Is it safe to delete my temp files

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. This thread is locked. You can follow the question or vote as helpful, but you cannot reply to this thread. I have the same question Report abuse. Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

Re " In practice, some programs store some important files here. But it should be safe to remove some old files" Which is precisely why I asked " How would I know? Which is True?? 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. If you want to save some of this or find it convenient, select not to erase i. FYI, disk cleanup does not always delete these files.

I'm running as a standard user and when I run disk cleanup, it does not even show a temp files option. If I choose the clean up system files button, it then shows temp files, but it said there was like KB in there. So "temp" folder could be 3 or 4 different locations, apparently none of which is what diskcleanup cleans up on my computer.

Simply put, Windows does not clean up temp files. The programs that put them there are supposed to clean them up. Microsoft is not going to get involved at the operating system level. You must do it yourself or it will be there forever.

There are no clear guidelines either. The information message in the diskcleanup program says, if it has been there for a week, it's probably safe to delete it. That's all you get. Select and hit delete.