Summary :

  1. Delete Software Update Cache Mac
  2. Delete Software Update Cache Chrome
  3. Delete Software Update Cache Google Chrome

Clearing the Windows 10 update cache manually will solve most of the problems you may have installed the latest Windows 10 update on your computer. This post from MiniTool introduces how to clear Windows update cache.

On Windows 10, the 'SoftwareDistribution' folder is an essential component for Windows Update, which temporarily stores files needed to install new updates to keep your device secure and with the. Clearing the update cache in Windows is easy, but not as straightforward as it should be. Though we can use the Disk Cleanup Utility, it may not clear the update cache completely, so we are going to use the manual method. To start, we need to stop the Windows update service before we can clear the update cache.

If you have trouble running Windows Update, it is likely that there is a problem with the update file, or the file is not completely cleared for download or is damaged. Windows update cache location is C:WindowsSoftwareDistributionDownload. All installation files for Windows updates are stored here.

Also see: How to Clear System Cache Windows 10 [2020 Updated]

To address this issue, delete the contents of the cache and then download the software manually. Latest Timestamp - Windows Displays the time and date when the CommServe cache was last updated with Commvault software for Windows-based computers. Extra cache files may remain after you install or update applications or the system itself, so it is best to clear the cache on Mac after doing any of these. How to clear system cache on Mac Each application on your device creates temporary cache data for its effective operation. When you download or update an app using the Microsoft Store, cache data is stored. This also takes up storage space, and you can delete it to save space. Open the Run box using Win + R keys.

How to Clear Windows Update Cache

There are 3 ways for you. You can choose one based on your needs. Here is how to do that:

Way 1: Clear Windows Update Cache via File Explorer

First, let’s see how to clear Windows update cache via File Explorer.

Step 1: Type File Explorer in the Search box to open it.

Step 2: Find and right-click Local Disk (C) to choose Properties.

Step 3: Then, click Disk Clean-up. After that, click the Clean up system files option.

Step 4: Then, check the Windows upgrade log files and Temporary Windows Installation files boxes and click OK.

Step 5: Press the Windows and R keys at the same time to open the Run dialogue box. Type services.msc and click OK to open the Services application.

Step 6:From the list of applications, right-click Windows Update to select Stop.

Step 7: Next, open File Explorer and go to C: > Windows > SoftwareDistribution. Remove all the files in the folder.

Software

Then, you have cleared the Windows update cache successfully.

Way 2: Clear Windows Update Cache via Command Prompt

The second method for you to reset Windows updates cache is via Command Prompt. The detailed steps are as follows:

Step 1: Type Command Prompt in the Search menu. Then right-click it to choose Run as administrator to open it.

Step 2: Type net stop wuauserv and press the Enter key in the Command Prompt window.

Step 3: Type C: and press Enter. Type cd %Windir%SoftwareDistribution and press Enter. Type del /f /s /q Download and press Enter.

Then, all of the windows 10 cache files on your machine will now be deleted.

Command Prompt missing from Windows 10 Win + X Power Users menu? Check how to get back Command Prompt to Windows + X menu on Windows 10.

Way 3: Clear Windows Update Cache via Script

You can also try to clear Windows Update Cache via Script. Follow the instructions below:

Step 1: Open Notepad and Insert the below code in bold
@Echo On
net stop wuauserv
C:
cd %Windir%SoftwareDistribution
Type del /f /s /q Download
pause

Step 2: Save the file as Cleardown.cmd on your desktop.

Step 3: Right-click the Cleardown.cmd file and select run as administrator.

Step 4: When the Script has finished it will pause so you can see the output of what it has done.

How to Reset Windows Update Cache

You may also wonder how to reset Windows update cache. Here are the steps:

Step 1: Type Command Prompt in the Search menu. Then right-click it to choose Run as administrator to open it.

Step 2: Type the following command one by one:

net stop wuauserv
net stop cryptSvc
net stop bits
net stop msiserver

Step 3: Next, run the following command one by one.
ren C:WindowsSoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
ren C:WindowsSystem32catroot2 Catroot2.old

Final Words

This post has introduced how to clear Windows update cache and how to reset Windows update cache. I hope that this post can be helpful to you.

Summary :

This article aims to give a detailed information about Windows 10 cache. Besides, you will also learn about how to clean up your computer by clearing system cache with some effective methods provided by MiniTool Solution.

Quick Navigation :

What Is A Cache

Most Windows users might have heard about cache. But what is a cache exactly?

Cache

Windows cache is a special high-speed storage mechanism. It can be either a reserved section of main memory or an independent high-speed storage device. In other words, a cache is a hardware or software component which is used to store data. The cached data can be either the result of an earlier request or a copy of the existing data stored in other places.

