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How to Clear Windows 7 Cache

This wikiHow teaches you how to clear your Windows 7 computer's various caches of information and temporary files. Open Start . Click the multicolored Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.

Method 1 of 4:

Clearing General Caches

  1. images 1 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 1 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Open Start
    images 2 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 2 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    . Click the multicolored Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
  2. images 3 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 3 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Type disk cleanup into Start. Doing so will search your computer for the Disk Cleanup program.
    1. If your mouse cursor doesn't appear in the text box at the bottom of Start when you open it, click the text box before typing.
  3. images 4 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 4 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Click Disk Cleanup. This program's icon, which resembles a flash drive with a brush on it, should be at the top of the Start menu. The Disk Cleanup program will open.
    1. You may have to click the Disk Cleanup icon once it appears at the bottom of the screen to open the Disk Cleanup window.
  4. images 5 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 5 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Check every box in the Disk Cleanup window. Click the checkbox to the left of each item in the Disk Cleanup window, scrolling down once you reach the bottom of the window to view more options if necessary.
  5. images 6 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 6 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Click OK. It's at the bottom of the window.
  6. images 7 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 7 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Click Delete Files when prompted. Disk Cleanup will begin deleting temporary files from places like the "Thumbnails" cache and the Recycle Bin cache.
    1. Once this process is complete, Disk Cleanup will close.
Method 2 of 4:

Clearing App Data Files

  1. images 8 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 8 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Open Start
    images 9 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 9 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    . Click the multicolored Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
  2. images 10 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 10 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Click My Computer. It's a tab on the right side of the Start window. This will open the My Computer window.
    1. If you don't see the My Computer tab here, type my computer into Start, then click My Computer at the top of the Start window.
  3. images 11 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 11 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Enable viewing for hidden files and folders. To do so from the My Computer window:
    1. Click the Organize tab in the upper-left corner of the window.
    2. Click Folder and search options in the resulting drop-down menu.
    3. Click the View tab.
    4. Check the "Show hidden files, folders, and drives" box under the "Hidden files and folders" section of the "Files and folders" section.
    5. Click OK at the bottom of the window.
  4. images 12 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 12 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Double-click your hard drive's name. Below the "Hard Disk Drives" heading, double-click the Local Disk option.
    1. The hard drive's letter is usually "C", stylized as (C:).
  5. images 13 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 13 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Double-click the Users folder. You'll find it near the top of the window.
  6. images 14 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 14 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Double-click your user folder. This will usually be a folder with the first few letters of your name or Microsoft account address.
  7. images 15 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 15 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Double-click the AppData folder. It's in the middle of the window, though you may have to scroll down to find it if the window isn't in full-screen mode.
  8. images 16 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 16 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Double-click the Local folder. You'll find this option near the top of the window.
  9. images 17 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 17 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Scroll down and select the Temp folder. Click once this folder to select it.
  10. images 18 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 18 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Remove the read-only protection from the folder. To do so:
    1. Click the Organize tab.
    2. Click Properties
    3. Uncheck the "Read-only" box.
    4. Click Apply
    5. Click OK when prompted.
    6. Click OK
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    Images 19 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Double-click the Temp folder. It should open.
  12. images 20 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 20 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Select the folder's contents. Click one item in the folder, then press Ctrl+A. Alternatively, you can click Organize and then click Select all.
  13. images 21 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 21 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Delete the folder's contents. Press the Del key on your keyboard.
    1. A few of the files in the Temp folder may be in use, or system files, meaning that you can't delete them. If prompted, check the "Do this for all current items" box and click Skip.
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    Images 22 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Empty the Recycle Bin. Doing so will completely remove the deleted files from your computer.
Method 3 of 4:

Clearing Internet Explorer Files

  1. images 23 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 23 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Open Start
    images 24 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 24 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    . Click the multicolored Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
  2. images 25 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 25 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Type in internet options. This will search your computer for the Internet Options program.
    1. If your mouse cursor doesn't appear in the text box at the bottom of Start when you open it, click the text box before typing.
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    Images 26 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Click Internet Options. It should be at the top of the Start menu. The Internet Options window will open.
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    Images 27 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Click the General tab. This is at the top of the window.
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    Images 28 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Click Settings. It's in the lower-right side of the "Browsing history" section.
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    Images 29 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Click View files. You'll find it near the bottom-right side of the window. A new window containing all of your Internet Explorer cached files will open.
  7. images 30 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 30 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Select the folder's contents. Click one item in the folder, then press Ctrl+A. Alternatively, you can click Organize and then click Select all.
  8. images 31 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 31 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Delete the folder's contents. Press the Del key on your keyboard.
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    Images 32 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Empty the Recycle Bin. Doing so will completely remove the deleted files from your computer.
Method 4 of 4:

Clearing the DNS Cache

  1. images 33 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 33 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Open Start
    images 34 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 34 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    . Click the multicolored Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
    1. Clearing the DNS cache solves problems with Internet connectivity, such as sites timing out.
  2. images 35 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 35 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Type command prompt into Start. This will search your computer for the Command Prompt program.
    1. If your mouse cursor doesn't appear in the text box at the bottom of Start when you open it, click the text box before typing.
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    Images 36 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Right-click
    images 37 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Images 37 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Command Prompt. It should be at the top of the Start menu. A drop-down menu will appear.
    1. If your mouse doesn't have a right-click button, click the right side of the mouse, or use two fingers to click the mouse.
    2. If your computer uses a trackpad instead of a mouse, use two fingers to tap the trackpad or press the bottom-right side of the trackpad.
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    Images 38 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Click Run as Administrator. It's an option in the drop-down menu. This will open Command Prompt with Administrator privileges.
    1. You can't do this if you aren't using an Administrator account on your computer.
    2. You may need to click Yes when prompted before you can continue.
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    Images 39 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Enter the DNS flush command. Type in ipconfig /flushdns and press ↵ Enter.
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    Images 40 of How to Clear Windows 7 Cache
    Wait for the confirmation command. You'll see a command saying "Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache" appear if the flush is successful.
    1. You may need to restart your computer before you'll notice the changes to your Internet connection.
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