How to use Cleanup Recommendations on Windows 11

Windows 11 can now tell you the files and apps to delete to help free up hard drive space on your PC – here's how to use the feature.

Windows 11 cleanup recommendations
Windows 11 cleanup recommendations
  • Open Windows 11 Settings > System > Storage > Cleanup Recommenations.
  • Click on “Temporary files,” select the files and click the Clean up button.
  • Click on “Large or unused files” and “Files sync to the cloud,” select the files and click the Clean up button.
  • Click on Unused apps, select the apps and click the Clean up button.

Cleanup Recommendations on Windows 11 is a feature to automate the process of identifying the contents you can delete to help free up hard drive space on the computer.

The feature is part of the Storage settings, and it automatically detects and displays the amount of space that Windows 11 can be reclaimed by deleting certain large or unused files, uninstalling apps that you do not use, and clearing copies of files already uploaded to OneDrive.

Windows 11 cannot delete files and apps for you, but if the device is running out of space, the feature allows you to select and delete unused files and remove apps to make more room for other content.

In this guide, you will learn the steps to free up hard drive space using the Cleanup Recommendations feature on Windows 11.

Free up space with Cleanup Recommendations on Windows 11

To use Cleanup Recommendations to free up space on Windows 11, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings on Windows 11.

  2. Click on System.

  3. Click the Storage page on the right side.

  4. Under the “Storage management” section, click the Cleanup recommendations option.

    Cleanup recommendations

  5. Click on Temporary files.

  6. Check the files to delete to free up space on Windows 11.

    Quick tip: You can also click See advanced options to access the “Temporary files” settings to clean up more files.
  7. Click the Clean up button.

    Cleanup temp files recommendations

  8. Click on Large or unused files.

  9. Select the suggested files to free up storage space on Windows 11.

  10. Click the Clean up button.

  11. Click on Files sync to the cloud.

  12. Select the files available locally since they are already in the cloud.

    Windows 11 files cleanup

  13. Click the Cleanup button.

  14. Click on Unused apps.

  15. Select the apps you would like to remove to make more space on the device.

  16. Click the Clean up button.

    Uninstall unused apps on Windows 11

Once you complete the steps, the Cleanup Recommendations features will delete the files to make more space to store other important files, and depending on the amount of data, the performance of Windows 11 should improve noticeably.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].