Remove Old Windows Update Files Previous Installations
Windows has a tendency to hold onto old system files. For the most part, you can delete these files, particularly if you installed your current version of Windows over a previous version. To do this:
1. Open Windows Explorer, right-click the C drive and select Properties.
2. Click Disk CleanUp, then in the new window, click Clean up system files to open the advanced disk cleanup window.
3. Select the Windows upgrade log files checkbox and, if you have anything there, the Previous Windows installation checkbox.
Unbeknownst to me, my laptop still had plenty of space related to Windows Update Cleanup and Windows upgrade log files, using up nearly 3.5GB of hard drive space.
Cleaning up the unnecessary files consumes a few minutes but is worth the extra space gained on C drive.
There are other checkboxes here, but for the most part, they dont use up a ton of space and can be left alone. When youre ready, click OK to clean up your hard drive.
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Increase Disk Space Via Disk Management
Disk Management is a Windows built-in utility that allows you to perform various operations associated with hard drive including adding disk space. Nevertheless, this utility has some limitations on disk space increase.
Tip:
Even so, many users still want to have a try. How to increase disk space Windows 10 via Disk Management? Well, you can refer to the following steps.
Step 1: Open the Run window by holding Windows + R keys, and then type diskmgmt.msc and hit Enter to open Disk Management.
Step 2: Right click the C drive and choose Shrink Volume option from the elevated menu. Now, you can notice that the Extend Volume option is greyed out because theres no free space or unallocated space near this drive.
Step 3: In the next window, configure the space that you would like to shrink and then click Shrink to save and execute the operation.
Step 4: Then right click the C drive and select Extend Volume option
Step 5: Click Next to continue.
Step 6: You can determine the size you would like to add for the target drive in this window. Then click Next and Finish button one after another to complete the operation.
Add More Disk Space Via Minitool Partition Wizard
You are recommended to increase disk space via a professional partition manager, which is effective and reliable. MiniTool Partition Wizard is a utility that can help you enlarge disk space. Its Extend Partition and Move/Resize Partition features enable you to increase disk size with ease.
Way 1: Increase Disk Space Through Extend Partition
The Extend Partition feature increases the disk space by taking free space from other partitions or unallocated space. When you want to extend a partition to non-contiguous unallocated or free space or there is no unallocated or free space on the disk, Extend Partition is suggested.
Now download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard by clicking the buttons below, and then follow the provided steps.
Step 1: Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard to get its main interface.
Step 2: Right click the system drive and choose Extend from the elevated menu.
Step 3: In the next window, choose the drive that you would like to take free space from and move the handle bar to determine the amount of space you are going to take. After that, click OK to save the changes.
Tip:
Step 4: After backing to the main interface, click Apply to execute the operation.
Way 2: Increase Disk Space Through Resize Partition
Here is the tutorial.
Step 1: After opening the program, right click the system drive and select Move/Resize option from the pop-up menu.
How to increase storage on laptop? MiniTool Partition Wizard helps a lot. Try it now!
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Why Clean Up Your Computer Using Command Prompt
Command Prompt is a built-in command processor available on almost all Windows versions since Windows 3.1. While the graphical user interface is handy for most people, some may prefer the Command Prompt to perform several tasks for its efficiency and performance benefits.
If you are new to Microsofts popular command processor, check out our beginners guide to the Windows Command Prompt.
The Disk Cleanup tool and the Storage Sense feature in Windows 10 make it fairly easy to clean up your computer. If any unwanted files remain, you can remove them manually by, for example, clearing your temp folder. You can speed up this process with the help of commands to access the Disk Defragmenter, diskpart, and the Disk Cleanup tool.
Delete More Temporary Files
Windows 10 also contains large amounts of other temporary files that you can safely delete. For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, we recommend checking out this guide about removing temporary files in Windows 10. But heres the process in brief.
Start by pressing Windows + R to open the Run box. Then, type %temp% and select OK.
Follow by deleting all files and folders within the directory that shows up. Next, type temp into another Run box, select OK, and remove all files inside that directory as well. Finally, wrap up by restarting your computer.
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Things You Should Never Do To Free Up Disk Space
Desperate times, desperate measures? Perhaps, but there are some lines you shouldn’t cross, and doing so could end up causing more problems in the future.
1. Dont use free ‘PC cleaning tools’, no matter how much they’re claimed to be able to achieve. Many of these programs actually do what they claim, but theyll delete files indiscriminately, and some even end up deleting crucial system files that keep your computer and its programs running smoothly. Whats more, many free options can contain malware and pop-up advertising, and might even force you to upgrade to a premium version for a huge sum of money. Steer clear.
