Deleting "Temp" Files
 

Is it wise to delete my temp files, "%temp%" or "temp" on occasion ?
Does it help in anyway?

In my opinion, it is not wise or helpful. If it's not broken, don't fix it.

It is probably not worth the effort unless it is taking up an inordinate amount of space, say > 1gb.

Win 11 has a feature called Storage Sense which will automatically clean up those files and others like recyclebin and windows updates files. I think it is also available with Win 10.

Before you turn it on, make sure you uncheck the Download folder, unless you want that one cleaned also. It will do the cleanup for you.

I run CCleaner every once in awhile. It cleans up those temp files, clears the cache and browsing history, and then removes redundancies or erroneous entries in the registry that can happen when you run a cleanup like that. I also run malwarebytes once in a blue moon. I used to pay for both of these programs but the freebies are doing fine for me - and I don't get stuck with a lot of nags from them to renew or "go pro."

If it's a .tmp, you can safely delete it. If it's a tmp that's attached to a program that's actively running, you won't be able to delete it, you'll get an error message. If that happens, it's working as intended.

It can help, but usually only if there is an issue.

I wrote front end automation software for industrial printing machines. These machines would take text and graphics, build a graphic file using Illustrator, drop it into an ONYX Rip and spit out tens of thousands of press ready files per day.

This had the side effect of the temp folders getting quite large rather quickly.

I found that once the %temp% folder had over about 100,000 files in it, the automation process would slow from about 1-2 pieces a second to one piece every 3-5 seconds; I.e crawling.

I then just built a routine to examine the quantity of files in the temp folder and if it grew over 10k, just delete the works. No fuss, no muss, all better.

Having supported desktop windows users for the past 35 years, I can say that without a doubt, if you're having some issues, delete your temp files. If you are not, it's not going to change much and in the vast majority of cases, you won't notice any difference.

try typing "disk cleanup" on your start page.
start page is what pops up when you press the windows key.

Jus busy work................usually done to TRY TO cover tracks as to where you have been.

Would not do.

:mornincoffee:

I use Ashampoo Uninstaller 12, a one-time-only payment ($18.00?) that not only allows you to get rid of temp. files but will also clean your browser(s), optimize your registry, get rid of corrupted files, control what boots up on initial startup (if you're like most people you're running a lot of stuff at startup that you don't need, or probably don't even know are running). It also has an undelete function in case you dump something you need, and a few other things like logging all program installations (handy in case something is installed w/o your knowledge), securely wipe selected files (it has a drag-and-drop feature; an icon that is separate from the main program but allows you to shred certain files by dragging them to the icon), etc.

Computers accumulate junk over the months and years, which slows things down. Since I've gotten this program it does a thorough job of cleanup and optimization: my system is MUCH faster than before I bought the program. I usually do a cleanup once a month or so.

Temporary INTERNET files are only one type of temporary file. Any time you open any app on your computer, it creates a temporary file. If you print something out, your printer program creates a couple of temporary files - one for the printer itself, one for whatever it is you're trying to print, and if it's printing something on another program such as PDF, MS Office, Google docs, etc, it'll create a tmp file for that too.

Most of these tmp files will clear themselves out automatically when you close the program, or finish the print job. But sometimes they remain in the tmp folder. If enough accumulate over time you could end up with a lot of space occupied by these files. Clearing them out once in a blue moon won't hurt, and can help.

The next seasonal blue moon will occur on August 19, 2024. So, put it on your calendar and don't forget to clear out your temporary files.

I suppose the only real issue is security. If a temp file contains privileged or sensitive information, you'd want it destroyed asap. Temp data just takes up resources that could be used otherwise. Sometimes stuff that should have been deleted didn't get deleted. So is it wise to make sure the trash got trashed? Perhaps.