- To free up space on Windows 10, open Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files, select the junk files and click “Remove files.”
- In addition, you can open Settings > System > Storage > Storage Sense, select the files to delete to free up space, and click on “Run Storage Sense now.”
- Alternatively, it’s possible to use the legacy Disk Cleanup tool to free up space on your computer.
On Windows 10, you can quickly free up space in a number of ways, and in this guide, you will learn how. When the computer starts showing signs that it’s running out of space, it’s critical to free up space to have more room for other files and prevent performance problems. Using a computer without enough available space will slow down the system and cause errors. It’s never a good idea to use more than 70 percent of the total capacity of the hard drive, whether it is a Solid State Drive (SSD) or a traditional hard disk drive (HDD).
Windows 10 offers many ways to free up space when the hard drive on your device has low available space. Some of the easiest methods include using the Temporary file settings, Storage Sense, and you even still use the legacy Disk Cleanup.
This guide will teach you three easy ways to free up space on Windows 10.
Effective ways to free up space on Windows 10
Temporary files
The “Temporary files” settings allow you to delete files not critical to running Windows 10. For example, leftover files after installing a new version, upgrade logs, error reporting, temporary Windows installation files, and many others.
To delete temporary files to free up space on Windows 10, use these steps:
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Open Settings on Windows 10.
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Click on System.
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Click on Storage.
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Click the Temporary files setting.
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Check the temporary files to remove to free up space on Windows 10, such as “Windows Update Cleanup,” “Recycle Bin,” “Windows upgrade log files,” “Temporary files,” and “Temporary Windows installation files.”
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Click the Remove files button.
Once you complete the steps, the junk temporary files will be removed from your computer, freeing up space for more important files on Windows 10.
Storage Sense
“Storage Sense” is another feature that can free up space automatically whenever the drive is low on space. It does this by deleting temporary system and apps files, emptying the “Recycle Bin” and “Downloads” folders, and converting files already synced to OneDrive to online-only content.
To free up space with Storage Sense on Windows 10, use these steps:
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Open Settings.
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Click on System.
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Click on Storage.
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Under the “Storage” section, click the “Configure Storage Sense or run it now” option.
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Turn on the Storage Sense toggle switch.
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Check the “Delete temporary files that my apps aren’t using” option.
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Select when to run Storage Sense automatically, including “Every day,” “Every week,” “Every month,” or “During low free disk space”
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Under the “Temporary files” section, check the “Delete temporary files that my apps aren’t using” option.
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Choose when to delete files from the Recycle Bin using the “Delete files in my recycle bin if they have been there for over” setting. (The “Never” option disables the feature.)
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Select when to delete files from the “Downloads” folder using the “Delete files in my Downloads folder if they have been there for over” setting.
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Choose when the OneDrive files synced to your computer will become online-only files using the “OneDrive” setting to free up space.
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Check the “Delete previous versions of Windows” option (if applicable).
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Click the Remove button.
Once you complete the steps, Windows 10 will free up space making more room to store other files. Also, since you are enabling the feature, Storage Sense will run automatically during low available drive space.
Disk Cleanup
The “Disk Cleanup” tool has been available for a long time, and it allows you to select and remove junk files from your computer.
To remove temporary files on Windows 10 from Disk Cleanup, use these steps:
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Open File Explorer.
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Click on This PC from the left navigation pane.
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Right-click the drive with the Windows 10 installation and select the Properties option.
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Click the Disk Cleanup button.
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Click the “Clean up system files” button.
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Check the items you want to delete. For instance, “Temporary Windows Installation Files,” “Windows upgrade log files,” “Recycle Bin,” “Temporary Files,” and “System created Windows Error Reporting.”
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Click the OK button.
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Click the Delete Files button.
Once you complete the steps, temporary files will permanently be deleted from your computer, making room for new files.
If, after using these methods, the computer continues low in drive space, you may want to try resetting the system or performing a clean install of Windows 10. You can also free up space by moving large files, such as videos, images, and virtual machines, to an external hard drive.