Windows 10: How to Free Up Space on Your C Drive

June 19, 2022

2 89 11 minutes read

Having enough storage on Windows 10 is the main demand of the users. Thus, many people want to know how to free up C drive in windows 10?. If you are a Videographer or Crypto currency enthusiast, you will need more space. Emptying the Recycle Bin is not the only way to free up more space. In this article we will provide you other solutions to free up C drive in Windows 10.

Check Windows Storage Settings

One of the mutual features of all Windows computers is that the operating system saves in the C drive. Thus, when we talk about how to free up Windows, we should first mention C drive. The ways to free up space in Windows 10 are simple, but you should know how to access the setting.

Choose Setting from the Start menu.

Click on System.

Select Storage from the left side.

Through these steps, you can see the used storage of windows and the available amount. You will also see how the storage is categorized. Usually, the System and Reserved section have the largest amount, which contains essential files in Windows to work correctly. Thus, the users should leave this section without doing anything.

Delete Unused Application

For many users, the category of Apps and Features has the most significant effect on freeing up space. You may forget an application completely, and it may take up a lot of space in storage. Follow the steps below to delete it:

Select the Apps & features category from the Storage Setting.

You search for them in the application list or use search bar.

After finding the application you want to delete, click on it.

Select Uninstall and confirm it.

Through these steps, C drive will find a free space.

Delete Temporary Files

Another way to free up space is deleting the useless data. It takes time, but sometimes you need to free your space urgently. Thus, you should delete the temporary files. Follow the steps below to delete them.

Select Temporary Files from the list of Storage categories.

After the scan of C drive in computer, the files will provide for you to delete.

You have some options to choose from files such as Thumbnails or Windows Upgrade Log Files. Next to each option, you can see the free space you get.

After choosing the files, click on Remove Files.

Note: You will find Download Files in this list. Make sure that you do not want to delete them or not.

Use Storage Sense Feature

Another great way to have enough space on your C drive is to use Storage Sense which was designed to delete files you do not need automatically. This feature is disabled on your computer by default. You should activate it with a few clicks on setting. Follow the steps below to enable it:

Enter Start, go to Settings, and them select System.

Select Storage from the left-side pane.

Under the Storage, you can see the Storage Sense. Change it from Off to On.

Click on the Configure Storage Sense or Run It Now under the toggle.

Select when to run Storage Sense.

Choose to delete whether the recycle bin files or temporary files automatically.

Choose whether to consider the impact of OneDrive content.

Note: If you want to clean it just for one time, click on Clean Now, then keep the turn button Off.

Use Disk Cleanup Feature

Another feature to delete unneeded files is to use this feature. It is available in all active versions of windows. Follow the steps below to use it:

Go to Disk Cleanup in the search bar and open the application.

From the opened window, choose files you want to delete like Downloaded Program Files or Temporary Internet Files.

After checking your selections, click on OK.

You can see another window which ask you to confirm your selections. Click on Delete Files.

Note: You can also choose Clean up System Files.

Remove Old Version of Windows

After upgrading windows to a newer version, windows will save data from older version, but it will allow you to go back to the previous versions. However, old files takes a lot of space.

Go to Setting, then go to System > Storage, and select your primary drive. You can see a list of different categories with their space usage. Scroll down to find Temporary Files, and click on it.

Finally, select the checkbox next to the Windows Update Cleanup, and choose Remove Files.

Clean the Update Cache

Another way to remove storage space is to delete the update cache. It involves copies of the updated installation files. If you have to reapply for an update, it saves downloading them again. Except if you have a very slow internet connection, you can remove them safely. But the process is not simple.

Stop the Windows Update Service.
Press Windows Key + S.
Input Services.
Right-click on the Best Match and open it as a manager or an administrator.
Scroll down to find Windows Update. Right-click and choose Stop.

Now you should delete the files.

Press Windows key + R to open the run box.
Type C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download and press Enter.
You can remove everything in the Downloads folder.
Finally, back to your Service and reactive Windows Update.

Remove Hibernation Data

Two ways of conserving power are Hibernate and Sleep whenever you do not use your windows. There is a significant difference between them. In Sleep mode, all the running files and applications are open, while in Hibernate mode, it saves all the files to the hard disk. Sleep mode is a standby television, but Hibernate mode lets you shut down your computer entirely.

