Windows 10: Windows\Temp Empty Folders

Starting this month, I have noticed a bunch of empty folders being created in the Windows\Temp folder. This is occurring on both v1809 and v1903. They appear to be generated shortly after boot up creating approximately 19 of these folders each time. The empty folders have the name format "tw-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxx.tmp. I found some information indicating that they are related to telemetry going back to Microsoft.


Also there are some other .log files being created related to Office. These can be created every 15 minutes. One is formatted as mat-debug-nnnnn.log (which is normally zero size) and <computer name>-yyymmdd-hhmm.log. The second set has data which refers to Office telemetry.


I don't know if at some point Windows will automatically remove them so can these folders/files be manually removed?


Thanks,

JohnD

:)

 

about temp folder

Hi Hector,

The temp folder provides work space for programs. Yes they can be deleted. We suggest that you follow the steps provided by Sangeeta Sarkar on how to delete Temp files on this

link. You may also type in the search box Disk Cleanup and hit enter. It will evaluate your disk and give you a list of folders sizes that can be deleted.

Keep us updated on the status of the issue. We will be glad to assist you further.

Regards.

 

OneDrive Temp Folder

Hi,

Thank you contacting Microsoft Community.

• What is the size of both OneDrive and OneDrive Temp folder?
• Is all files syncing to OneDrive Temp folder or any specific files/folders?

Get back to us with the required information to assist you further.

 

Is it safe to delete the Temp folder in C:/Windows/Temp?

Yes, all *files* in the temp folder (not the folder itself) can, and should be, deleted periodically.

The temp folder provides workspace for programs. Programs can create temporary files there for their own temporary use. Each program should delete all its temporary files when it closes, but for various reasons it doesn't always happen (for example,
if the program crashes, it never gets to do this). That's why it's a good idea to periodically clean out anything left there.

Also note that there are some program installations which work in two steps. The first step concludes by writing temporary files and rebooting. The second step starts automatically after rebooting and needs to find those files there (and then deletes
them when it's done).

Other than doing it automatically when rebooting (that would interfere with installations like the kind I described), it's always safe to delete the contents of the temp folder. Because it's safe to delete any temp files that aren't open and in use
by an application, and since Windows won't let you delete open files, it's safe to (try to) delete them at any time. If any fail to delete because they're open, they'll either be deleted automatically when the app using them closes, or you'll get them the
next time you delete manually.

Some people may suggest that you reboot before deleting anything, but that's not necessary, for the reason described above (on the other hand, it doesn't hurt to do it).