How to Change Location of the Temp Folder in Windows 7

Last Updated: September 25, 2022

In Windows 7 you might want to change the location of the System Temporary folder. It stores temporary internet files, setup files, windows explorer files & history and program files. It is very easy to change it's location for easier accessibility.

Steps

1
Create a System Restore point.
2
Open the Start Menu.

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3
Search for "Environment Variables".
4
Click on "Edit Environment Variables for your Account".
5
Create a folder named "Temp" where you want the new folder to be located,(if you haven't already done so).
6
Click on "Temp" Variable and click "Edit...".
7
Enter new Variable Value (the location of your new folder; e.g. "C:\Temp") and Click OK.
8
Select "TMP" Variable and change it's value to the same folder).
9
Click OK and Restart your Computer.
10
Verify if the change has been correctly applied. Open Start Menu and type "%Temp%" without the quotation marks.
11
Open the "Temp" folder which results.
12
Check the address bar.

Warnings

You must be logged in as Admin and have Admin Privileges.

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Always create a restore point. You will regret your decision if you didn't. If after restart for some reason you can't log in or receive an error about "Interactive logon process failure" - your restore point is your only hope.

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Do not attempt to install anything after the change without restarting.

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Its best to close ALL programs and terminate relevant processes BEFORE this change.

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You can choose a name other than "Temp" for the Temporary folder, but that is not recommended as most applications store Temporary files in "Temp" folder not the %Temp% folder (if you know what that means!).

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