# Temporary Internet files **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2002, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-internet-files/143056 "2002-12-16T11:01:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-internet-files/143056/1 "2002-12-16T11:01:09Z")
If I keep deleting the content, will it effect the computer? ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-internet-files/143056/2 "2002-12-16T11:05:43Z")
Moderator: Please move to General Questions ---
**Author:** ![RobertTB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@RobertTB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobertTB)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-internet-files/143056/3 "2002-12-16T11:07:54Z")
Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-internet-files/143056/4 "2002-12-16T11:11:07Z")
Are you sure? Have you got any evidence to back it up? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-internet-files/143056/5 "2002-12-16T11:14:55Z")
Well, you’ll need to defrag once in a while. But that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![RobertTB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@RobertTB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobertTB)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-internet-files/143056/6 "2002-12-16T11:53:00Z")
Ahhhh yaaaa…we can turn this psuedo-GDish! If you want to be safe about it: 1. Open My Computer (yours, not mine!) 2. Right-click on your C: drive and select ‘Properties’ 3. Click on ‘Disk Cleanup’. 4. Reflect on the many good things that Republicans have done for us, and on the evil that Democrats plot in the dark. (This step could take a while. Enjoy a nice esspresso while you ponder!) 5)Enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-internet-files/143056/7 "2002-12-16T12:10:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*Well, you’ll need to defrag once in a while. But that’s about it. \*\* You should defrag once in a while anyway. My view: keep deleting those files. All they ever do is cause trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-internet-files/143056/8 "2002-12-16T12:37:34Z")
It depends what you mean by ‘effect’ (I think you actually mean _affect_); deleting the contents of Temporary Internet Files could slow down your browsing (as your browser will have to fetch a new copy of objects that it might have just taken from the cache) and it could result in you having to log into websites again, as at least some of the files in there are cookies. I can’t think of any way that deleting them could actually cause damage to a properly-configured computer; if you had installed some application and specifically told the installer to put the files in that location, then it might stop the application from working, or (somewhat less likely) cause a problem with Windows itself. > [@](#): > > Are you sure? Have you got any evidence to back it up? How about you, **Ryan\_Liam**? Have you got any specific reason to suspect that it _may_ cause damage? - if so, lets hear it. ---
**Author:** ![mrcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@mrcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrcrow)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-internet-files/143056/9 "2002-12-16T13:04:42Z")
in XP you can set the internet settings not to save any temp files when disconnecting…i can get a link for all these tweaks if you want… Clear temp files on close The latest versions of internet explorer include some great new security improvements. For this tweak I will talk about the feature that clear the temporary internet files each time you close internet explorer. Launch Internet Explorer. Select the Tools from the menu bar. Then select Internet Options … from the drop down menu. Once the internet options has loaded click on the advanced tab. Under Security find where it says Empty Temporary internet files folder when browser is closed and check it. Click OK ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-internet-files/143056/10 "2002-12-16T22:05:28Z")
Also see [http://www.langa.com/cleanup\_bat.htm](http://www.langa.com/cleanup_bat.htm) ---
**Author:** ![jacksen9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jacksen9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacksen9)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-internet-files/143056/11 "2002-12-17T00:09:08Z")
> [@](#): > > My view: keep deleting those files. All they ever do is cause trouble. What kind of trouble? How often should you delete temporary internet files? ---
**Author:** ![raz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@raz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raz)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-internet-files/143056/12 "2002-12-17T00:12:39Z")
What about if you have a program like “Webshots” which I do, that puts the pictures you download to the temporary internet folder? It will NOT put them anywhere else, thats just what Webshots does. Will deleting the temp files delete my Webshots pictures? ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-internet-files/143056/13 "2002-12-17T03:25:05Z")
I use Webshots, also, but the pictures are downloaded in a separate folder and not in a temporary folder. I delete all my temporary folders everytime I boot up, with the Norton CleanSweep. I have it set to clean up on every boot up. It does not delete the \*.tmp files, so I delete those myself every now and then. This has not affected my webshots. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-internet-files/143056/14 "2002-12-17T08:13:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jacksen9 \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > My view: keep deleting those files. All they ever do is cause trouble. > > What kind of trouble? How often should you delete temporary internet files? \*\* Any kind of trouble. You’ll have to refresh manually to get an updated version of the site you’re visiting. Some internet-based applications won’t work. Your surfing will be slowed rather than quickened by a large cache. How often… I don’t really know. I have my cache-size setting pretty low and have set Explorer to search for new versions every time it visits a site. ---
**Author:** ![Dunmurry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@Dunmurry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunmurry)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-internet-files/143056/15 "2002-12-17T11:45:30Z")
The computer stores temporary files of web pages you have visited on the hard disk and these take up space. These can be deleted so you can free up disk space.