‘Cleaning your’ Windows PC is a bit dicey if you don’t know what to keep and what to throw away. Let’s make things easy for you!
Here’s a step by step guide to optimize and clean your PC and make it up and running.
Also Read: best windows cleanup utility
When Do You Need To Optimize Your Computer:
Generally, it is recommended to clean your PC on a regular basis but very few people do that. However, there are few warning signals, that you should look for to know, when cleaning is absolutely necessary:
Your system is running out of disk space Your system takes time to startup Your Browser and apps are loading slowly You have files scattered everywhere and you can’t find your files easily. The programs on the computer doesn’t respond properly.
Once you have addressed the issue, there can be two ways of cleaning your computer, hard drive cleaning and system cleaning.
Hard Drive Cleaning refers to organizing your data or files, sorting them, removing the unwanted ones to clear out the memory. System Cleaning is pretty difficult because you have to delve into Windows folders and remove trash items that hog your system. Moreover, it also includes browser optimizing and uninstallation of unwanted programs and apps.
Must Read: How To Protect Your Computer From Malware
Cleaning Your Computer System: The Smart Way
As much as it is important to clean your computer, it is not an easy task. You not only have to eliminate the system trash, but also have to sort and remove the unwanted and old apps. If you don’t want to take the risk of messing the Windows files then you must get Advanced System Optimizer to seal the deal.
Advanced System Optimizer is one of the best and powerful tools to optimize and clean your computer for Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista and XP. The software removes unnecessary and junk files which are no longer needed by your computer. It is an affordable and simple solution to all your Windows optimization issues.
Features of Advanced System Optimizer:
It cleans your hard drive-by removing old and unwanted files, therefore making your PC run faster. The software finds the outdated drivers and updates them for your system which in turns makes your system run smoother and faster. Advanced System Optimizer not only optimizes your computer but also protects it from threats. The feature System Protector monitors all the processes and doesn’t allow cyberbullies to grab your confidential information.
You can install the software and leave your worries to it but in case you want to know how to clean PC manually, we have a solution for that as well.
Cleaning Your Computer System: Manually
The initial step would be removing the temporary files from your computer. Temporary files are the files that are created by the activity and apps you use on your computer. Generally, they should get deleted on their own but some of these stay on your system. Over time, they pile up and clutter your Windows, making it sluggish.
Steps To Remove Temporary Files From Windows 7
Close all the apps that are open. Go to Start, type Disk Cleanup in the search box and hit Enter.
Note: You can access Disk Cleanup – Press Windows key along with R to open Run box and type cleanmgr.
You will see Disk Cleanup, click on it to open. You will get the Disk Cleanup interface asking you to select the drive you want to clean. By default, C is selected.
Press OK.
Now Disk Cleanup will calculate the space that could be freed up with this action.
You will be provided with the options to remove files from your system to free up space. Select Temporary Internet Files, Temporary files (Temp), Thumbnails, Downloaded Program Files, Offline web pages.
Press OK, now, it will ask you if you are sure to delete all your files permanently. Click on Delete files to confirm the action.
For further cleaning, you can remove hidden files as well. To do so, follow these steps:
Go to Start and Select Control Panel->Appearance and Personalization.
Click on Folder Options and select the View tab. Under Advanced Settings, navigate to Show hidden files, folders, and drives, check mark beside it and click OK.
Now open My Computer or Computer from Start. Go to Local Disk C
Once you are in Local Disk C, navigate to this path
\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Temp
Note: You can also reach this folder with this one step: Press Windows and R key together and type %temp%,
Select all the files and delete them to clear up space.
Steps To Remove Temporary Files From Windows 8
Close all the apps and documents that are open. Move the cursor on the right bottom. Click on the search box. In the search box, type Disk Cleanup and select “Free and Disk Space by deleting Unnecessary Files”.
Note: You can access Disk Cleanup – Press Windows key along with R to open Run box and type cleanmgr.exe
You will get the Disk Cleanup interface asking you to select the drive you want to clean. By default, C is selected.
