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In the folder C:\Users\myUser\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows There is a folder named Temporary Internet Files.

I've deleted all 1,47GB of data from that folder, but Windows still claims that this empty folder contains 1,47GB of data.

How is this possible? How can I remove this 1,47GB of data?

Thanks in advance.

NOTE: I did delete them holding shift, so the trash-bin is empty.

I did reboot my machine after deleting the files.

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  • Empty your recycle bin. Jun 20, 2013 at 16:32
  • @DanielRHicks Smart answer, I did a direct delete by holding shift.
    – Rob
    Jun 20, 2013 at 16:32
  • Could junctions or symbolic links be the issue here?
    – Jan Doggen
    Jun 21, 2013 at 9:16

2 Answers 2

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This is a known issue. You have to run the delete temporary files 2 times (with Low and Medium IL) to get all data removed. When you run it the normal way, the cleanup runs with Medium IL, so the temp data from low IL are nor removed.

To clean all files, download this tool:

http://www.wintecnico.com/ficheros/CleanIETempFiles.zip

extract it and run it this way:

CleanIETempFiles.exe -t

This cleans all files.

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I recently used the program WinDirStat to get a summary of disk usage on my Win 7 install.

It highlighted quite a large amount of space taken up with the Temp Internet Files ( and subfolders). However, when exploring that directory manually the size of files reported was far lower than the amount of space WinDirStat said was taken up. I just assumed that Windows was trying to be clever and hide them from me.

Anyway, I then deleted all the subdirectories one at a time and eventually gained back a large chunk of space. Might be worth a try.

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  • "the size of files reported was far lower than the amount of space WinDirStat said was taken up" --> File sizes are reported in actual bytes of 'real' data in the file; total space taken up is always higher because data is allocated 'per sector'. A 1-byte file takes 4096 bytes of disk size if that is the sector size. There's no issue of 'Windows trying to be clever'
    – Jan Doggen
    Jun 20, 2013 at 18:55
  • Hmm, it's hard to say at this stage but I'm sure that the number of files that Explorer showed was nowhere near enough to account for the size discrepancy.
    – Rob
    Jun 21, 2013 at 8:26
  • And the number of files shown is influenced by your Windows seetings 'Include system files' and 'Show hidden files'. Windirstat will almost certainly count those.
    – Jan Doggen
    Jun 21, 2013 at 9:15

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