Tips to free up drive space on your PC
Getting a message that your PC is running out of room can be a stressful event—or, even a genuine emergency if you’re in the middle of an important project. The good news is you can probably free up a lot of space on your PC running Windows by following the tips here. But if you keep getting messages about low drive space, you might want to consider other options, including adding additional removable storage.
To get the most out of these tips, do them in order from top to bottom.
Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings. (If you’re using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.)
Select PC and devices, and then select Disk space.
Under Free up space on this PC, note the amount of free space and total size.
You can view the size of your Windows Store apps and choose whether to uninstall them by tapping or clicking See my app sizes.
You can also free up space by tapping or clicking Empty my Recycle Bin if you have files there.
If you don’t see Disk space, you don’t have the latest update to Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1. For more info, see Install the Windows 8.1 Update (KB 2919355).
You can also check the current space on your PC in File Explorer by searching for This PC.
Cleaning out your PC on a regular basis frees up drive space and helps it run better. One of the easiest ways to clean up files you no longer need is by using Disk Cleanup.
Open Disk Cleanup by clicking the Start button . In the search box, type Disk Cleanup, and then, in the list of results, select Disk Cleanup.
If prompted, select the drive that you want to clean up, and then select OK.
In the Disk Cleanup dialog box in the Description section, select Clean up system files.
If prompted, select the drive that you want to clean up, and then select OK.
In the Disk Cleanup dialog box, on the Disk Cleanup tab, select the check boxes for the file types that you want to delete, and then select OK. To remove data from a previous installation of Windows, select the Previous Windows installation(s) check box.
In the message that appears, select Delete files.
Go back to Computer in File Explorer, select the drive you cleaned up, and then select Refresh. If you need to free more space (the drive is still marked red), go to the next tip.
Uninstall desktop apps you don’t need any more in Programs and Features.
To uninstall or change a program
Open Programs and Features by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Programs, and then clicking Programs and Features.
Select a program, and then click Uninstall. Some programs include the option to change or repair the program in addition to uninstalling it, but many simply offer the option to uninstall. To change a program, click Change or Repair. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Note: If the program you want to uninstall isn’t listed, it might not have been written for this version of Windows. To uninstall the program, check the information that came with the program.
You can also uninstall Store apps you don’t want anymore.
Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings. (If you’re using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.)
Select Search and apps, and then select App sizes to see how much space each app is taking on the local drive.
Once you locate an app you want to uninstall, select the app, and then select Uninstall.
Note: This will only uninstall Store apps from your user account.
If you have photos, music, videos, or other files that you want to keep but don’t necessarily want on your PC, consider saving them to removable media, such as an external drive, USB drive, DVD, or cloud storage. You’ll still be able to view those files as long as your PC is connected to the removable media or cloud storage, but they won’t take up space on your PC.
Open This PC by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you’re using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering This PC in the search box, and then tapping or clicking This PC.
In the Search This PC box in the upper-right, enter size:huge.
Select the View menu, select Sort by, and then select Size. The largest files display at the top.
Once you locate a file you want to delete, press and hold or right-click the file and then select Delete.
Warning: Deleting files from the WinSxS folder or deleting the entire WinSxS folder might severely damage your system and make it impossible to restart or update your PC.
The WinSxS folder is located in the Windows folder on your PC (for example, C:\Windows\WinSxS). It stores the Windows Component Store files, which are used to support functions needed to customize and update Windows. You can use the Task Scheduler to reduce the size of this folder.
Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search. (If you’re using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, and then click Search.)
Enter Control Panel in the search box, and then select Control Panel.
Select System and Security, and then select Schedule tasks under Administrative Tools.
Select the arrow next to Task Scheduler Library, select Microsoft, select Windows, and then select Servicing.
Select StartComponentCleanup, and then select Run under Selected item.
Files that are available offline take up more space on your PC. OneDrive also needs 200 MB of free space on your PC to sync your files. To free up space, you can make some files or folders online-only.
If you have Access all files offline turned on, you need to first turn off this setting before you can make files online-only.
If you have pending uploads to OneDrive, you need to wait until they are completed before making files online-only.
On the Start screen, select OneDrive to open the OneDrive app.
Browse to the file or folder you want to make online-only.
Swipe down or right-click the file or folder to select it.
