How to free up disk space in Windows

Disk space on Windows tends to fill up like a junk drawer: temporary files, cached installers, old updates, and “maybe useful later” downloads pile up until performance and updates start complaining.

Most space recovery comes from clearing safe-to-delete system data (temporary files, update leftovers, caches) and trimming user storage (large files, unused apps, the Recycle Bin). Windows 11 exposes these through Storage in Settings, while older utilities like Disk Cleanup (cleanmgr) still handle some deep cleanup categories.

Some cleanup choices are irreversible, especially removing previous installation files (rollback) or clearing the wrong user folders. Keep important files backed up, and prefer Temporary files and Disk Cleanup categories over manual deletion unless the contents are clearly disposable.

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Search for Disk Cleanup and open Disk Cleanup.
3. Select the drive to clean up (commonly C:).
4. Select file categories to remove.

   Categories like Temporary Internet Files, Temporary files, and Thumbnails are typically safe.

5. Select Clean up system files to include system-level cleanup categories.
6. Confirm the deletion to start cleanup.

   Removing Previous Windows installation(s) (Windows.old) can prevent rolling back to an earlier build.

1. Open Settings.
2. Open System → Storage.
3. Open Temporary files to review removable categories.
4. Select categories to remove and run cleanup.

   Review selections that mention Downloads or personal folders before confirming removal.

5. Enable Storage Sense.
6. Configure Storage Sense schedules and retention rules.

   Automatic cleanup helps prevent temporary files and update leftovers from quietly re-accumulating.

1. Open File Explorer.
2. Open This PC and review drive usage bars.
3. Search for large files using the search filter (example: size:gigantic).
4. Sort results by Size to identify the biggest space consumers.
5. Move needed large files to external storage or cloud storage.

   Large items often hide in /Downloads, /Videos, and old installer folders.

6. Delete clearly unneeded files and empty the source folder afterward.

1. Open Settings.
2. Open Apps → Installed apps.
3. Sort by Size to find large applications.
4. Uninstall unused applications.

   Uninstalling removes the app and may remove associated offline content.

1. Right-click the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop.
2. Select Empty Recycle Bin.
3. Confirm the deletion prompt.

   Items in the Recycle Bin still consume disk space until emptied.

1. Open Windows Terminal as Administrator.
2. Open a cleanup profile selector for Disk Cleanup categories.

   cleanmgr /sageset:1

   

   This stores selected cleanup categories under profile 1.

3. Run the saved cleanup profile.

   cleanmgr /sagerun:1

   

4. Clean up the component store to reduce update footprint.

   DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
   Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
   Version: 10.0.22621.1
   
   Image Version: 10.0.22631.0
   
   [==========================100.0%==========================]
   The operation completed successfully.

   

   Component cleanup can take time and should not be interrupted.

1. Open File Explorer and view the free space for the cleaned drive in This PC.
2. Confirm storage categories updated in Settings → System → Storage.