If you’re looking to free space or just simply clean off the clutter on the hard drive of your Microsoft Windows 10 computer, here is a list of file and folder locations you can safely remove to clear the most space.
Windows Temp Folders
Applications use these folders to temporarily write data. You can safely remove anything in the folder, but you may not be able to delete items that are in use.
Likely safe locations to delete files and folders from:
- C:\Windows > Temp
- C:\Users > username > AppData > Local > Temp
Browser Temp Folders
Data from web pages. Cached to make loading time quicker.
Likely safe locations to delete files and folders from:
- Microsoft Edge – C:\Users > username > AppData > Local > Packages
> Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe > AC > MicrosoftEdge > Cache - Internet Explorer – C:\Users > OfficePower > AppData > Local > Microsoft > Windows > INetCache
- Firefox – C:\Users > username > AppData > Local > Mozilla > Firefox > Profiles > randomcharacters.default > cache2 > entries
- Google Chrome – C:\Users > username > AppData > Local > Google > Chrome > User Data > Default > Cache
Log Files
Files that store data about what certain applications did.
Likely safe locations to delete ONLY FILES THAT END IN “.LOG”.
- C:\Windows
- C:\Windows > Debug
Normally it’s safe to delete all files and folders in this location:
- C:\Windows > Logs
Old Prefetch Data
Data Windows uses to open commonly used programs faster.
Likely safe locations to delete files and folders from:
- C:\Windows > Prefetch
Crash Dumps
Files containing data about what was in memory when applications crash.
Likely safe locations to delete files and folders from:
- C:\Users > username > AppData > Local > CrashDumps
- C:\ProgramData > Microsoft > Windows > WER > ReportArchive
Surely, I don’t know it all. Others may have locations they regularly clear to free hard drive space in Windows 10. If you have a location you know about, please share it in the comments section.
thank you very helpful info…
Thanks you so much!