Where's my TEMP folder?

Problem

Sometimes people will tell you to look in your TEMP folder for a file or to check your TEMP folder for various other reasons.

So where IS this mysterious TEMP folder? How do you find it?

Solution

There are a few ways you can locate your TEMP folder.

System Properties dialog box

You can find (or even change) your TEMP folder location from the System Properties dialog box. Here's how to get there:

• Windows XP: Right-click My Computer and click Properties on the pop-up menu.
• Vista/Windows 7: Click the Start button, right-click Computer and click Properties on the pop-up menu.

Once you have the System Properties dialog box open, click the Advanced tab then click Environment Variables.

In the Environment Variables dialog box that appears, you'll see the path to TEMP listed in the area at the top of the dialog. If you want Windows to store temporary files in a different folder click the TEMP line in the list box then click Edit. If you do this, make sure to put the new TEMP folder on a drive with lots of spare room and to create the folder before you designate it as your TEMP folder.

Use the Run command

This not only shows you where the TEMP folder is, it takes you there and opens a Windows Explorer window on it.

• Click Start.
• Click Run.
• In the text box that opens, type %TEMP% then press Enter or click OK.
• The window that opens will show you the files in your TEMP folder.

Note: In Vista and Windows 7, you can also type %TEMP% into the Search box and press Enter.

From a command prompt

• Type CD %TEMP% to move to your TEMP folder, or
• Type START %TEMP% to open a window on your TEMP folder

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