Select Make online-only. To make your entire OneDrive online-only, swipe in from the right edge of the screen (or, if you’re using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, and move the mouse pointer up), select Settings, select Options, and then select Make all files online-only.
Open File Explorer by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you’re using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering File Explorer in the search box, and then tapping or clicking File Explorer.
Browse to the file or folder you want to make online-only.
Press and hold or right-click the file or folder, and then choose Make available online-only. To make your entire OneDrive online-only, press and hold or right-click OneDrive, and then choose Make available online-only.
The removable drive will need to be formatted with the NTFS file system.
To check space availability
Before you move your OneDrive files, you should make sure the removable drive has enough space to store your files. Follow these steps:
Open File Explorer by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you’re using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering File Explorer in the search box, and then tapping or clicking File Explorer.
Press and hold or right-click OneDrive.
Select Properties, and then look at the amount next to Size on disk.
In File Explorer, select This PC, and then see how much space is free on the removable drive.
To move your OneDrive files
First, you’ll need to create a folder on the removable drive for your OneDrive files. After you create the folder, follow these steps to move your files:
Warning: Moving your OneDrive files will cancel any pending uploads.
In File Explorer, press and hold or right-click OneDrive.
Select Properties, and then select the Location tab.
Browse to the removable drive, and then select Select Folder.
In the OneDrive Properties dialog box, select OK.
In the Move Folder dialog box, select Yes. Your OneDrive files have been moved to the new drive. You can now delete the old OneDrive location.
Note: For more help with moving files in OneDrive, contact customer support.
A longer-term strategy for expanding your PC’s storage capacity is to add removable storage, including SD cards, USB flash drives, DVDs or CDs, or using cloud storage or network drives. Removable storage options:
Secure Digital (SD) cards. There are few different types of cards, including SD (32.0×24 mm), miniSD (21.5×20 mm), and microSD (15.0×11 mm). It’s important to check with your PC manufacturer to understand which types of SD cards options are available on your PC.
Tip: If you’re using Surface, you can add up to 64 GB of storage with a microSD card. On Surface RT, the microSD card reader is located under the kickstand on the right side. On Surface Pro, the card reader is located on the right edge, above the power connection.
USB and external drives. Most PCs include one or more USB ports that you can plug a USB flash or external drives into. Some newer PCs include a USB 3.0 port, which includes faster transfer speeds of up to 10 times USB 2.0. While you can use a USB 2.0 flash drive in a USB 3.0 port (at USB transfer speeds), you can’t use a USB 3.0 flash drive with a USB 2.0 port. Check with your PC manufacturer to understand which USB ports your PC supports.
DVDs and CDs. If your PC has a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray Disc drive that can read and write to a blank disc, you can use the drive to store data, much like an SD or USB flash drive. Here’s how: When you insert a blank disc into the PC, choose Like a USB flash drive from the list of options.
Cloud storage using OneDrive. Windows comes with the OneDrive app, which helps you get to your free OneDrive storage in the cloud, sometimes referred to as online storage. You can save files to OneDrive and work with them in several different ways: on the website (OneDrive.com), with the app for Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1, with the desktop apps for a PC or Mac, and with apps for your mobile devices.
To see how much storage is available, and add more storage, swipe in from the right edge of the screen (or, if you’re using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen), select Settings, select Change PC settings, and then select OneDrive. You can also go to Manage storage on the OneDrive website.
Free up drive space in Windows 10
If your PC is running low on free space, you might not be able to install important Windows updates, and your PC’s performance may be affected. Here are some ways to free up space so you can keep your PC up to date and running smoothly. These suggestions are listed in order, so start with the first one, see if that helps, and then continue to the next one if it doesn’t.
To check the total disk space left on your Windows 10 device, select File Explorer from the taskbar, and then select This PC on the left. The available space on your drive will appear under Devices and drives.
Note: If you follow the steps below and continue to have trouble updating Windows because of low disk space, resetting or reinstalling Windows might help. For more info, see Reinstall Windows 10.
If you used Disk Cleanup to free up space on your device and then see a Low Disk Space error, it’s possible that your Temp folder is quickly filling up with application (.appx) files that are used by Microsoft Store. For more info, see Low Disk Space error due to a full Temp folder.
Storage Sense can automatically free up drive space for you by getting rid of items that you don’t need, like temporary files and items in your Recycle Bin. For more info, see Manage drive space with Storage Sense.
