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Feb 18, 2024 · Fortunately, if you’re running low on free disk space in Windows 11 or Windows 10, there are many ways to free up more GBs. Here are eleven methods I used together to recover more than 100GB...
- Overview
- 1. Free up space clearing Recycle Bin on Windows 10
- 2. Free up space removing junk files with Storage Sense on Windows 10
- 3. Free up space deleting temporary files using Disk Cleanup on Windows 10
- 4. Free up space using OneDrive files on-demand on Windows 10
- 5. Free up space removing non-essential apps and games
- 6. Free up space transferring files to external drive
- 7. Free up space using NTFS compression
- 8. Free up space disabling Hibernation on Windows 10
- 9. Free up space compressing installation footprint of Windows 10
How-to
If your computer is running out of space, in this guide, we'll show you 12 ways to free up space quickly on Windows 10.
Jump to:
•Recycle Bin
•Storage Sense
•Disk Cleanup
Windows 10 doesn't erase files from the drive when you delete them. Instead, they are relocated to the Recycle Bin and marked for deletion. However, since the Recycle Bin can grow large over time, emptying its contents is the first thing you can do to free up space on your computer.
To empty the Recycle Bin to regain storage space on Windows 10, use these steps:
•Open Start.
•Search for Recycle Bin and click the top result to open the app.
•Quick tip: If the app does not appear in the result, you can open File Explorer (Windows key + E), type Recycle Bin, and press Enter in the address bar.
•Click the "Recycle Bin Tools" tab.
Storage Sense is a feature that allows the deletion of different types of junk files (including previous installation files after an upgrade and temporary files) to free up space on all the drives to make room to store other files and improve drive efficiency.
Enable Storage Sense
Although you can use Storage Sense manually, you can also enable the feature to run maintenance automatically.
To enable Storage Sense on Windows 10, use these steps:
•Open Settings.
•Click on System.
You can still use the legacy Disk Cleanup tool to clear unnecessary files on Windows 10.
Remove temporary files with Disk Cleanup
To use Disk Cleanup to delete temporary files on Windows 10, use these steps:
•Open Start.
•Search for Disk Cleanup and select the top result to open the app.
•Use the "Drives" drop-down menu and select the (C:) drive (if applicable).
You can also use the OneDrive Files On-Demand feature to manually make files available online to regain some space on your computer.
Enable OneDrive Files On-Demand
On Windows 10, the Files On-Demand feature should be already enabled in OneDrive, but if it is not, use these steps:
•Click the OneDrive icon in the bottom-right corner of the taskbar.
•Click the Help & settings (gear) button on the top-right.
•Click the Settings option.
You can also reclaim space by uninstalling apps you don't need or rarely use. Games also take up a lot of space, which means that keeping your catalog to a minimum can significantly reduce space usage while improving gaming performance on Windows 10.
To uninstall apps and games on Windows 10, use these steps:
•Open Settings.
•Click on Apps.
•Click on Apps & features.
•Use the "Sort by" filter and select the Size view to quickly identify the apps and games wasting the most space.
If you cannot clear enough space, you can connect an external drive to move files to the new location. You can even configure the system to make the external storage the default location to save files.
Relocate files to external drive
To transfer existing files to an external storage, connect the drive you will dedicate to the computer, and then use these steps:
•Open File Explorer.
•Browse to the folder with the content taking the most space.
•Select the items to move.
Windows 10 also includes a compression feature part of the NT File System (NTFS) to reduce the storage usage of current files maintaining normal access without the need to zip any content. The feature can compress files, folders, or the entire drive.
Important: Data compression can negatively impact system performance as it has to compress and decompress data on the fly. You should use this option only if you do not have another option and have capable hardware.
Enable folder compression
To enable Windows 10 NTFS compression for a folder, use these steps:
•Open File Explorer.
•Browse to the folder to compress.
On Windows 10, Hibernation is a nifty feature that saves the data in memory onto the system drive before shutting down to preserve the current session upon resuming. Then you can pick up where you left off when the device returns online.
Although it is a convenient feature, it requires gigabytes of space to save the memory information into the hiberfil.sys file. If the device is running out of room, disabling Hibernation can help free up space for more critical files.
To disable Hibernation on Windows 10 to free up space, use these steps:
•Open Start.
•Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
•Type the following command to disable Hibernation on Windows 10 and press Enter: powercfg /hibernate off
Compact OS is a tool that compresses the footprint of Windows 10 and apps. The feature is meant for devices with limited storage, but you can use the tool to quickly reclaim a few gigabytes of space when you do not have an external hard drive.
Warning: This is a friendly reminder that modifying system files is risky and can cause irreversible damage to your installation if you do not do it correctly. Before proceeding, making a temporary full backup of your PC is recommended.
To shrink the size of the Windows 10 installation and apps with Compact OS, use these steps:
•Open Start.
•Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
•Type the following command to enable Compress OS and press Enter: compact.exe /compactOS:always
Free up drive space in Windows. If your PC is running low on free space, you might not be able to install important Windows updates, and your PC’s performance may be affected. Here are some ways to free up space so you can keep your PC up to date and running smoothly.
Feb 7, 2024 · To see what’s taking up space on Windows 10, open Settings > Storage, click “Show more categories,” and review the storage usage. You can also use the WinDirStat app that scans and shows exactly what files are taking the most space on your computer.
- View Storage Settings. In Windows 10 or 11, go to Settings > System > Storage to view the total space you have available, what space has been used across different content and categories, and how much free space remains on your drive.
- Configure Storage Sense. Storage Sense is a feature built into Windows that can help free up space automatically by removing files you no longer need, and is intended by Microsoft to be the easiest way to free up disk space.
- Review OneDrive Files. If you prefer not to automate the process, Windows still gives you enough information to make decisions on your own. Since Windows separates your data into different categories at the Storage settings screen, you can easily see which types of files are chewing up your drive's storage and manually free up space.
- Uninstall Apps. You can manually uninstall programs you no longer want on your computer. In Windows 10, go to Settings > Apps > Apps & features and sort the list by name, size, or install date.
Jun 12, 2023 · Windows 10 and Windows 11 include helpful tools like Storage Sense to help you free up disk space. Here’s how to remove temporary files, uninstall apps, and more.
People also ask
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How do I free up space on Windows 10?
Sep 11, 2017 · All Microsoft will tell you is that you need 20 GB of space before you install a 64-bit Windows 10 system on a modern PC. After that, you're on your own. The rules of thumb can help.
