Solved Is disk cleanup bugged?


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CatnipTea

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Windows 11 Home 21H2 22000.593
So I had the issue with folder thumbnails sometimes having a black background. Tried running disk cleanup, selected everything I wanted to be deleted including thumbnail cache. Hit clean up system files, and then disk cleanup disappears from taskbar view and then back again. It does the calculating. Shows me the options again on what to delete. I press ok then delete files. It shows it clean up disk files and then disappears again from taskbar view. It does not come back. I reopen it and its as if I never selected anything to delete? Is this a known bug? After it did this the first time, I restarted my computer since there was still a noticable folder with black background on my desktop. After restarting it seemed the cache was reset but it obviously wasn't since disk cleanup doesn't reflect that. Is this a known bug?
I've done sfc scannow and dism too nothing comes back corrupt.

Edit: I found how to clear it the Windows 11 way and it looks like the same issue is present. It says it deleted it, I refresh, and there it is again not deleted. I am the admin so I don't know why some things just don't work.

I tried to see if I could do a cleanup in safe mode but disk cleanup is disabled there.
I was hoping to find something in event viewer but can't find anything for disk cleanup failing.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home 21H2 22000.593
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 3501
    CPU
    11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz-4.20GHz
    Memory
    12gb Dual channel DDR4 2666 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    Cirrus Logic Superior High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6 in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768 x 60hz HD
    Hard Drives
    SK hynix BC711 256GB Solid State Drive NVMe
    Internet Speed
    43 Mbps
    Browser
    Chrome, Firefox
CatnipTea said:
So I had the issue with folder thumbnails sometimes having a black background. Tried running disk cleanup, selected everything I wanted to be deleted including thumbnail cache. Hit clean up system files, and then disk cleanup disappears from taskbar view and then back again. It does the calculating. Shows me the options again on what to delete. I press ok then delete files. It shows it clean up disk files and then disappears again from taskbar view. It does not come back. I reopen it and its as if I never selected anything to delete? Is this a known bug? After it did this the first time, I restarted my computer since there was still a noticable folder with black background on my desktop. After restarting it seemed the cache was reset but it obviously wasn't since disk cleanup doesn't reflect that. Is this a known bug?
I've done sfc scannow and dism too nothing comes back corrupt.

Edit: I found how to clear it the Windows 11 way and it looks like the same issue is present. It says it deleted it, I refresh, and there it is again not deleted. I am the admin so I don't know why some things just don't work.

I tried to see if I could do a cleanup in safe mode but disk cleanup is disabled there.
I was hoping to find something in event viewer but can't find anything for disk cleanup failing.
Click to expand...
Nope. There is no such problem here. It could be specific to the user, i.e you.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy dv7
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000 & Nvidia GeForce GT 635M
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Crucial MX500 on bay 1.
    1 TB Seagate HDD on bay 2.
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Well something's very off. I deleted %temp% with no problem, rebooted, and checked it again. The files I deleted did get deleted manually. I go into system>storage>temporary files and it's as if I didn't do anything. Selecting to delete anything in there still does nothing. None of the values change. Uninstalling programs works fine but temporary files is completely broken.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home 21H2 22000.593
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 3501
    CPU
    11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz-4.20GHz
    Memory
    12gb Dual channel DDR4 2666 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    Cirrus Logic Superior High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6 in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768 x 60hz HD
    Hard Drives
    SK hynix BC711 256GB Solid State Drive NVMe
    Internet Speed
    43 Mbps
    Browser
    Chrome, Firefox
CatnipTea said:
Selecting to delete anything in there still does nothing.
Click to expand...
You should be aware that by design Disk Cleanup does not delete temporary files that are less than 7 days old. It has been like this since Windows 7.

www.howtogeek.com

Why Doesn’t Disk Cleanup Delete Everything from the Temp Folder?

After you’ve used Disk Cleanup, you probably expect every temporary file to be completely deleted, but that’s not actually the case. Files are only deleted if they are older than 7 days old, but you can tweak that number to something else.
www.howtogeek.com www.howtogeek.com
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, and 24H2 on 3rd October through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, Canary, and Release Preview builds as a native boot .vhdx.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package. In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media. Also running Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, Canary, and Release Preview builds as a native boot .vhdx.
Wait really? I guess I didn't ever know that since I haven't tried to use disk cleanup this early. I think I'll go ahead and try to remove at least the windows.old folder with the tool.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home 21H2 22000.593
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 3501
    CPU
    11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz-4.20GHz
    Memory
    12gb Dual channel DDR4 2666 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    Cirrus Logic Superior High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6 in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768 x 60hz HD
    Hard Drives
    SK hynix BC711 256GB Solid State Drive NVMe
    Internet Speed
    43 Mbps
    Browser
    Chrome, Firefox
As long as you click the 'clean up system files' button or start Disk Cleanup as an administrator then it should include the option to clean up previous Windows installs. This is un-ticked by default. Should work fine in Windows 11, it did for me. It was one of the first things I did after getting the upgrade.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, and 24H2 on 3rd October through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, Canary, and Release Preview builds as a native boot .vhdx.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package. In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media. Also running Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, Canary, and Release Preview builds as a native boot .vhdx.
Yep, it looks like it was only the temp files that weren't deleting since they were too new. It deleted windows.old no problem. Well, at least I learned something new.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home 21H2 22000.593
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 3501
    CPU
    11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz-4.20GHz
    Memory
    12gb Dual channel DDR4 2666 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    Cirrus Logic Superior High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6 in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768 x 60hz HD
    Hard Drives
    SK hynix BC711 256GB Solid State Drive NVMe
    Internet Speed
    43 Mbps
    Browser
    Chrome, Firefox
CatnipTea said:
Well, at least I learned something new.
Click to expand...
That's why we're all here, to share what we know ;) I'm still learning new things from others here.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, and 24H2 on 3rd October through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, Canary, and Release Preview builds as a native boot .vhdx.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package. In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media. Also running Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, Canary, and Release Preview builds as a native boot .vhdx.
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