Cache files accumulate on your system when you keep on performing different tasks using different apps & features. These files are meant to reduce the time of downloading basic data from the original source again to speed up certain tasks on your system.
On this page
When you keep on performing the same tasks again & again using certain apps, then you will find the app is loading faster and you are able to perform a task in less time. It happens because of cached data on your device. While this cached data is useful to some extent, it starts causing trouble over time when a lot of unnecessary cache files accumulate on your device over time.
These unnecessary cache files not only occupy valuable disk space but also hampers your overall system performance. You can find cache data in different forms including user-generated cache, system-generated cache, browser cache, and more. In this article, we have discussed ways to clean all types of cache files in Windows 10 to help you recover valuable disk space and boost your PC performance.
Clear Windows Browser Cache
Just like any other app on your system browser also generates a cache which is known as a browser cache. It generates when you visit different sites on your browser and perform other different tasks. While you can follow the individual process to get rid of browser cache in Edge, Chrome, and Firefox, Windows also offers a built-in feature to help you clean the overall cache for these three browsers.
To do this, search and select “Internet Options” from the search box on the taskbar. It will open an Internet Properties window. Once you are on this window, mark “Delete browsing history on exit” under the Browsing History option in the General tab. You can also click on the Settings option under Browsing History to set different parameters for cleaning the cache and other temporary files from the browser. Once you have done this, press Delete and then OK to get rid of the browser cache instantly.
Windows Thumbnail Cache
To clear the thumbnail cache on Windows 10, open File Explorer from the Start menu. Here, click on the “Show hidden files” checkbox to view hidden files. Now go to this path
“C:UsersUsernameAppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsExplorer”.
Here, select all those files that start with the thumbnail cache and delete them. Press Shift + Del to remove selected files permanently.
Use Disk Cleanup
Another quick way to scan, detect, and delete cache files on your Windows 10 system is to use the Disk Cleanup utility. It comes as a built-in solution to help you get rid of all junk files on your PC including unnecessary cache files. To use the Disk Cleanup utility, follow these steps.
- Search & select “Disk Cleanup” in the search box on the taskbar.
- Select the drive that you want to clean.
- Here, it will scan the selected drive and display the scan results on the Disk Cleanup window.
- Once you are on the Disk Cleanup window, select the files (including cache files) that you want to delete and press OK.
Note: You can also click on “Clean up system files” to delete system cache files. To do this, follow these steps:
- Click on the “Clean up system files” option in the lower-left corner.
- Select the drive that you want to clean.
- Here, it will scan the selected file and display the scan results on a separate window.
- Now select all unnecessary system files including cache files that you want to delete and press OK to get rid of them.
Clear Windows Store Cache
The next step is to clear the Windows Store cache. To do this, press the Windows + R keys to open the Run box. Here, type “WSReset.exe” and hit Enter. Here, you will find Windows Store is opened with the command box. Here, the command box will remain empty and it will perform an action in the background. Once it will complete cleaning cache files, the command box will automatically close.
Clear Windows Icon Cache
To clear the Windows Icon cache, follow these steps.
- Open File Explorer from the start menu and click on the “Show hidden folders” checkbox to view hidden files.
- Go to the following path: “C:UsersMaham MukhtarAppDataLocal”
- Here, scroll through to find and delete the “Iconcache.db” file.
- Once you have deleted the said file, reboot your PC. Here, the Windows Icon cache will be deleted.
- Alternatively, you can go to this path: C:UsersUsernameAppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsExplorer
- Here, find & delete all files that start with iconcache. Press Shift + Del to permanently delete them.
Clear Windows System Restore Cache
Follow the above-mentioned steps to delete all restored points except the recent one. Go to Start menu > System > System Protection. Here, select the system drive and tap on “Configure”. Now press Delete to clear all Windows System Restore Points except the recent one.
Clear Windows 10 Update Cache
To do this follow the below-mentioned steps.
- Open File Explorer from the Start menu.
- Click on Show Hidden Items.
- Go to this path: “C:WindowsSoftwareDistributionDownload”
- Once you are in the Download folder, select & remove all content. It will help you delete your Windows update cache instantly.
Conclusion
By removing unnecessary cache files from your device, you manage to recover chunks of disk space while boosting your device’s performance. Here, we have discussed multiple ways to help you do that.
In addition to the above-mentioned steps, you can also try using the best PC cleaner software to deep clean your system storage and get rid of unneeded cache files. Furthermore, if you know more such steps to clean the cache on your system, then feel free to share them in the comments below.
