A mysterious new folder named "inetpub" has been added to your hard drive by Microsoft. Is it risky? Is it possible to remove it?
In actuality, Windows, Microsoft's operating system, is a more intricate internal software program than we may first believe. Of course, this is particularly noticeable in the more recent iterations of the system.
A few months before Windows 10's support ends, we will concentrate on Windows 11, the software giant's current top pick. On October 14, this cherished operating system version will no longer receive any updates, at least not for free.
In particular, we are talking about the unexpected creation of a new folder on our computers by the company's most recent update, the Windows 11 April Update. Few people are aware of its true nature or purpose, and it is known as inetpub. Many users observed this on their PCs following the installation of the most recent April 2025 patch.
What function does the Windows operating system's inetpub folder serve?
Furthermore, even systems without Internet Information Services (IIS) installed experience this. Microsoft's proprietary web server platform, IIS, is used to host Windows websites, apps, and online services.
You should be aware that this platform can be activated using the Windows Features dialog box, but it is not installed by default. At this point, we will let you know that the platform we are discussing, IIS, stores website content and other server-related file logs in the automatically generated inetpub folder.
After installing the Windows 11 patch KB5055523, this content is now automatically generated on systems without IIS installed and shows up after a computer restart.
However, it is important to remember that the IIS component was not installed during the procedure. As a result, a lot of users are now curious as to why the folder just appeared. Note that it was created by a process with elevated permissions because it is owned by the System account. Although it has no effect on system stability or performance, its sudden appearance has caused some people to wonder if it was a bug or a part of this update.
We can verify that removing the folder itself does not result in any issues with Windows; however, since it is empty, it also does not waste disk space.