What is the WUDownloadCache folder

When Windows updates, the operating system looks for installation files in its internal cache. While this might seem odd, it actually helps the operating system apply updates more efficiently. Using these files, Windows can apply updates without having to download them again. The problem with this folder is that it will grow and grow, eventually taking up a significant portion of your storage. Therefore, we'll explain how to delete the WUDownloadCache folder (Windows 10 Upgrade Download cache).

Where does the WUDownloadCache folder come from

This folder is created by operating system updates. Specifically, it is created in the first update and is used to store temporary files in it.

The WUDownloadCache folder is used by the Windows Update Assistant to store temporary files for various updates. All the files found there use the ESD extension , which is the one used by the update system.

A large part of these files are here until the wizard completes the update successfully. After the update these files are deleted. But it may be that a part of the files is not erased.

Many users report that files accumulate there and end up taking up excessive space. For a limited-capacity SSD, this can be a major problem, especially since these files are no longer needed. The WUDownloadCache folder can exceed 5GB , but when unnecessary files are deleted , the folder size drops to around 20MB.

Can I delete the WUDownloadCache folder

The WUDownloadCache folder is created by the Windows 10 update assistant, so deleting it poses no danger . The update assistant itself usually deletes most of them automatically when the process is complete.

We must always wait for the update to finish successfully. If we remove WUDownloadCache before the update has finished, it will return an error for not finding the files. Running the wizard again should be sufficient, as the content should be regenerated. Then everything should go normally.

How to clear WUDownloadCache

We are already clear that this folder can be deleted without major problems. There is a small but and it is that we cannot do it from the Windows file explorer. If we did it from there, what we would achieve is that the explorer does not work. We could even cause the wizard to be unable to uninstall.

We must bear in mind that a program may contain another or a tool that is needed by the team to uninstall it. Usually this item is in the same folder as the installed software. If we delete the folder roughly, we will cause that we will not be able to uninstall the software and temporary files will remain lost by the computer.

For this you need to use the operating system update wizard. We are going to explain the steps to you.

Step by step process

1. Before cleaning the folder, we have to pause Windows updates.
2. Low to the Windows bar and in the magnifying glass we put Services
3. When Services appears, we right click on Services and We run as Administrator
4. We look for the service Windows Update, we right-click on it and give Stop
5. We close the Services window
6. Now we press on the keyboard Win + R and we introduce this route: C: \ Windows \ SoftwareDistribution \; and now we give the Intro
7. Inside the folder, we must find and access the folder Downloads
8. We select all the files of the same and we give to Suppress on the keyboard.
9. Possibly ask administrator permission, so we give Continue and ready

Gain a little more space

If you want to free up some space, we'll tell you how to do it using the DeliveryOptimization folder . The process is as follows:

1. First, we must Disable the characteristic Windows delivery optimization
2. In the search engine, we write Search for updates and we open it
3. We came in Updates and security
4. Now let's go to Advanced Options from inside the page Windows Update
5. Let's go now at Advanced and click on Choose how updates are delivered
6. We must press the button to deactivate the function of Windows delivery optimization
7. We close all now and press Win + R and we introduce the following path: C: \ Windows \ SoftwareDistribution \ DeliveryOptimization
8. We select all the content using the shortcut Ctrl + A and then Suppress on the keyboard
9. So we delete all the files from the folder and that's it