Fix Windows 10 Temporary Files Won’t Delete [Complete Guide]

It is important to delete temporary files on a regular basis to free up disk space. However, when navigating to Settings > System > Storage and clicking on Delete temporary files option, many users report that Windows 10 temporary files won’t delete. Have you come across this situation? In fact, there are many other effective methods to help you delete temporary files on Windows 10.

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Now, let’s see how to fix temporary files windows 10 not deleting.

Fix 1. Manually Delete Temporary Files Windows 10

The first and simplest way to fix the issue “delete temporary files Windows 10 not working”. Here’s how to do that:

Step 1. Press Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box, and then type temp in the box and hit Enter.

Step 2. In the Temp folder, press Ctrl + A to select all temporary files and press Shift + Del keys to permanently delete temporary files.

Step 3. Again open the Run dialog box, and then type %temp%in the box and hit Enter.

Step 4. Press Ctrl + Alt keys to select all temporary files and press Shift + Del keys to permanently these files.

Step 5. At last, type prefetch in the Run dialog box and hit Enter.

Step 6. Select all the files and press Shift + Del keys.

If this simple method can’t fix temporary files won’t delete Windows 10 issue, move on to the following methods.

Fix 2. Use Disk Cleanup Tool

Disk cleanup is a Windows built-in tool that can scan the selected drive and show you what temporary files are taking up too much of your disk space. This utility can help free up disk space and delete temporary files. To do so, follow the steps below:

Step 1. Type disk in the Windows search bar and select the Disk Cleanup app from the Best match.

Step 2. In the pop-up dialog box, select your system drive from the drop-down menu, by default C, and click on OK. Wait for some time and it will scan the C drive.

Step 3. Select the temporary files that you want to delete and click on OK.

This method should help you fix the Windows 10 temporary files won’t delete issue.

Fix 3. Clear the Contents of SoftwareDistribution Folder

It is reported that the SoftwareDistribution directory is also responsible for temporary files windows 10 not deleting. SoftwareDistribution stores your Windows Update files, however, sometimes it will prevent you from deleting certain files.

To fix this issue, you can delete the contents of SoftwareDistribution directory.

Step 1. Before preceding to the next steps, make sure that Windows Update is not downloading any updates.

Step 2. Press Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box, and then type the following context in the box and hit Enter.

%WINDIR%SoftwareDistributionDownload

Step 3. Select all files in the SoftwareDistribution directory and press Delete key.

Now, you can check if the issue “delete temporary files Windows 10 not working” is fixed.

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Fix 4. Use Command Prompt to Delete Temporary Files

In addition to the above methods, you can delete temporary files using Command Prompt. Here’s a quick guide for you.

Step 1. Type cmd in the search box, and then right-click the Command Prompt app and select Run as administrator.

Step 2. In the elevated command prompt, type the following command and hit Enter.

del /q/f/s %TEMP%*

After that, all the temporary files should be removed and the issue can be fixed.