Press OK. Now Disk Cleanup will calculate the space that could be freed up with this action. You will be provided with the options to remove files from your system to free up space. Select Temporary Internet Files, Temporary files (Temp), Thumbnails, Downloaded Program Files, Offline web pages.
Press OK, now, it will prompt you if you are sure to delete all your files permanently. Click on Delete files to confirm the action.
For further cleaning, you can remove hidden files as well. To do so, follow these steps:
Go to Start and Select Control Panel->Appearance and Personalization.
Click on Folder Options and select the View tab. Under Advanced Settings, navigate to Show hidden files, folders, and drives, check mark beside it and click OK.
Now go to My PC or Computer from Start. Go to Local Disk C. Once you are in Local Disk C, navigate to this path C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp
Note: You can also reach this folder with this one step: Press Windows and R key together and type %temp%,
Select all the files and deleted them to clear up space.
Steps To Remove Temporary Files From Windows 10
Go to Start menu.
Locate Settings Once Settings pane is open, select System.
Now click on Storage.
Navigate to local storage called This PC.
Search for Temporary files Find the option “Delete Temporary files”.
Remove Cache files in Windows 10 and 8
Sometimes, you might find Windows store crashing or launching slow, the reason behind it might be Cache files. To remove Cache files, follow these steps:
Make a right-click on the Start button and choose Run to open the Run window.
Note: To open run window, press Windows, and R key together.
In the Run window, type WSReset. exe and click OK.
An empty command prompt window will open.
When the task is done, the command prompt window will close and the Store window will open.
Cleaning Computer Hard Drive
After following all the above steps for your installed Windows, you ought to feel happy but this is not it. You might need to check your hard drive for space availability as well. To check it, go to My Computer or This PC and check the local disks. Beneath the disks, you will get the bar which could be red, blue or green, depending upon the free space remaining. If the bar is red, that means you need to sort your drive as its free space is running low.
Sort The Largest Folders
To check what is important and what not, you need to sort your files and folders. Check for the largest folders to get the idea what is taking maximum space on your system.
To sort, follow these steps:
Open the disk or partition in My Computer or This PC which has less space on it. Make a right-click on an empty area in the window. From the context menu, select Sort and then Size. Now you will get the folder sorted according to your size, largest to smallest. Check for the largest files which are also unwanted.
Organizing Desktop Files
You often tend to have shortcuts to files or other things on your Desktop. Did you know that these numerous icons on your Desktop can slow your computer’s startup speed?
Try and organize the Desktop files in one or two folders and let your PC take a sigh of relief.
Remove Unwanted Apps
If you have lots and lots of apps on your computer that you don’t use, now would be the good time to remove them and clean your computer.To uninstall the unwanted apps, follow these steps:
Open Start menu. Locate and click Control Panel. Now look for Uninstall A Program.
Note: To open Uninstall a program window, press Windows and R key together and type appwiz.cpl.
You will get a list of programs installed on the system. Look for the unwanted programs. Click on an unwanted program and make a right click on it and select Uninstall. Once the program would be removed, you would be notified.
Note: Don’t uninstall programs whose publisher is Microsoft and your Laptop or PC’s company
Removing The Trash : The Final Step
Make it a habit to empty trash whenever you have removed files from your system or perform a Shift + Delete action whenever removing a file. Using this command will remove the file permanently from the system.
To empty Recycle Bin, you can right click on Recycle Bin icon and select Empty Trash.
In Windows 10, if you don’t see the Trash Bin icon, follow these steps:
Go to Start menu. Locate Settings
Once Settings pane is open, select System.
Now click on Storage
Navigate to local storage called This PC
Search for Temporary files.
Under Temporary files, you will get an option to Empty Recycle Bin. Click on the checkmark beside it and click on Remove files.
Now that you have performed all these steps, your system might be running smoother and faster. If you maintain this routine, your system would remain healthy.
So, this was the quick guide on how to clean PC, try it and let us know your experience in the comment section below.