If your system doesn’t have Storage sense, you can use the Disk Cleanup tool to delete temporary files and system files from your device.
In the search box on the taskbar, type disk cleanup, then select itfrom the results.
Select the check box next to the type of files you want to delete. (To view a description of each type of file, select the name.) By default, Downloaded Program Files, Temporary Internet Files, and Thumbnails are selected. Be sure to clear those check boxes if you don’t want to delete those files.
To free up even more space, select Clean up system files, and then select the type of system files you want to delete. Disk Cleanup will take a few moments to calculate the amount of space that can be freed up.
Note: If it’s been fewer than 10 days since you upgraded to Windows 10, your previous version of Windows will be listed as a system file you can delete. If you need to free up drive space, you can delete it, but keep in mind that you’ll be deleting your Windows.old folder, which contains files that give you the option to go back to your previous version of Windows. If you delete your previous version of Windows, this can’t be undone. (You won’t be able to go back to your previous version of Windows.)
After you’ve selected the types of files you want to delete, select OK, and then select Delete files in the confirmation window to start the cleanup.
There’s also an option in Disk Cleanup to Compress your OS drive. Selecting this option compresses the drive on which Windows is installed, helping you gain extra space to install important updates. This action does not delete the contents of this drive, and you shouldn’t experience problems opening and saving files from the compressed drive.
After you install the update, you can manually decompress the OS drive at any time. To do this, select File Explorer from the taskbar, and in the left pane, select This PC. Right-click or tap and hold the OS drive (usually disk C), and then select Properties on the shortcut menu. Clear the Compress this drive to save disk space check box, and then select Apply > OK.
Windows 10 may indicate that it needs more space to get the latest Windows 10 feature update. You can use an external storage device to help you complete the update.
Note: You may need to use a micro-USB adapter if your device doesn’t have a standard USB port.
Personal files such as videos, music, photos, and documents can take up a lot of space on your device. To see which files are using the most space:
Select File Explorer from the taskbar and find the files you want to move.
Under This PC in the menu on the left, select a folder to see what files are saved in it. The Videos, Music, Pictures, and Downloads folders usually contain the largest files that you’ve saved to your device.
To see the size of the files in a folder, select View > Details. Right-click in the open space and then select Sort by > Size to show the largest files at the top of the list.
If there are files you no longer need on your device, you can either delete them or move them to an external storage device like a USB drive or an SD card.
Note: If you delete any files, remember to empty the Recycle Bin to completely remove them from your device and free up space.
To move photos, music, videos, or other files that you want to keep but don’t use very often, consider saving them to an external storage device like a USB drive or an SD card. You’ll still be able to use them when the drive is connected, but they won’t take up space on your PC.
Connect an external storage device like a USB drive or SD card to your PC.
Select File Explorer from the taskbar and go to the folder that contains the files you want to move.
Select the files, select the Home tab, and then select Move to > Choose location.
Select the external storage device you connected in the location list, and then select Move.
Saving new files to another drive will help prevent low space problems on that drive in the future, so you won’t have to move your files to another drive repeatedly. Instead of saving all your new files to the default drive, you can save some of them to a different drive that has more free space.
Under More storage settings, select Change where new content is saved.
For each content type, select a drive from the drop-down menu. If the drive you want to use isn’t listed there, make sure it’s connected to your PC.
Note: OneDrive Files On-Demand requires Windows 10 version 1709 or later and OneDrive client version 17.3.7064.1005 or later. To see which version of Windows you’re running, select Start > Settings > System > About . To see which version of the OneDrive client you have installed, see Which version of OneDrive am I using?
Open About settings
You can save space by turning on OneDrive Files On-Demand, which stores a smaller placeholder file on your hard drive instead of the full-size file that’s stored in your OneDrive account in the cloud. You’ll be able to get to your OneDrive files from your PC without having to use up hard-drive space downloading full-size versions of them all. See Learn about OneDrive Files On-Demand for more info.
Sometimes a virus or other malware can consume significant hard-drive space by corrupting your system files. If you suspect your PC is infected with malware, use an antivirus program like Windows Defender to run a virus scan and cleanup. If this doesn’t fix the problem, you might need to reset your PC.
If you’ve followed the instructions here but still need help freeing up space on your device, you can contact Microsoft support to chat with a support agent. This is also recommended if your attempts to free up drive space trigger particular error codes that you need help resolving.
