How To Clean Up C Drive Windows 10

The all-important "C" bulldoze is, for well-nigh people, the cadre of the PC, where the operating system is installed and all the crucial arrangement files are kept. Inevitably, this is also the bulldoze that gets filled up virtually easily due to countless Windows updates, temporary files of applications, downloaded files that you forget about, and the fact that by default, everything saves to the "C" drive. Here nosotros evidence yous how to clean up your C drive in Windows, recover some infinite, and later get it running again.

1. Delete Temporary Files

Manually removing temporary files in Windows gives the most immediate results to clean up the C drive and regain space.

Beneath, we show you lot some tricks that make clean out your various temporary files automatically, but those methods (similar Storage Sense and Deejay Make clean-upwards) won't practice a consummate chore of immigration out temporary files, and there's a practiced chance that the biggest, most difficult-drive-hogging temporary files volition remain in your Temp folder for a bit longer. (The automatic methods will wait for files to achieve a sure age – one week, usually – before deleting them.)

Note: make sure yous're not running anything when deleting temporary files manually. If you delete temporary files related to an app you're currently running, it may crash, and you may lose whatever you were working on at that moment.

To find your principal temporary files folder, the default directory is "C:\Users\Your PC Username\AppData\Local\Temp." Alternatively, you can hit Win + R, then enter %temp%or search for "delete temporary files" from the Windows 10/11 search box or Windows 11 Outset menu search.

To see how much space the Temp folder is taking up, select everything in it using Ctrl + A, then right-click whatsoever file and click Properties. If you're okay with moving forward, brand sure everything is selected using Ctrl + A, right-click, then click "Delete."

Yous tin notice a summary account of all these temporary files from "Storage" under "System."

To remove these temporary files, get one level deeper and erase what you don't need. These files include downloads, Windows Update Cleanup, diagnostic data, viewer database files, thumbnails, Recycle Bin data, and more.

2. Storage Sense

Windows has a handy feature chosen Storage Sense, which monitors the storage space on your PC, and then jumps in and cleans things upwardly if you're running depression. Information technology does basic things like clean up your Recycle Bin, remove old files in your Downloads folder, and delete temporary files on your PC.

While Windows xi has Storage Sense directly nether "Storage Direction," this feature can be accessed from "Turn on Storage Sense" in System Settings in Windows ten. Again, information technology'southward faster to find either of these terms from the search card. On some systems, you may meet this pick as "configure Storage Sense or run it now."

Click "Configure Storage Sense or run information technology now," so in the new window, click the slider under Storage Sense and then that it's "On." You can then use the driblet-downwardly menu beneath to choose whether y'all desire it to run when you're low on space, daily, weekly or monthly.

In Storage Sense, yous'll also see that yous can automatically delete files that take been in the Recycle Bin for a sure amount of fourth dimension. This applies to your Downloads binder as well (which, from my experience, is definitely a place where unused files tend to outstay their welcome).

There's also an option called "free up space now" which takes simply a few minutes to erase many of these unnecessary files. This allows you to immediate recover several gigabytes of storage space.

3. Scan for Large Files on Your Difficult Drive

Using Windows Explorer, y'all tin can scan for files based on size throughout your entire hard drive. The amount of times I've establish hefty redundant files sitting around for years is unbelievable.

To exercise this search, open a Windows Explorer window, select your "C" drive, so click the "Search (C:)" search box at the top right of the window.

C Drive Cleanup Scan For Large Files Hard Drive

Type "size:" to get a bunch of autofill options showing varying sizes of files to filter for. You tin employ one of these presets or, if you want to go more specific most the size of file you're looking for, blazon "size:>1gb" to wait for files over 1GB in size and so on.

You tin delete files directly from the results or right-click, then select "Sort by -> Size" to society them by size and apace run into which ones need deleting.

Just by testing this, I've discovered an onetime Android 7.1 VM that I really don't need anymore. Only don't delete anything that looks important. (For example, stuff from the "C:Windows folder" or game files that tend to exist quite large.)