If Hibernate is useless for you, you can disable it because it will delete any saved data from previous hibernation. You must not do this if you think you use this feature. Follow the steps below to disable it:

Look for Command Prompt in the Start menu, right click on it and select Open as Administrator.
Type powercfg.exe -h off and select Enter. You will not receive any notification or confirmation.

Note: repeat the steps above if you change your mind, but type powercfg.exe -h on instead.

Remove Delivery Optimization Files

Windows 10 provided a new update characteristic for the users called Delivery Optimization, which lets the computer use other machines nearby to update. In theory, the updates are faster, but in practice, many people are not satisfied with bandwidth usage and memory usage. Deleting files is easy, but you have to disable them; otherwise, the files accumulate again. Follow the steps below to do it:

Go to Start.
Enter Setting.
Go to Update and Security.
Select Windows Updates.
Click on Advanced Options.
Choose Delivery Optimization. Make sure that the slider is Off.

Now look for Disk Clean-up and Go to the application. It takes some seconds to scan your device to give you a list of files to be removed. Scroll down to find the entry of Delivery Optimization Files. Then, hit the checkbox and click OK. Windows will do the rest of it.

Remove the OEM Recovery Partition

Most computers have a recovery partition called OEM. Most of them are waste, and you can remove them safely. Creating a recovery drive is the only way to do this, which means using a USB stick. Windows comes with a tool for making the drive. You can search for Create a Recovery Drive from the Taskbar. Follow the instructions on the screen and when prompted, enter a USB stick. After finishing the process, you can see the option of deleting the recovery partition. Hit the link and select Delete to Proceed.

Move Files to Another Drive

Link your removable media to your device.
From the taskbar open File Explorer and choose the files you want to move.
Go to the Home tab and select Move to and then Choose Location.
From the location list, choose your removable media and select Move.

Clean Recycle Bin

When you delete files, they do not delete from the hard drive, and they move to Recycle Bin. It will give you the chance to recover them if you need them again. But, they get a large space. Therefore, the first thing you need to do to free up your space is to clean your Recycle Bin. Follow the steps below to empty the Recycle Bin:

Go to Start.
Search Recycle Bin and click.

Note: If you cannot find the app in the result, you can go to File Explorer (Windows key + E) and then type Recycle Bin and hit Enter in the address bar.

Hit the Recycle Bin Tools tab.
Select Empty Recycle Bin.

Choose Yes.

Change the Setting of Recycle Bin

Ten percent of the space is reserved for deleted files. After reaching the threshold, the system deletes files from the oldest automatically. You can set the usage of the system space for the Recycle Bin. Follow the steps below to reduce the space usage for Recycle Bin:

Utilize the Windows + D keyboard shortcut to see the desktop.
Right Click on the icon of Recycle Bin and choose Properties.

Note: If you have several partitions, choose the Recycle Bin location. For example, Local Disk (C:) is the drive where you can install windows 10.

Choose the Custom Size option under the Setting for selected location.
In the section of Maximum Size (MB), determine the maximum hard disk you can use in megabytes.

Optional: Tick the Don’t move files to the Recycle Bin if you want to delete file immediately after deleting them to free up your space.
Select Apply.
Hit OK.

Utilize OneDrive Files On-Demand

You can use this feature to manually make file available to regain space of your computer back. Follow the steps below to enable this feature:

Hit the OneDrive icon in bottom-right corner of the taskbar.
Choose the Help and Setting option.
Select the Setting option.

Select the Setting tab.
Tick the Save Space and Download Files as you use them option under the Files On-Demand.

Select OK.

Make files available online-only

Go to File Explorer.
Choose the OneDrive folder from the left pane.
Choose the files and folders which take up the most space.

Note: You can select all files pressing the Ctrl + A keyboard shortcut by selecting the first file, keeping the Shift key, selecting the last files, or keeping the Ctrl key and choosing each file one by one.

Right-click on the files you’ve selected and click on Free up space option.

After following these steps, you can access all of your content by File Explorer, but you need to open them via the internet. You can free up more space by moving more files to the OneDriver folder. You can store more than 5GB in the free version of it. But, you can always receive a Microsoft 365 subscription to upgrade the limit to 1TB. Moreover, you can access all the Office apps and services like Microsoft Teams and Family Safety.

Transfer Files to External Drive

You can use an external drive to free up your drive. You can shape the system even to have the external storage as the default location to save files. Follow the steps below to transfer existing files to the external storage:

Go to File Explorer.
Search in the folder with the content taking the most space.
Choose the items to move.
Select Move to from the Home tab.