2. Dont clean up the registry. People who are comfortable with computers know that messing around with the Windows 10 registry the place where crucial configuration files are stored is a last resort. It can be a handy way to save some space, but the damage that can be done from deleting or modifying the wrong registry files far outweighs the potential space savings.
3. Don’t delete critical system folders from the C drive including program files, System32, Windows and Pagefile.sys. It might be tempting since these files are huge, but your computer wont work properly without them.
Store Data On External Storage Or In The Cloud
All previous methods in this list describe how to delete or remove files from your computer which you may not need. However, what of the files which you wish to keep, such as precious photos, video and music? These media types can accumulate to some serious storage space, but if you no longer have space for them on your PC hard drive, you still have options!
A common method for keeping data safe is to transfer it to external storage. There are 2 platforms for storing your data elsewhere from your main computer: physical storage and cloud storage.
Physical storage comes in many different shapes and sizes, but can most commonly be seen as USB Drives or external hard drives. Transferring data from your PC hard drive to an external hard drive allows you to delete the original files on your PC, while still keeping them safe in storage. Needless to say, this can clear a huge chunk of storage space on your PC.
Cloud Storage allows you to store your files on remote servers, and access them via the internet. There are many different cloud service providers: Apple iCloud and Microsoft OneDrive are only two examples. Most providers offer a certain amount of storage space free, and then give the option to pay monthly for more storage space if you should need it.
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Target Large And Duplicate Files
If youve done the above, youve made a big improvement in your hard drive space usage, but now lets dig deeper.
To find out whats really taking the most amount of space on your hard drive, use a disk space analyzer. WinDirStat scans your drive to show you graphically how much space each file takes up. Select the large blocks in WinDirStat to hone in on the files that are taking up the most spaceand are therefore candidates for deletion.
Auslogics Duplicate File Finder finds those pesky files youve stored in more than one folder. You can also search solely for duplicate files that take up a large amount of space, quickly identifying the worst offenders.
Fix #: Uninstall Apps You No Longer Need
If you have some programs installed for problem-solving and now they are no longer needed, you can go ahead and uninstall them to free up disk space. To do this, right-click Windows Start menu and click “Programs and Features“. Then right click the program you no longer need and choose “Uninstall“. Repeat this process to remove the rest unnecessary apps.
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Compress Files And Folders
Compressing files and folders will decrease the used space on your computer. Then, you are able to obtain more disk space and store more data. Here are some commonly used file compression programs including WinZip, WinRAR, 7-Zip and PeaZip for you.
Select one file compressor based on your demand and compress your files and folders. Then you can save the free space for your laptop.
Manual Disk Cleanup: New Windows 10 Storage Settings Can Help
I want to be clear, Im not talking about using the built-in running Disk Cleanup utility as was mentioned in our post on getting rid of the Windows old folder after an upgrade. In this article, Im going to be covering tools that are part of Windows 10 that can help you manually identify whats on with your Surfaces hard drive and remove files and programs you dont need, which will free up space.
Windows 8.1 didnt do a very good job of helping you do this. While it provided some information, it didnt really help do any actual clean up. Basically, you had to look at the information provided and then go track down the files and programs that needed to be removed on your own.
Windows 10, however, takes storage management to the next level. It helps you free up disk space with options to identify and remove files and programs you dont want that are taking up disk space on your Surface.
Windows 10 just wont do it automatically .
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How To Clear Temporary Files Using Command Prompt
Windows creates temporary files for momentary use. Temp files rarely occupy a large space on your hard drive and are essential for the smooth functioning of your system. When the task is complete, your system should automatically discard them from the temporary folders.
The Disk Cleanup tool cleans temporary files that are older than seven days. But if you have to clean the temp folder frequently, you can do it manually or using the Command Prompt.
To view temporary files, enter the following command in Command Prompt:
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe %temp%\
You can delete these files manually from the File Explorer or use the following command to delete temp files:
del %temp%\*.* /s /q
Command Prompt will automatically skip any file that is currently in use, but it will delete the rest.
How To Free Disk Space On Your Hard Drive
This article was written by Nicole Levine, MFA. Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions.There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.The wikiHow Tech Team also followed the article’s instructions and verified that they work. This article has been viewed 244,049 times.
Computer hard drives are getting much largeryou’d think you can hold on to files indefinitely and never worry about running out of space. But then one day you see a nasty message telling you there is not enough free disk space to save, copy, paste, or download something. How can you clear some space without parting with precious files? Here, you can learn how to use built-in tools in Windows and macOS to get rid of unnecessary files on your computer.
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Free Up Drive Space In Windows
If your Windows device is running low on storage, here are a few ways to free up some drive space.
Select Start > Settings > System > Storage. Open Storage settings.
Turn on Storage sense to have Windows delete unnecessary files automatically.