With a cache, the future requests for the specific data can be responded faster. For example, when you visit a webpage for the first time, the information of this page will be cached on your computer. Then, you can reach this page faster next time, as the requested data can be found easily and quickly in the cache.

Delete

The location for Windows cache is not fixed. The cached data from different resources might be saved in different paths. The best-known storage path of cache in Windows should be C:WindowsTemp, which stores a lot of system temporary files.

Why do You Need to Clear System Cache Windows 10

As you can see in the last part, the cached data is a set of temporary files used by apps, programs or the operating system on your computer. It’s true that your Windows could store a significant amount of cache, making your system run faster and be more responsive.

However, the cached data might bring some problems to your computer, and you need to clear system cache from time to time. Here are some reasons why you need to do this:

  • The cache brings convenience only when you have enough free storage space and free RAM, or a high-performance CPU on your computer. If your computer cannot meet the requirement, the cache might slow your PC down in a short period of time.
  • If you don’t clear cache regularly but let it cumulated overtime, the disk space might run out quickly and your computer might run into dreaded problems like Windows 10 blue screen of death or other unforeseen issues.
  • Sometimes, certain cached data used to help your operating system function might get corrupted. If you don’t clear the corrupted cache on time, your PC might crash and the performance will be affected.

Therefore, it should be a routine for Windows users to clear cache regularly to get some fresh and intact data.

How to Clear System Cache on Your Windows 10 Computer

After learning about why we need to clear cache, it’s time to take action if you haven’t managed cache for long time. Do you know how to clear cache on Windows 10 computer?

Actually, there are several types of cache, and they are stored in different place. So, you might use different ways to delete these cached files. Fortunately, this post displays how to delete cache of different type, and you can have a try.

How to Clear System Cache Windows 10

  1. Clear the Temporary Files in Settings
  2. Employ Disk Cleanup Utility
  3. Clear the Windows Store Cache
  4. Clear Browser Cache
  5. Clear Cache in File Explorer
  6. Clear System Restores Cache
  7. Clear DNS Cache
  8. Clear System Cache Windows 10 Using MiniTool Partition Wizard

Method 1: Clear the Temporary Files in Settings

Temporary file is a common type of cache in your computer. By default, temporary files are stored in the path of C:UsersAdminAppDataLocalTemp. To clear them, you can press Windows + R to open Run window, input %temp% and click OK to open the Temp folders. Then, delete all the temporary files and folders in it.

However, if you want to clear other system cache together with temporary files, it should be a better choice to make it in Windows Settings. This is also a commonly-used method to remove cache for Windows users. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1: Right-click Start button and click Settings to open it.

Step 2: Choose System category.

Step 3: Turn to Storage tab in the left pane and click Free up space now under Storage sense section in the right pane. It will start scanning the data on your hard drive and you need to wait for the process to be completed.

Step 4: Check the items you want to delete and click Remove files button.

Note: Before you select and remove an item, please read carefully its description.

After that, just wait patiently until the cleaning process is finished. This is an effective way to clear various cache and is also a nice method to free up disk space.

Method 2: Employ Disk Cleanup Utility

Disk Cleanup is a built-in feature in your Windows 10. You can also use this tool to clear different types of system cache and other unnecessary files. Here’s a simple guide for you.

Step 1: Press Windows + S, search for Disk Cleanup and double-click the search result to open this tool.

Step 2: In the pop-up window, select the drive you want to clean up from the drop-down menu and click OK.

Step 3: Wait patiently until the tool finishes scanning this drive. The files that can be cleared will be listed here, and you just need to check the items you want to delete.

Step 4: Now, click Clean up system files in the same window to scan for more system cache. When you back to the window above, click OK button to clear all the selected files.

Method 3: Clear the Windows Store Cache

Windows Store will create temporary files when you are downloading apps. Sometimes, you might run into certain problems while using your Windows Store. Chances are that the Windows Store cache is corrupted or faulty. Thus, one of the methods to solve issues related Store app is to clear its cache.

To remove your Windows Store cache, just type wsreset.exe in Run dialog and click OK. Then, the Command Prompt will appear without text. You need wait patiently, as it is deleting Store cache in background. Once it’s done, the Store app will launch and the Command Prompt window will disappear automatically.

Note: To open WSReset.exe, you can also go to C:WindowsSystem32 to find WSReset file. Right-click it and click Run as administrator.

Method 4: Clear Browser Cache

When you visit websites on your browser, some cached files will be created. You can delete these cached data within your browser. How to delete cache in browser? Here, I take Google Chrome as an example:

Step 1: Open your Chrome, click the three-dot icon, and choose More tools > Clear browsing data.

