Windows 10 includes the Disk Cleanup utility, which can automatically clear the Recycle Bin, old temporary files and thumbnails, DirectX shader cache, and other cached files. Launch it from the Start menu. You can also clear your PC’s DNS cache, Windows Store cache, and your location cache.
Just like clearing the cache in your browser, clearing the cache in Windows is a good start to troubleshoot system issues, improve system performance, and free up disk space. Here’s how to clear cache in Windows 10.
Update, 11/12/21: Here’s how to clear your PC’s cache after upgrading to Windows 11.
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Clear temporary file cache with Disk Cleanup
To clear the cache of temporary files, enter “Disk Cleanup” in the Windows search bar located in the lower left corner of the desktop.
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Select the “Disk Cleanup” application, which will appear in the Windows search results.
Once selected, Disk Cleanup will begin calculating how much space it can free up on your operating system (C:) drive.
Now Disk Cleanup for OS (C:) will appear. Scroll down and check the box next to “Temporary Files.” You can also choose to delete files from other locations, such as “Recycle Bin” or “Downloads”.
Once you’ve selected what you want to delete, click “Clean System Files.”
Once Windows calculates the amount of storage space to free up, you’ll return to the same page. This time, select the files and locations a second time that you want to delete, and then click “OK.”
A warning will appear asking you to confirm that you are sure you want to permanently delete the files. Select “Delete files”.
Disk Cleanup will now clean up unnecessary files on your machine. This process could take several minutes.
Clear DNS cache
If you want to clear the DNS cache on your Windows 10 PC, open Command Prompt as administrator. To do this, type “Command Prompt” in the Windows search bar located in the lower left corner of the desktop.
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The “Command Prompt” app will appear in the search results. Right-click and select “Run as administrator” from the menu.
Next, run the following command:
ipconfig/flushDNS
You will receive a message informing you that you have successfully flushed the DNS resolver cache.
Clear Windows Store Cache
To clear the Windows Store cache, open “Run” by pressing Windows + R on your keyboard. The “Run” window will appear. In the text box next to “Open”, type WSReset.exe and then click “OK”.
Once selected, a black window will appear. There is nothing you can do here, so just wait a few moments while it clears the cache.
Once the window is closed, the cache is cleared and the Windows Store is launched. You can close the Windows Store app if you want.
Clear location cache
To clear the location cache, click the “Windows” icon in the lower left corner of your desktop to open the start menu. From there, select the “Gear” icon to open Windows Settings.
The “Settings” window will appear. Scroll down and select the “Privacy” option.
You will now be in the “Privacy” group of settings. In the panel on the left, select “Location”, which is located in the “Application permissions” section.
In the next window, scroll down until you find the “Location History” group. Here, select “Clear” under the “Clear location history on this device” heading.
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