[4 Ways] Deleting Junk Files on Windows 10

What are junk files on your PC?

Junk files can't do your computer any favors, on the contrary, making it difficult to manage your PC system - its accumulation can cause the computer to run out of space and then slow down it.

In the process of using our computer, we often encounter the following kinds of junk files:

✦ System temporary files. After a system update, some temporary files will be stored on the computer, even if they will not be used later.
✦ Recycle Bin files. The files deleted from the computer will be automatically left in the Recycle Bin, and they will occupy a large part of the PC space if not been cleaned for a long time.
✦ Residual files. after uninstalling applications. After uninstalling unnecessary applications, there are actually still many application-related files left on the PC hard drive.
✦ Cache files. Cached files mainly refer to some files that are cached on your PC when you visit an application or website for the first time.
✦ Thumbnails. Save it on your computer so you can quickly load it the next time you browse, but many thumbnails won't be opened again.

Why do we delete junk files on Windows 10?

As we all know, the harm of junk files is quite large. If they are not cleaned regularly, they will cause problems such as slow computer running speed and poor performance, and even cause computer freezes in severe cases.

Here, we need to face up to junk files: these junk files usually become useless after completing a certain task. Therefore, deleting junk files on Windows 10 PC to keep the computer in good condition is quite necessary.

How to delete junk files in Windows 10

Although many Windows users have realized the importance of cleaning up junk files on their computers, there're still many people who don't know the methods of deleting junk files on Windows 10. So, we'll introduce three ways to clean up junk files from your PC.

│Method 1. Empty the Recycle Bin

Many deleted files are kept in the recycle bin. If the recycle bin is not cleaned up for a long time, the free space of the computer will be occupied. Therefore, we first need to empty all junk files in the recycle bin. The detailed steps are as follows:

Step 1. Click "Recycle Bin" to enter the main interface.

Step 2. Right-click on any file and then click "Empty Recycle Bin". (You can also right-click the Recycle Bin shortcut directly on the desktop and select Empty Recycle Bin.)

│Method 2. Disk Cleanup

Disk Cleanup is a Windows built-in tool that can help you find and delete some junk files, including temporary files, recycle bin, thumbnails, etc.

Step 1. Click "Windows" and enter disk cleanup, then click "Open".

Step 2. In the small window popped up, select the target disk (Here we take C drive as an example.) and click "OK".

Step 3. Select the target junk files in the C drive and click "OK".

│Method 3. Command Prompt

Command Prompt can not only help us shrink/extend volumes and format volumes, but also delete stubborn junk files from your computer. Please refer to these tips:

Step 1. Enter "cmd" in the Windows taskbar and select "Run as administrator".

Step 2. In the Command Prompt interface, enter the following command according to the actual situation and press "Enter".

cleanmgr/sagest (Skip disk selection and go directly to the category selection menu.)
cleanmgr/ sagerun (Skip any category and automate disk cleanup tasks.)
cleanmgr/lowdisk (Quickly cleans up disk space when there's low disk space.)

Tip: You can also type %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe %temp%\ and press "Enter" to view the temporary files on your computer, if necessary, type del %temp%\*.*/s /q and press "Enter" to delete them.

Deleting junk files on Windows 10 with a trusted third-party cleaner

Deleting junk files on Windows 10 computer seems to be easy through the above methods, but some files such as system-related files and damaged registry files cannot be found and deleted. Therefore, you may need a deeper PC Cleaner to thoroughly dig out and delete all junk files from the PC. Here, we sincerely recommend the powerful PC cleaning tool AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard to you.

Applicable to almost all Windows versions (Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP), this free PC cleaning expert can comprehensively scan your computer and list in order all junk files including system junk files and registry junk files. You can choose and delete junk files on your computer according to your actual requirements.

It's not just a junk file cleaner, because it can also help you with some common disk managing problems like extending a partition when it runs out of space, wiping all data from PC to prevent accidental leakage of personal data, etc.

Let's see how to delete all junk files in Windows 10.

Tips:
➹ If you want to delete large files on your computer or move apps to another drive to free up PC space better, please upgrade to the Professional Version.
➹ If you're a Windows Server user, we’ve designed the Server Edition just for you.

Step 1. Download and run this free PC Cleaner, click "Free up" on the top of the main interface and "PC Cleaner".

Step 2. You'll know the approximate space can be freed, click "Start Scan" to dig out all junk files form the PC.

Step 3. Wait for some minutes, all junk files will be listed out.

Step 4. Select the target files and then click "Clean All".

Step 5. Click "Back" to turn to the main interface.

Verdict

To conclude, we introduced 4 methods to achieve the goal of deleting junk files on Windows 10, including emptying the Recycle Bin, using Disk Cleanup, Command Prompt and a free third-party PC Cleaner. You can clearly feel the irreplaceable ability of AOMEI Partition Assistant to clean up your PC.

In addition to clean up junk files, you can also enjoy more advanced features like allocate free space, clone smaller HDD to a larger one, migrate OS to SSD without reinstalling, convert MBR to GPT.