Delete Temporary and Prefetch Files from Your Computer

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Remove prefetch and temporary files with this easy-to-follow guide

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: April 22, 2026 Fact Checked

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• Delete Temp Files in Disk Cleanup
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• Delete Prefetch Files (File Explorer)
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• Delete Prefetch Files (CMD)
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• Can't Open Prefetch Folder
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• FAQ
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• Video
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• Q&A
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• Tips

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This wikiHow guide teaches you how to safely delete temporary and prefetch files from Windows to free up disk space. Windows creates all sorts of temporary files on your hard drive. Although these files aren't harmful, they may be hogging up precious hard drive space. You can also delete prefetch files, which are created by the operating system each time an app is launched for the first time. These files are designed to make apps open faster and don't use too much disk space, but if you're running low, you can delete them without causing any problems.

Is it safe to delete prefetch files?

It's safe to delete prefetch files, though it usually isn't necessary–they don't take up much space. To delete prefetch files, open File Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\Prefetch. Enable the option that shows hidden files and folders. Select all the files by hitting Ctrl + A, and then press Delete to remove them.

Steps

Section 1 of 5:

Deleting Temporary Files with Disk Cleanup

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1. 
   1
   Open Disk Cleanup on your PC. The quickest way to do this is to type disk cleanup in the Windows search bar and then click Disk Cleanup in the search results.

   • If you don't see the Windows search bar, press the Windows key, type disk cleanup, then press Enter.
   • These steps will work on any version of Windows, including Windows 10 and 11.
2. 
   2
   Click the Clean up system files button. It's near the bottom-left corner of the dialog window. After Windows scans your primary hard drive (which is where your temp files are stored), a new window will appear.

   • When prompted, click Yes to continue.
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3. 
   3
   Select files to delete. Windows creates many types of temporary files. Click each type to see a description before selecting or deselecting an option. The amount of hard drive space consumed by each file type appears alongside it.

   • Make sure to remove the checkmarks next to any type of file you do not want to delete. For example, if you download files from the internet to your Downloads folder and keep them there, you'll definitely want to remove the checkmark from "Downloads."
   • One folder that takes up a lot of space is "Windows Update Cleanup," which contains a compressed version of the last few Windows Updates you installed, just in case you need to roll back an update. If you don't think you'll need to uninstall an update, selecting this option (if available) is a good way to gain hard drive space.
4. 
   4
   Click OK to delete all selected files. This part might take a while if you're deleting several GB of files. Once the files are deleted, you'll have regained all the space they once consumed.
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Section 2 of 5:

Deleting Prefetch Files (File Explorer)

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1. 
   1
   Open File Explorer. To do so, click File Explorer in the Start menu. You can also open File Explorer by pressing Windows key + E at the same time, or by right-clicking the Start button and selecting File Explorer.

   • Prefetch files are automatically created to speed up the launch of certain applications and don't usually take up much space on your drive. There's no real reason to delete these files unless you need to free up a small amount of space.
   • Not all computers save prefetch files. If you're using a newer version of Windows and have an SSD, prefetch is likely disabled, and there may not be prefetch files to delete.
2. 
   2
   Enable the option to display hidden files and folders. Here's how:

   • On Windows 11, click the View menu at the top of File Explorer and select Show > Hidden items.
   • On Windows 10 and 8, click the View menu in File Explorer, select Options, then click Change folder and search options. On the View tab, select "Show hidden files, folders, and drives," and click OK.
   • On Windows 7 and earlier, click Organize in File Explorer, select Folder and search options, click the View tab, and select "Show hidden files, folders, and drives." Click OK to close the window.
3. 
   3
   Navigate to the Prefetch directory. Here's how to get there:

   • Click This PC in the left panel of File Explorer.
   • Double-click your main drive (usually C:).
   • Double-click the Windows folder.
   • Double-click the Prefetch folder.
   • If nothing happens when you double-click the Prefetch folder, you'll need to change some folder permissions first. Jump to What if you can't open the Prefetch folder? to learn how.
4. 
   4
   Press Ctrl+A to select all Prefetch files. This should highlight all files in the folder in the right panel. If not, click a blank area of the folder first to activate the panel.
5. 
   5
   Press the Del key. This deletes the selected files from the folder.

