How to clear cache in Windows 10

This article will bring you some insight on how to clear cache in Windows 10. Clearing your cache memory not only saves you memory but gears your computer performance as well.

Of course, we all have heard of these advantages but do you know how to clear cache in a Windows 10 computer?

Let’s first talk about what a cache is. The cache can either be a hardware or a software high-speed storage facility.

It is a local temporary disk space/folder that stores all files you often need to open and access.

Let’s understand this better with an example. When you open your Chrome browser, you see the Google search bar even if your Internet is disconnected.

Why? Because it is stored in your Internet cached files folder. Thus, when you open the browser, it accesses that file from the cache folder instead of accessing it from the Internet.

The cache folder is easier and faster to access, just like it is easier to access your fridge at home than a fridge from a store.

This is just an example of the browser cache. An OS creates cache data for a lot of other regular operations.

For instance, we have Windows Explorer cache, temporary files cache, Windows store cache, and DNS cache.

Now you know the cache function, you may realize a cache folder may take up a lot of disk space. Another reason is to clean your device from outdated/corrupt cached files.

After all, computer memory is also like a storeroom that needs regular cleanup.

Let’s move ahead and look into ways of removing cached files in Windows 10.

How to clear cache in Windows 10
Wrap Up

Clearing temporary file cache in Windows 10

To clear the temporary file cache in windows 10, perform the following steps:

Press “Windows key + R” to open the Run dialogue box;
Type %temp% in the open bar and click “Ok”;

A new window opens, showing all temp files stored on your computer;

Press “Ctrl + A” to select all files;
Press “Shift + Delete” to delete all files;

Press the “Windows key + I” keyboard shortcut to open Settings;

Click on the System tile and then go to “Storage” in the left window pane;

In the right window pane, your drive C storage is shown. Scroll and click on Temporary files;

A new window opens. You can tick all the files you wish to delete and click the “Remove files” option.

Clearing browser cache in Windows 10 (Google Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera)

Go to the “Start Menu” and type “Internet Options” in the search bar;
Internet Properties window opens;
Tick “Delete browsing history on exit” and click Delete;

Delete browsing history window opens. You can tick items you want to delete and leave the things you don’t want to delete;

Click Delete.

Or you can clear the browser’s cache from the browser as well.

To clear the browser cache on Google Chrome, perform the following steps:

Open Google Chrome and type “chrome://settings/clearBrowserData” in the address bar;
Press Enter;
Clear browsing data window opens. Tick the “Cached images and files” option and click “Clear data”. You can tick other data and select time range as well.

To clear the browser cache on Mozilla Firefox, perform the following steps:

Open Mozilla Firefox and click on the Tree-lines button in the upper right corner;
Click Options? Privacy and security;
Scroll down and click Cookies and site data? Cached data;
Tick “Cached web content” and click “Clear”;

To clear browser cache on Edge, perform the following steps:

Open Microsoft Edge and press Ctrl+Shift+Del to open the “Clear browsing data” window;
Tick the “Cached images and files” from the list and click “Clear now”.

To clear the cache on Opera, perform the following actions:

Open opera and press “Ctrl + H” to open the History page;
Click “Clear browsing data” from the upper right corner;
Tick “Cached images and files” and click “Clear data”.

Clearing DNS cache in Windows 10

Type Command Prompt in the search bar;
Right-click on the Command Prompt and then click “Run as administrator”;
Type “ipconfig /flushdns“;

Press Enter;
“Successfully flushed the DNS cache” message will show up on your screen.

Clearing File Explorer cache in Windows 10

Open File Explorer by clicking the folder icon in the taskbar;
Click the “View” tab and click “Options” in the corner of the tab;

The folder options window opens. In the “General” tab, click on “Clear” next to “Clear File Explorer history”.

Note: The abovementioned method clears the File Explorer history cache. To delete other hidden cache files, you need to navigate to those files and then delete them. Make sure you tick the “show hidden folder” before you proceed.

Clearing Windows Store cache in Windows 10

Press “Windows key + R” to open the Run command prompt;
Type “wsreset.exe” and press Enter or click Ok;

The Microsoft Store cache will start deleting. The process may take a while, and once completed, the Windows Store will open.

Clearing restore system cache in Windows 10

Go to the Start Menu and type “System” (Control Panel);
Press Enter;
Click “System Protection” from the right window pane;

A new pop-up window opens. Click on “Configure”;
Click “Delete” next to delete all restore points for this drive;

Click Ok.

Clearing cache in Windows 10 using Disk clean-up app

Go to the Start Menu and type “Disk Clean-up” to open the app;
The Disk Cleanup window opens. Select the disk you wish to clean from the drop-down menu. Most cache data is stored in the C drive, so we are choosing drive C;

In the next pop-up window, a list of files appears. Tick the files you wish to delete. You can delete temporary files to clear the cache;
Click on “Clean up system files” to look for hidden cache (Windows update, Windows upgrade, Temporary internet files);

After some calculations, a new pop-up window opens – tick all the files you wish to delete;

Click Ok.

Note: With the Disk cleanup utility app, you can delete almost all cache files and data, i.e., Temporary files cache, Windows update files, and Windows upgrade files.

Wrap Up

Clearing your cache folder benefits you and your device in a lot of ways. First, your computer memory gets rid of all outdated/ corrupted/ unnecessary files.

Second, cache cleaning boosts your computer performance. Therefore, we advise our readers to regularly clear their computer cache memory for better computer performance and bigger disk space.

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