Click on the Choose location option.
Click on the external storage as the new destination.

Note: If you want to have an organized file, you can use the options to create a new folder.

Select Move.

To let the system to save files and install them, use the steps below:

Go to Settings.
Choose System.
Hit Storage.
Under the section of More Storage Settings, hit Change.

Use the drop-down menus and choose the new location to save files automatically.

Use the New apps will be save to menu to choose the drive to install feature apps by default.
Click on Apply.

Utilize NTFS Compression

Also, you can use the compression feature part of the NT File System (NTFS) to decrease the storage usage of current files. This feature is available to compress files and folders.

Note: The effect of data compression can be negative on performance. You should even use this option when you do not have another option to use. Follow the steps below to enable Windows 10 NTFS compression:

Go to File Explorer.
Browse to the folder you want to compress.
Right-click and choose the Properties.
Click on the Advanced option.

Under the section of Compress or Encrypt attributes section. To save disk space option, check the Compress content.
Hit OK.

Select Apply.
Click OK.

Note: you can follow the same instructions to compress files.

To activate NTFS compression for the entire drive, use the steps below:

Go to File Explorer.
Click on the PC form the left pane.
Under the section of Devices and Drives, right-click the drive to compress and choose Properties option.
Tick the Compress this Drive to Save Disk Space option. .

Hit the Apply.
Choose the Apply changes.
Click on OK.
Click on OK again.

Compress Installation Footprint of Windows 10

The tool that compresses the footprint of Windows 10 and applications is Compact OS. This feature is useful for devices with limited storage. However, you can use this tool to regain a few gigabytes of space with no external storage.

Warning: Correcting system files is very risky, and it may cause irreversible damage to your installation. It is suggested to make a full backup of your PC.

Follow the steps below to compress the size of the applications and the Windows 10 installation.

Go to Start.
Look for Command Prompt, and choose the Run as Administrator.
Type the following command compact.exe /compactOS:always.
Press Enter.

Compress Installation Footprint of Windows 10

After following the instruction, the process reclaims around 2GB of storage.

Rebuild Search Indexer

Sometimes the database of Windows Search has a large amount that needs indexing or indexing issues that makes the drive to make the space full. Follow the steps below to rebuild the index of windows 10:

Go to Setting.
Select Search.
Click Searching Windows.
Click the Advanced Search Indexer Setting option under the More Search Indexer Settings.

Choose Advanced.
Select the Index Setting tab.
Click on the Rebuild under the Troubleshooting section.

Select OK.

The only point is that during this process, searches using the Taskbar, File Explorer, and across the experience may be incomplete till files are re-indexed. Also, through excluding Windows Search from indexing specific locations, you can compress the space. Follow the steps below to delete indexing folder locations from Windows Search:

Go to Settings.
Select Search.
Hit Searching Windows.
Click the Advanced Search Indexer Setting option under the More Search Indexer Setting.

Select Modify.
Click on the Show All Locations.
Clear the option of excluding applications from the index database.
Expand your C drive to clear the folder you do not like to see in search to reduce the database storage usage.

Click on OK.
Hit Close.

Delete Users No Longer Sharing Device

If you share your computer with other people, you can free your space by deleting useless accounts. Follow the steps below to delete user accounts and data:

Go to Settings.
Hit Accounts.
Choose Family and Other Users.
Choose the account that you do not use anymore.
Select Remove.

Select the Delete Account and Data.

Disable Reserved Storage

Another feature of Windows 10 includes Reserved Storage which separates several gigabytes of space for updates, system cache, and temporary files. When new updates are accessible, the system clears the storage automatically to minimize the issues during other updates, but it will destroy the space you could use for your pictures, videos, and documents. The most significant method of this feature is that when you disable the feature, the changes are going to apply during the next update of Windows.

Note: If you understand these features and decide not to use them, you can disable them to free up more space. Therefore only use the instructions below if you understand this feature; otherwise, it is not recommended. Follow the steps below to disable it:

Go to Start.
Look for PowerShell, right-click and choose Run as Administrator.
Type Get-WindowsReservedStorageState to confirm if the feature is enabled.
Press Enter.
Type Set-WindowsReservedStorageState -State disabled to disable the feature.
Press Enter.

After following the steps, Reserved Storage will disable which let you reclaim around 7GB of space.

Conclusion

There are some ways presented in this article to free up your space in windows 10. Do you know any other way to free up your space? Which method will you choose to free up your space?