How to Remove Junk Files

Everyone has to deal with junk files from time to time. As you use various programs, your hard drive will fill with temporary files, prefetch data, and a whole lot more, all of which will take up space and potentially slow your computer down.

If you want your computer to remain in peak condition, you need to know how to clear junk files and reclaim that space. In this guide, we’re going to help you do just that.

Ready to get more hard drive space back? Then read on!

What Are Junk Files?

Before we look at how to delete junk files, we need to consider what they are. Junk files are the various files that your operating system and its programs create during daily use. Mostly, these are benign, if annoying.

Some common types of junk files include temporary files, which a program will make as you use it. Prefetch data is another classic junk file, where your computer moves files from slower memory to faster memory, in preparation for them being used.

There are a lot of different junk files, too many that we can’t go into them all here. To learn more, check out this article here.

Why You Should Delete Junk Files

Deleting junk files is an important part of computer maintenance. There are a few different reasons for this, but the two main ones are disk space and speed.

Junk files are stored on your hard drive, just like any other type of file, and the more junk files you have, the more space they’ll take up. You can get to the point where multiple gigabytes of hard drive space is being taken up with junk when they could be used much more effectively.

The more junk files that your PC needs to deal with on startup, the slower it’ll be too. You can get to the point where whole minutes are being added onto a startup time because of junk files. They can also slow down your PC during use, so if your PC has recently slowed down, they could be responsible.

How to Delete Junk Files

While Windows comes with a disk cleanup utility that can cope with some junk files, it’s best to use third-party software that offers additional features. For instance, some software allows you to reorganize your files as part of junk deletion, and they can also delete files more securely than the built-in tools.

This secure deletion feature is particularly important: you want to find software that will get rid of all traces of junk files, particularly if they contain sensitive data. This is important if you want to sell on an old hard drive or are at risk of getting hacked.

Now You Know How to Get Rid of Junk

We hope that you’ve enjoyed this look at how to get rid of junk files. Now all that’s left is for you to find the right software for the job and eliminate those pesky files, boosting your computer’s speed and freeing up space.

For more helpful content like this, check out the rest of our blog!