How to automatically clear temporary files (Storage Sense)

Temporary files—like internet caches, app data, and old installation files—can quietly eat up gigabytes of space, slowing down your PC. While you could delete these manually, Windows has a built-in 'robot' to do it for you.

In this guide, we'll show you how to enable and configure Storage Sense. This feature works in the background to automatically clear out clutter so you never have to worry about a 'Low Disk Space' warning again.

Method 1: Enabling Storage Sense in Windows 11

  1. Right-click the Windows start menu button.
  2. Click Settings.
    Open settings in Windows 11
  3. Click System.
    Open system settings in Windows 11
  4. Click Storage.
    Open storage settings in Windows 11
  5. Turn on Storage Sense by clicking the toggle button next to it.
    Turn on Storage Sense in Windows 11
  6. Click Storage Sense.
    Open Storage Sense settings in Windows 11
  7. Check the Keep Windows running smoothly by automatically cleaning up temporary system and app files option.
    The Keep Windows running smoothly by automatically cleaning up temporary system and app files option
  8. Click the 'Run Storage Sense' drop-down menu.
  9. Select how often Storage Sense should run (e.g., every day, every week, etc.).
    Storage Sense drop-down menu

Watch your downloads! By default, Storage Sense avoids your Downloads folder to prevent deleting files you might still need. If you want Windows to clean this folder too, you can change the "Delete files in my Downloads folder" setting to 30 or 60 days. Just make sure to move your important files to a permanent folder first!

  1. Close settings.

Method 2: Enabling Storage Sense in Windows 10 (Legacy)

  1. Right-click the Windows start menu button.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Click System.
  4. Click Storage.
  5. Toggle Storage Sense to On.

Note for Windows 10: Be careful with the Downloads folder setting. If you set this to "30 days," Windows will permanently delete anything you haven't opened in a month. Only turn this on if you've already moved your important downloads elsewhere!

  1. Click Configure Storage Sense or run it now.
  2. Select how often Storage Sense should run (e.g., every day, every week, etc.).
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Related:

How to delete temporary files in Windows 11 (step by step)

How to delete the Windows.old folder in Windows 10 and 11

Windows

References:

https://www.howtogeek.com/how-to-automatically-clear-temporary-files-on-windows-11/