{"id":81004,"date":"2026-07-15T12:44:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T07:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/?p=81004"},"modified":"2026-07-15T12:44:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T07:14:43","slug":"reset-temp-folder-permissions-defaults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/reset-temp-folder-permissions-defaults\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Reset the TEMP folder Permissions to Default"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Almost every classic Windows app creates files in the TEMP folders. Incorrect permissions for the user or system TEMP folders can cause errors when installing or running programs.<\/p>\n<pre>\r\nUser temp folder: C:\\Users\\%username%\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\r\nSystem Temp folder: C:\\Windows\\TEMP\r\n<\/pre>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>This post explains how to reset the TEMP folder permissions to their defaults.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>Reset Temp Folder Permissions<\/h2>\n<p>Before proceeding, please close all Programs that are currently running. If possible, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/start-windows-11-or-10-safe-mode\/\">start Windows in Safe Mode<\/a> and carry out the steps below.<\/p>\n<p>From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/open-elevated-command-prompt-windows\/\">Command Prompt (admin)<\/a>, rRun the following commands:<\/p>\n<pre class=\"cmd\">takeown \/f \"%temp%\"\r\nicacls \"%temp%\" \/reset\r\nicacls \"%temp%\" \/inheritance:r\r\nicacls \"%temp%\" \/grant Administrators:(OI)(CI)(F)\r\nicacls \"%temp%\" \/grant SYSTEM:(OI)(CI)(F)\r\nicacls \"%temp%\" \/grant \"%username%\":(OI)(CI)(F)\r\nmd \"%temp%\\Low\"\r\nicacls \"%temp%\\Low\" \/setintegritylevel (OI)(CI)low\r\n\r\n\r\ntakeown \/f c:\\windows\\temp\r\nicacls c:\\windows\\temp \/reset\r\nicacls c:\\windows\\temp \/inheritance:r\r\nicacls c:\\windows\\temp \/grant Administrators:(OI)(CI)(F)\r\nicacls c:\\windows\\temp \/grant SYSTEM:(OI)(CI)(F)\r\nicacls c:\\windows\\temp \/grant \"%username%\":(OI)(CI)(F)\r\n<\/pre>\n<p>That&#8217;s it. The above commands should have restored the per-system TEMP (C:\\Windows\\Temp) and per-user TEMP folder permissions to Windows defaults.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Almost every classic Windows app creates files in the TEMP folders. Incorrect permissions for the user or system TEMP folders can cause errors when installing or running programs. User temp folder: C:\\Users\\%username%\\AppData\\Local\\Temp System Temp folder: C:\\Windows\\TEMP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,869],"tags":[106,250],"class_list":["post-81004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows-10","category-windows-11","tag-command-prompt","tag-icacls"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":76068,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/error-2203-epic-games-launcher\/","url_meta":{"origin":81004,"position":0},"title":"Fix: Error 2203 when installing Epic Games Launcher","author":"Ramesh","date":"July 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"When installing Epic Games Launcher, you may get the following error code: The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2203. RELATED: Error 0x80070660: The Temp folder is full or inaccessible Cause This error code occurs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"icacls temp folder permissions","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/temp-folder-permissions.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/temp-folder-permissions.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/temp-folder-permissions.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/temp-folder-permissions.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75601,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/zip-cant-complete-extraction\/","url_meta":{"origin":81004,"position":1},"title":"Compressed Folder Error: Windows cannot complete the extraction","author":"Ramesh","date":"June 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"When you open a .zip file and run an enclosed file without extracting the contents to a folder, the following error may appear: Compressed (zipped) Folder Error Windows cannot complete the extraction. The destination file could not be created. Cause This happens if the %temp% folder permissions are incorrect. When\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"temp folder permissions advanced security dialog","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/temp-folder-permissions-security-dialog.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/temp-folder-permissions-security-dialog.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/temp-folder-permissions-security-dialog.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/temp-folder-permissions-security-dialog.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":74682,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/0x80070660-temp-folder-full-inaccessible\/","url_meta":{"origin":81004,"position":2},"title":"Error 0x80070660: The Temp folder is full or inaccessible","author":"Ramesh","date":"April 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"When you install software that uses the Microsoft Installer (.msi), the error code 0x80070660 may occur. The following is the entire error message: 0x80070660 - The Temp folder is on a drive that is full or is inaccessible. Free up space on the drive or verify that you have write\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Error 0x80070660 - he Temp folder is on a drive that is full","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0x80070660-installer-error.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0x80070660-installer-error.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0x80070660-installer-error.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3119,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/cannot-print-standard-user-temp-folder-permissions\/","url_meta":{"origin":81004,"position":3},"title":"Printing Works Only for Administrators; Non-Admins Can&#8217;t Print","author":"Ramesh","date":"May 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"If you're wondering why standard users can't print (and only administrators can) especially after relocating your TEMP folder on your Windows computer, this article has the explanation and a fix. Cause Moving your Temp folder can sometimes cause printing issues in Windows, depending upon how the Permissions are set in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/icacls-tmp-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1193,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/fix-zipped-folder-access-denied-unable-complete-operation\/","url_meta":{"origin":81004,"position":4},"title":"[Fix] Compressed (Zipped) Folder Access Denied Error &#8220;Unable to Complete the Operation&#8221;","author":"Ramesh","date":"October 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"When you try to create a Compressed (zipped) folder in Windows, the error \"Unable to complete the operation. Access is denied\" may occur and the zip file is not created. Compressed (Zipped) Folder Access Denied error occurs if the user %TEMP% variable isn't properly set, or the user has no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"temp variable set - zip folder access denied","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/zip-fldr-access-denied.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":80655,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/legacy-office-documents-file-in-use\/","url_meta":{"origin":81004,"position":5},"title":"&#8220;File In Use&#8221; Error When Opening Legacy Office Documents","author":"Ramesh","date":"April 7, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"When you open legacy Office documents (97-2003), Office applications may display the \"File In Use\" error and suggest opening the document in Read-Only mode. This may happen in every Office application\u2014Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. The dialog would say \"file is locked for editing by 'another user'\", suggesting that you select\u00a0\"Open\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Office&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Office","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/office\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"legacy office files open read-only error","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/winword-read-only-error-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81004\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}