How to clear all cache and junk files from my Windows 11/10 computer?

Temporary files are created by Windows, applications, and system processes for short-term use. While designed to be automatically deleted, many accumulate over time, consuming gigabytes of storage and potentially slowing down your system. This targeted cleanup is one of the most effective ways to clear all cache files and junk from Windows 11 and Windows 10.

1. %temp% (User-Specific Temp Files)

What it is: Current user's temporary files folder

Location: C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Local\Temp

Purpose: Stores temporary files for applications you run under your user account

2. temp (System-Wide Temp Files)

What it is: System temporary files directory

Location: C:\Windows\Temp

Purpose: Stores temporary files for system processes and applications running under system account

3. prefetch (Application Preload Data)

What it is: Windows performance optimization cache

Location: C:\Windows\Prefetch

Purpose: Stores information about frequently used programs to load them faster

Manual temporary file cleanup is a highly effective maintenance task that can clear caches & junk files and this will significant storage space (often 5-20GB on older systems) and potentially improve performance by reducing disk clutter