How to Remove Junk Files from Windows 10 PC
Whenever you download or run any program on your system, it creates temporary files to store important information of that point of time which are of no use later; these files are called junk files. as their usefulness is exhausted after installation. These files can’t be deleted automatically and if you don’t delete such files, your system gets loaded unnecessary burden of log files, junk files, downloaded files and other Windows registry files, affecting performance of your PC.
If you have recently switched to Windows 10, then this article will give you some information about Windows 10 DiskCleanup tool.
Types of junk files
Before deleting any files it is necessary to understand various types of files and their behavior.
Temporary Internet files
These files are left out files after the browsing session. These temporary files store the information and help website to load faster. You could safely remove such files. But sometime these files can’t be removed by Disc Cleanup tool. To solve this issue, check the box of Internet Files to tell your OS to delete them.
Downloaded Program Files
App installer create temporary files during downloading any app. These files are useless and occupy lots of space on the hard drive. You could remove them.
Offline webpages
These files are stored in your browser and helps website to load faster. If your internet connection is slow, keep them; else, remove them from your system.
Thumbnails
They stored image files of different websites and you could remove them to free-up some space on your system.
Old Windows files
If you upgrade Windows 10 from Windows 8.1, then your OS keeps some installation files of older version. Anytime you want to go back to the previous version, these files may help you to install Windows 8.1. To find them
Go to Disk Cleanup >> under UI option click on System Files.
You will get a list of stored files. If you want to delete them you can, but experts recommend keeping those files until you get well-versed with Windows 10.
Windows Temporary files
These files are left behind when you close the program. i.e. when you use MS Word, you may probably see a file of same extension such as !~cument.docx. It disappears as you close the doc file. These are the hidden files you can cleanup them using Disk Cleanup tool.
Error Reporting Files
Basically these are the log files that contain information. These are helpful for troubleshooting Windows issues. You could keep them by un-checking the box.
How to remove unused files
After selecting unwanted files, you could remove them by Disc Cleaup tool. It works similarly in Windows 10 like the previous version. To find Disk Cleanup Tool in Windows 10-
- Launch the Start menu >>select All Apps >>go to Windows Administrative Tools
- First, try to free up some space to check which files you want to remove from your system. Disk cleanup software will analyze all the stored files and provide you a list to choose from.
- Point to the Disk Cleanup.
- Now you have to select the drive you want to cleanup first. Select the drive and click on OK.
- The disk cleanup tool will analyze all stored folders and files to search for unused files.
- After analyzing, you will get a list of unwanted programs. If you want some files are necessary then you can remove them from list and delete remaining files.
Alongside these simple steps, you could use authentic antivirus software such as Optimo to remove junk files because sometimes junk files may contain malicious codes too. If you wish you could automate Disk Cleanup for frequent clean up unwanted files form your Windows 10 PC.
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