Delete files manually
Select Start > Settings > System > Storage > Cleanup recommendations. Open Storage settings.
Select the temporary files, unused files, files synced to the cloud, and unused apps you want to remove. Then select Clean up.
Move files to another drive
Connect your removable media to your device.
Open File Explorer from the taskbar and find the files you want to move.
Select the files, then select Cut on the ribbon.
Navigate to the location of the removable media, then select Paste.
Delete files with Storage sense
Open the Start menu and select Settings > System > Storage. Open Storage settings.
Turn on Storage sense to have Windows delete unnecessary files automatically.
To delete unnecessary files manually, select Change how we free up space automatically. Under Free up space now, select Clean now.
Uninstall apps you don’t use anymore
Open the Start menu and select Settings > Apps > Apps & features. Open Apps & features settings.
Search for a specific app or sort them by size to see which ones are taking up the most space.
When you find an app you want to delete, select it from the list, and then select Uninstall.
Move files to another drive
Connect your removable media to your device.
Get More Disk Space Via Cmd
In addition to Disk Management, the Command Prompt can also enable you to increase disk space. In this section, we will show you how to increase disk space on PC through CMD. For that:
Tip:
Step 1: Run Command Prompt as administrator.
Step 2: Then type the following commands one by one in the elevated window and press Enter after each command. After the process ends, the drive is extended.
- list disk
- select disk X
- list partition
- select partition X
- extend
- exit
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View Storage Usage On Windows 10
While you are probably aware that your device is running low on space, Storage Sense can also help you understand which contents are using the most space to know the files you want to clean up.
To view the storage usage on Windows 10, use these steps:
Under the “Local Disk C:” section, click the Show more categories option.
See how the storage is being utilized.
Once you complete the steps, you will better understand the storage usage and the areas of focus to free up space.
For instance, by clicking the System & reserved category, you will see how much space the installation is using, and how much space virtual memory, hibernation files, system restore, and the amount of space the system is reserving for updates.
Why Is C Drive Full
Check the list here and it will explain what is taking up space in C drive in Windows 11/10/8/7 and make your system partition merely full:
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If C Drive Is Full What Will Happen
If your computer reports that the C drive is out of space, you’re likely encountering one or more of the situations listed below:
- Windows OS slows down or becomes extremely slow
- Low storage space for storing more data and files
- Not big enough to install Windows update
- Unavailable for program installation
Free Up Space Rebuilding Search Indexer On Windows 10
The Windows Search database can sometimes grow very large due to the amount of content or indexing issues, and it can be one of the reasons the system drive is running out of space. If this is the case, clearing and rebuilding the database and modifying the index items can significantly reclaim storage space.
To rebuild the index of Windows 10, use these steps:
Under the “More Search Indexer Settings” section, click the Advanced Search Indexer Settings option.
Under the “Troubleshooting” section, click the Rebuild button.
Once you complete the steps, Windows 10 will clear and rebuild the Windows Search feature’s index database.
The only caveat is that during the rebuild, searches using the taskbar, File Explorer, and across the experience might be incomplete until files are re-indexed.
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Empty The Recycle Bin
When you delete items, like files and photos, from your PC, they don’t immediately get deleted. Instead, they sit in the Recycle Bin and continue to take up valuable hard-drive space. To empty the Recycle Bin, go to your desktop, right-click on the Recycle Bin and click Empty Recycle Bin. You will see a warning pop-up asking if you are sure you want to permanently delete your Recycle Bin items. Click Yes to proceed.
How To See What Is Taking Up Space On Hard Drive In Windows 10/8/7
There are two steps you can do to find out what is taking up space on your hard drive:
Step 1. Show hidden files on the hard drive
We have provided a complete guide with three methods to display hidden files on the hard drive. You can refer to this page for a guide: How to Show Hidden Files on computer hard drive.
Step 2. Analyze hard drive and find what’s eating up hard drive space
Here we’ll use Windows 10 as an example to show you how to see what’s taking up space on the hard drive. This method can also be applied to Windows 8.1/8/7:
1. Right-click on the Windows icon and select “Settings”.
2. Click “System”, then click “Storage” on the left-side panel.
3. In the Storage window, you’ll get a view of the space usage situations on all your hard drive partitions as shown in the image below:
4. Then click on a nearly full hard drive partition. You’ll be able to see what’s taking up the most space on PC, including apps and features taking up storage.
Now that you’ve known that what apps and features are taking up storage on your PC, you can manually clean up your hard drive by removing temporary files, useless apps, etc.
If you don’t like to remove files manually, how to thoroughly and automatically free up disk space and make the computer fast? Read on, and you’ll learn all the practical methods to free up disk and speed up Windows 10.
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