How to Delete the Contents of the Temporary Internet Files Folder

This article describes how to permanently remove the contents of the Temporary Internet Files folder from your computer.

The Temporary Internet Files (or cache) folder is used by Windows Internet Explorer and by MSN Explorer to store webpage content on the computer hard disk for quick viewing. This cache lets Internet Explorer or MSN Explorer download only the content that has changed since you last viewed a webpage, instead of downloading all the content every time that the page is displayed.

To have us delete the files in the Temporary Internet Files folder for you, go to the "Fix it for me" section. To delete the files in the Temporary Internet Files folder yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

Fix it for me

To delete the files in the Temporary Internet Files folder automatically, click the Fix this problem button or link, click Run in the File Download dialog box, and then follow the steps in the Fix it wizard.

Note This wizard may be in English only. However, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.

Note If you are not on the computer that has the problem, save the Fix it solution to a flash drive or to a CD, and then run it on the computer that has the problem. 

Let me fix it myself

Click here to watch the video To delete the files in the Temporary Internet Files folder yourself, follow the steps for your version of Windows.

• Windows 7 and Windows Vista
  1. Click Start 
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     , click Control Panel, click Network and Internet, and then click Internet Options.
  2. Click the General tab, and then click Delete under Browsing history.
  3. Click Delete all, click Yes to confirm that you want to delete this information, and then click OK.
  Video: How to delete the contents of the Temporary Internet Files folder in Internet Explorer
  
  

  <stories> <subtitle> <time>0:0:10</time> <duration>6</duration> <size>15</size> <position>0.5</position> <linebreak>Disabled</linebreak> <text>How to delete the contents of theTemporary Internet Files folder in Internet Explorer</text> <color>Black</color> </subtitle> <subtitle> <time>0:0:10</time> <duration>6</duration> <position>0.4</position> <link>http://support.microsoft.com/kb/260897/</link> <text>http://support.microsoft.com/kb/260897/</text> <style>Underline</style> </subtitle> <subtitle> <time>0:0:19</time> <duration>9</duration> <text>Click "Start", and then click "Control Panel".</text><overlay>On</overlay> </subtitle> <subtitle> <time>0:0:29</time> <duration>5</duration> <text>Double-click "Internet Options".</text><overlay>On</overlay> </subtitle> <subtitle> <time>0:0:34</time> <duration>10</duration> <text>On the "General" tab, click "Delete" under "Browsing History" in the "Internet Properties" dialog box.</text><overlay>On</overlay> </subtitle> <subtitle> <time>0:0:44</time> <duration>12</duration> <text>In the "Delete Browsing History" dialog box, click yto select the "Temporary Internet Files" check box, and then click "Delete".</text><overlay>On</overlay> </subtitle> <subtitle> <time>0:1:9</time> <duration>4</duration> <text>Click "OK".</text><overlay>On</overlay> </subtitle> </stories>
• Earlier versions of Windows
  1. Exit Internet Explorer.
  2. Exit any instances of Windows Explorer.
  3. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Internet Options.
  4. On the General tab, click Delete Files under Temporary Internet Files.
  5. In the Delete Files dialog box, click to select the Delete all offline content check box.
  6. Click OK two times.

Notes

• If the Temporary Internet Files folder contains a large amount of webpage content, this process may take several minutes to complete.
• An administrator might have customized the settings for your Temporary Internet Files folder to prevent you from changing the settings. For example, the administrator can remove the General tab from the interface in the Internet Options dialog box. If you cannot access the Internet Options dialog box or the General tab, contact your administrator for more information.
• Files that start with the word "Cookie" may remain in your Temporary Internet Files folder after you follow these steps. These files are pointers to the actual cookie files that are located in your Cookies folder. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  158769  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/158769/EN-US/ ) Emptying Temporary Internet Files folder leaves cookies files
  For more information about how to delete cookies, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  278835  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/278835/EN-US/ ) How to delete cookie files in Internet Explorer
• In some cases, files that are downloaded from websites may remain in your Temporary Internet Files folder but will not be visible in Windows Explorer after you follow these steps.For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  301057  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/301057/EN-US/ ) Temporary Internet files use more disk space than specified

For more information about the Temporary Internet Files folder, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: