произошел сбой, компьютер не успевает этого сделать. Поэтому ее необходимо периодически чистить. При этом, сделать это может не давать антивирусная программа по причине наличия в ней вредоносного ПО. Тогда это делается в безопасном режиме.
Это папка, которая содержит рабочие файлы одноименно браузера. Она позволяет даже после того, как он был удален и впоследствии переустановлен не потерять ваши настройки, пароли, и прочую полезную информацию.