   • If any of the files you try to delete are in use, you'll see an error that tells you it can't be deleted. Just click Skip on such messages—you won't be able to delete these files until you close whichever apps are using them.
   • The files will not be permanently deleted until you empty your Recycle Bin. You can do this by opening the Recycle Bin and clicking Empty Recycle Bin at the top.
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Section 3 of 5:

Deleting Prefetch Files (Command Prompt)

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1. 
   1
   Open Command Prompt as an administrator. An easy way to do this is to type cmd into the Windows Search bar, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator.
2. 
   2
   Type the command to delete prefetch files. At the prompt, type del C:\Windows\prefetch\*.*/s/q and press Enter. This deletes everything in the Windows Prefetch folder.

   • If you get an error, you need to adjust the permissions of the folder first. Jump to What if you can't open the Prefetch folder? to learn how.
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Section 4 of 5:

What if you can't open the Prefetch folder?

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1. 
   1
   Right-click the Prefetch folder and select Properties. If nothing happens when you double-click the Prefetch folder, or if you get an error when you try to delete prefetch files in the command prompt, you need to make a quick change to the folder's permissions.
2. 
   2
   Click the Security tab. It's at the top of the Properties window.
3. 
   3
   Click the Advanced button. This opens some advanced security settings.
4. 
   4
   Click Change. It's at the top next to the "Owner" field.
5. 
   5
   Type everyone into the field and click Check Names. When you click Check Names, the word "Everyone" will be underlined.
6. 
   6
   Click OK. This takes you back to the previous screen.
7. 
   7
   Check both boxes in the window. Check the box next to "Replace owner on subcontainers and objects," then check the box next to "Replace all child object permission entries with inheritable permission entries from this object."
8. 
   8
   Click the Enable inheritance button. It's near the bottom-left corner of the Window.
9. 
   9
   Save your changes and exit. To do so, click OK, and then click Yes, and Yes again to accept the changes. Finally, click OK to return to File Explorer.
10. 
    10
    Double-click the Prefetch folder to open it. You should now be able to open it and view all the files inside.

    • Now that you can access the Prefetch folder, you can jump back to the steps to delete prefetch files in File Explorer or in command prompt.
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Section 5 of 5:

Frequently Asked Questions

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1. 1
   Should I delete prefetch files? You shouldn't need to, but you can do so safely. While deleting prefetch files does technically free up a small amount of storage space on your PC, the folder is self-maintaining, which means it'll fill up again automatically. And that's by design, as prefetch files are created to make it faster to run programs.

   • When it comes to freeing up space, deleting prefetch files usually won't free up enough to make deleting them worthwhile.
   • Prefetch files are often used by digital forensics experts to find traces of deleted activities and files. If you're trying to preserve your privacy, you may want to delete them.
2. 2
   Is deleting prefetch files bad for Windows 10 or 11? Deleting them isn't bad, but if you decide to do so, it may take a little longer for programs to open until Windows creates new prefetch files to replace the old ones.
3. 3
   How can I free up more space on my computer? Windows 11 and Windows 10 both come with many cleanup tools you can use to free up storage. Check out our guides to freeing up space on Windows 11 and cleaning your C drive for tips and tricks.

   1. And if the steps above have been helpful, be sure to download this article as a PDF so you can print, read, or reference it any time.

   Download PDF for $2.99
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Community Q&A

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• Question

  Deleting Prefetch files was easy in XP; it was removed using the "search" function only. Why has it become complicated in Windows 7?

  

  Community Answer

  Press the home button+r, or type "run" in search and open it. Then type "prefetch" and press enter; a dialogue box will pop up. Simply press "continue" and delete all the files from the folder.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

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• Question

  Does this deletion work for Windows 10?

  

  Community Answer

  Yes, these steps will work in Windows 10.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

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• Question

  Is there any other way of making your computer fast?

  

  Denneisk

  Top Answerer

  Without modifying the internal components of your PC, the most you can do is to shut down unimportant processes from Task Manager and defragment your hard drive (if it is an HDD). A technical solution would be to overclock your computer parts, but this is advanced and not recommended if you don't know the parts in your computer.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

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Tips

• Deleting prefetch files is safe, but because prefetch files are created to speed up apps the next time you run them, it can, theoretically, slow down your computer.
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• Empty the Recycle Bin when you are done to delete the files permanently.
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