What is a .tmp file?
A file with the .tmp extension is a temporary file. When a program needs to record data which only needs to be available for a limited amount of time, it may choose to record this information in a temporary .tmp file. Sometimes the contents of .tmp files are easily accessible, and other times they are not.
From time to time, an application may need to record some data or a piece of information which will only be used for a limited amount of time. Many software developers make use of .tmp files to store this temporary data. Often times, operating systems will keep all of these files in a central location. For example, you’ll find a lot of temporary files in C:\Windows\temp on a Windows system or in /tmp on many Unix-based systems.
Is it safe to delete .tmp files?
Maybe, maybe not. People often wonder if they can delete temporary files in order to free up disk space or increase performance. In some cases it may be perfectly safe to delete a .tmp file while other times, doing so could cause problems with one or more applications. It’s difficult to tell when this will happen.
Instead of deleting temp files through Windows Explorer, Finder or another file manager, look for an option within an application to delete temporary files. For example, opening the “Internet Options” dialog box through Microsoft Internet Explorer reveals an option “Delete Temporary Internet Files”.
Applications
You really aren’t meant to open .tmp files directly. The contents of some may be in plain text and therefore accessible via a text editor. Editing the contents of a .tmp file may cause problems.