Step 2: Set the Time range to All time, check Cached images and files, and click Clear data button to clear all your browser cache. Of course, you can choose other items to clear.

Then, the cached files related to your browser will be removed soon.

Method 5: Clear Cache in File Explorer

As most cached files can be found in File Explorer, you can also go to File Explorer to clear certain types of cache in a targeted way. Except the temporary files mentioned before, some other cache that are commonly managed in File Explorer are listed here.

Note: Some of these system cached files might be hidden in File Explorer. Before clearing cache, you’d better go to View tab in tool bar and check Hidden items to show all the hidden files.
  • Windows thumbnail cache: To clear Windows thumbnail cache, you can go to 'C:UsersUsernameAppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsExplorer'. Then, open Explorer folder and delete all the files with the word thumbcache in their names.
  • Windows icon cache: This is a hidden file named IconCache.db under the directory of 'C:UsersUsernameAppDataLocal'. Besides, you can also find this type of cache in Explorer folder and these files have iconcache in their names.
  • Windows update cache: This is also hidden by default. You can go to 'C:WindowsSoftwareDistributionDownload' and delete all the content of Download folder to clear Windows update cache.
  • File Explorer history: Besides the cache created by your system or from other resources, File Explorer also maintains its own cache. You can also clear it to improve performance or free up disk space. Just go to View tab and click Options in the ribbon. In the General tab, click Clear button in Privacy section.

Delete Software Update Cache Mac

Method 6: Clear System Restores Cache

It is a nice choice to create a system restore point before big events like Windows update for system protection. Because certain operations might be risky and bring some issue to your computer, and even may crash your system down. With the stem restore point, you can restore your computer to earlier date to resolve various problems.

You are allowed to set the maximum disk space used for system protection. When the assigned space is running out, you might need to delete the older restore points to spare room for new one. You can follow the steps below to clear your system restores cache.

Step 1: Type restore in the Search bar and double-click Create a restore point from the search result.

Step 2: Under System Protection tab, choose your system drive and click Configure button.

Delete software update cache google chrome

Step 3: In the new window, click Delete button.

This operation will delete all the restore points for this drive, and then you can create a new restore point.

Method 7: Clear DNS Cache

If you are experiencing certain problems during browsing on the internet, clearing DNS cache is another great solution. This is also a rather simple operation.

You just need to open Command Prompt, type the command ipconfig/flushdns, and press Enter. To get more detailed information on flushing DNS cache, you can read this post: How to Flush DNS Resolver Cache in Windows 10/8.1/7

Method 8: Clear System Cache Windows 10 Using MiniTool Partition Wizard

Delete Software Update Cache Chrome

After learning about some types of cache in Windows 10 and how to clean up your computer by clearing these cached data, you might want to clear cache for your PC immediately. But wait for a moment. I will introduce a useful third-party program – MiniTool Partition Wizard to help you remove cache more conveniently.

This is an all-in-one disk manager designed for Windows users. It offers a feature of Space Analyzer to help you view the hard drive space usage intuitively. You can also use this tool to help you clear system cache. Just download and install it on your computer to have a try.

Delete

Step 1: Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard and click Space Analyzer in the tool bar to activate the feature.

Step 2: Select a hard drive to scan from the drop-down menu and click Scan button.

Step 3: After the scanning process is completed, all the files or folders stored on this drive will be displayed. To clear certain cached files, choose File View and input file name in the empty box. Then, check Match file name only or Match entire path as your needs and click Apply button to filter the files you want.

Note: You can also go to Folder View and locate a certain folder according its path to delete the whole folder if needed.

Step 4: Now, right-click the cached files you want to remove and choose either Delete (to Recycle Bin) or Delete (Permanently).

Bottom Line

This post has introduced how to clean up your computer by clearing cache. If you are running out of the storage space, or notice some problems on your computer, don’t hesitate to clear the cache. Now, it’s your turn. Just choose one method to clear a specific type of cache as your needs.

If you have any problems with this post, please let us know. You can either leave a message on the comment zone below or send an email to [email protected].

Clear System Cache Windows 10 FAQ

To run a disk cleanup from Command Prompt, follow the steps below:

Delete Software Update Cache Google Chrome

  1. Press Windows + R to open Run.
  2. Type cmd and press Enter to open Command Prompt.
  3. Input the command cleanmgr.exe and press Enter to invoke the tool.
  4. Choose your desired drive to perform a disk cleanup.

You need to delete Run history in Windows 10 in your Registry, as follows:

  1. Open Run window, type regedit and click OK to open Registry Editor.
  2. Navigate to the following path: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerRunMRU
  3. In the right pane, delete all the strings except the Default string.