The following questions concern low disk space and Windows Update specifically. Learn more about Windows Update.
When there isn’t enough free space available to install an update, a pop-up notification will prompt you that additional space is required to install the update.
When you select Fix issues, you’ll be informed about how much additional space is needed. You’ll also be notified that you can use an external storage device so that you don’t need to free up quite as much space on your system drive. Learn how to free up space to install Windows updates.
The total free disk space your device requires to complete an update varies. Typically, feature updates require 6 GB–11 GB or more of free space, while quality updates require 2 GB–3 GB or more. Learn about the difference between a feature update and a quality update.
You need disk space to download the update, download new versions of any optional features and languages that are currently installed, and to apply the update. Additional space is temporarily required to support removal of the update (typically for 10 days). This space can be reclaimed after the update is completed. To do this, Select Start > Settings > System > Storage > Free up space now.
Open Storage settings
The update is compressed to reduce download size.
Note: For devices with reserved storage, an update will first use the reserved storage space before using other disk space. For more info, see How reserved storage works in Windows 10.
The space required to complete a feature update depends on two factors: which update path is followed and the size of optional content and other updates that apply to your PC when the feature update is installed.
Note: For devices with reserved storage, an update will first use the reserved storage space before using other disk space. For more info, see How reserved storage works in Windows 10.
Windows follows three different feature update paths, depending on the amount of disk space currently available.
1. For PCs with plenty of free disk space
Windows automatically tries to complete more of the update process in the background while you use your PC. This significantly reduces the time your PC will be offline (or unusable) during the update, although it might temporarily use more disk space to complete the update. Learn more about our efforts to reduce offline time during updates (English only at this time).
2. For PCs with limited free space but still enough to complete the update automatically
Windows will automatically optimize for reducing the amount of free disk space required to install the update. This will result in a longer offline install time.
3. For PCs that don’t have enough space to automatically install the update
Windows will prompt you to free up disk space or use external storage to temporarily extend the storage on your PC. If you use an external storage device, Windows won’t need as much free space on the system drive as it temporarily uses your external storage.
Across each of these update paths, the total amount of free disk space required will vary, depending on the optional content installed and other updates that apply to your PC. For example:
Optional features. Many optional features available for Windows are pre-installed or acquired on demand by the system, or manually by you. You can see which ones are installed on your PC by going to Settings > Apps > Apps & features > Manage optional features.
Open Optional features settings
These features range in size from less than 1 MB to almost 2 GB for the Windows Mixed Reality portal. You can reduce the amount of space required to install a feature update on your PC by uninstalling optional features you aren’t using.
Languages installed. Windows is localized into many languages. Although many people only use one language at a time, some people switch between two or more languages. You can see which languages are installed on your PC by selecting Start > Settings > Time & Language > Language .
Open Language settings
During each update, all language resources and any associated typing, text-to-speech, speech-to-text, and handwriting recognition resources must be updated. The content for each language can range from about 175 MB to more than 300 MB. You can reduce the amount of space required to install a feature update on your PC by uninstalling languages you aren’t using.
Driver updates. OEMs and other hardware partners sometimes publish new graphics, networking, audio, and other drivers in conjunction with the new OS update. The size of these drivers can vary significantly, depending on your PC and on which drivers have been updated.
OS quality updates. During a feature update, Windows tries to download and automatically install the latest quality update so that your PC is fully up to date when you start using it. Shortly after the feature update is released, the quality update for that feature update could be as small as a few hundred MB, but as more quality and security changes are implemented, the quality update can increase in size to 1 GB or more.If your PC is short on disk space, you can download and install the quality update after the feature update is complete.
Finally, Windows Update will temporarily disable hiberfile.sys, pagefile.sys, and other system files in order to use the space these files typically consume to apply the feature update. Any files that are disabled to apply the update will be automatically re-enabled when the update is complete. Because these files vary in size depending on how you use your PC and the amount of RAM your PC has, even in cases where two different PCs have the exact same OS image, the amount of free disk space required to complete an update may vary.
The combination of update path and features means there’s a wide range of free disk space required to complete an update. Here are a few examples for PCs updating to Windows version 1803:
Optimized for reduced offline time
Optimized for minimal disk space
Optimized for minimal disk space with external storage
Minimal optional features, languages, and updates
