Is it safe to manually delete files in WinSxS\Temp folder?

So, some background before I ask about the WinSys\Temp folder. I have an HP Stream 11 32GB SSD with Windows 10 Home, Version 1607 (Anniversary Update, Aug2016), OS Build 14393.2214, 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor. It was an emergency purchase when my previous laptop unexpectedly died and I needed something immediately. My previous laptop was an HDD spinner with tons of internal memory, and since I never had any space-related problems that particular specification wasn't even on my radar when I needed a new laptop. I've since learned the painful truth that buying a laptop with only a 32GB hard drive was a terrible choice on my part. But at the time I just didn't know any better. I don't do gaming or anything intensive like that, so I thought any basic laptop would be fine - but I now know how wrong I was.

I've been able to survive with this laptop past 6 years by cleaning it on a regular basis, weekly and even daily if necessary. I don't have any formal training in computers, what I know I've just learned over the years from having problems and trying to figure out how to fix them. Unfortunately I don't have enough space to do anything that might permanently help with the ongoing problems. I can't do a Windows Update or Reset This PC or use the Media Creation Tool for a clean OS install. I can't afford a new or better laptop, so I've just had to learn to work with what I've got.

After many years of dealing with the limitations of this laptop, I think I know just about every trick in the book to free up space. I've gotten pretty good at working with just 1.5-2GB free space on my C drive at any given time. I've compressed the OS, turned off system restore and disabled hibernation. I run Disk Cleanup regularly and keep an eye on any other things that might crop up with SpaceSniffer. But now I'm down to 900MB free space, even with my regular cleaning procedures. I can't even run Chrome and Office at the same time anymore, the programs either lock up or crash, so I have to just use them one at a time which really slows me down.

And I truly am using the absolute bare minimum of programs on this laptop: Google Chrome, HP printer, WPS Office, Malwarebytes and VLC Player - that's it. I've also uninstalled most of the factory apps that came with the laptop (using Geek uninstaller). A couple years ago I had this thing called TWINUI take over as the default player for all of the factory apps and some others I had download from the Microsoft Store. It made the apps completely unusable and I never figured out how to fix it, so I just uninstalled most of the apps to free up some space on the C drive.

And now to the contents of the WinSxs\Temp folder, which I found is around 1GB using SpaceSniffer. The Temp folder contains 3 subfolders -- InFlight 84MB, PendingDeletes 3MB, and PendingRenames 900MB. Clearly it's the PendingRenames that is taking up most of the space, which I'd like to get back. I've tried using Disk Cleanup and DISM, all run as Admin, but that doesn't delete anything in those 3 folders. I am working within an Administrator account (versus a local user account) and have run DISM with the StartComponentCleanup, RestoreHealth and ResetBase switches, but nothing seems to get rid of the files in that Temp Folder. I ran SFC /ScanNow, but that's doesn't help with the situation. I also ran all of these commands in Safe Mode as well, but that didn't make any difference.

Every article I've read on the subject says never to manually delete files in WinSxS folder, that it can fatally damage the Windows OS. But I was wondering if it was safe to manually delete the files in the Temp folder? I mean, a folder named "Temp" sort of implies that it's safe to delete those contents. But in reading a lot of articles and threads, I haven't found anything that specifically addresses the safety of deleting the contents of just the WinSxS\Temp folder. This laptop is a real pain in the ass, but it is still working as of right now and I wouldn't want to do anything the jeopardize that. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Bree said:

The /startcomponentcleanup switch should work. That was the one that cleared out the WinSxS/temp/pendingdelete folder in this thread.

WindowsSxS Temp Files

I routinely use Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup after every cumulative update and none of my PCs have anything in their pendingdelete folder.

Just in case you were not aware of it, note that it is quite safe to delete the contents of the C:\Windows\servicing\LCU folder. This folder will contain a backup copy of the latest cumulative update after it has installed. This can be 900MB or so. I also routinely delete the contents of LCU after each new CU.

For whatever reason, the Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup didn't work for me. As I mentioned in my OP, I ran this command in both normal and safe mode, but it didn't delete any files in that Temp folder. Also, the C:\Windows\servicing\LCU folder you mentioned does not exist on my laptop. I did a search in Explorer for "LCU" for my entire C drive and it didn't find anything, maybe because I don't have enough memory to do a Windows Update. Like I said above, I'm running Windows 10 Home Version 1607, that's the last update I was able to do and that was years and years ago.

After cleaning up with Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup WinSxS still weight 7.2 GB. Anyting else i can do to lower the size?

Also missing the temporary files option under Storage

Example from internet:


My System reports 4.2GB Temporary files:


but not showing