4. Uninstall Windows Shovelware and Space-Hungry Apps

In the "Apps & Features" window (you lot'll find it past right-clicking the First push button), you lot tin can sort the listing by "Size" to see which applications are the most HDD-hungry. You may be surprised past the results and may wish to remove apps equally appropriate. Think nearly whether you actually need all those space-hungry apps and delete as appropriate.

Some other thing that may surprise you is that you're the proud possessor of games like Chimera Witch 3 Saga and Minecraft, which you never wanted in the first identify! But uninstalling them from the "Apps & Features" list won't suffice, however, and you will need to remove them using the Powershell. To do this, read our guide on how to uninstall pre-installed Windows apps.

5. Make clean Up Disk Space

You're probably aware of Windows'due south congenital-in Disk Clean-Upwards utility but have not been using information technology. This is the first identify to look to gratis up some space.

To start using it, launch Windows Explorer, correct-click on the C bulldoze and select "Properties" from the list.

C Drive Cleanup Right Click Properties Select

Once the Backdrop window is open up, click "Disk Cleanup" to open the utility. Here, in the "files to delete" box, select all the checkboxes similar Organisation retentivity error dump files, Recycle Bin, set up log files, etc.

One time you lot have selected all the checkboxes you want, click on "OK" to complimentary upwards the disk space occupied by the in a higher place files. How much space you costless up depends on how badly you've neglected your "C" drive. You can as well clean up the system files to get dorsum additional lost space.

C Drive Cleanup Disk Cleanup System Files

6. Disable Hibernation in Windows 10/11

Hibernation is a handy characteristic you tin can utilize in Windows to easily turn off your computer while saving the electric current country and so that you can resume your work when you power it on. That said, it tin can take a huge amount of deejay infinite, as it reserves the amount of space on your hard drive equal to how much content is saved in your RAM. (So potentially, the more RAM you have, the more than disk infinite it uses.)

To disable hibernation in Windows 10, do a search for "Power and Sleep Settings" and go to "Additional Ability Settings." It tin too be accessed from "Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound." With Windows 11, you tin can directly navigate to the option from "System -> Ability & Battery."

Click on the "choose what the power buttons do" link in the pane on the left. This activity will take you to the organisation settings window.

Click "Change settings that are currently unavailable." This action volition enable all the disabled options.

C Drive Cleanup Change Settings Currently Unavailable

Ringlet downward and uncheck the "Hibernate" checkbox to disable hibernation. If information technology's already unchecked, you don't demand to do anything else.

7. Delete Browser Cache and Cookies

Temporary Internet files like the browser cache and cookies take up a lilliputian bit of your C bulldoze infinite, and then immigration those temporary files will grant you additional free space.

In Chrome, go to "Settings -> Advanced -> Privacy and security," then "Articulate browsing data."

In Firefox, go to "Options -> Privacy & Security," then under "History," select "Clear your recent history."

In Microsoft Edge, go to "Settings -> Articulate browsing information -> Choose what to clear," and make sure to select the "Buried information" and "Cookies" options.

viii. Remove Sometime Windows Update Files, Previous Installations

Windows has a tendency to hold onto onetime (and by and large redundant) system files. For the near part, yous can delete these files, particularly if you installed your current version of Windows over a previous version. To do this:

i. Open Windows Explorer, right-click the C bulldoze and select "Backdrop."

ii. Click "Disk CleanUp," then in the new window, click "Clean up system files" to open the advanced disk cleanup window.

3. Select the "Windows upgrade log files" checkbox and, if yous take annihilation there, the "Previous Windows installation(s)" checkbox.

Unbeknownst to me, my laptop still had enough of infinite related to Windows Update Cleanup and Windows upgrade log files, using upwardly nearly 3.5GB of difficult bulldoze infinite.

Cleaning upwardly the unnecessary files consumes a few minutes but is worth the extra space gained on C drive.

There are other checkboxes here, simply for the most part, they don't use up a ton of space and tin can be left alone. When you're ready, click "OK" to make clean up your hard drive.

9. Reduce the Size of the WinSxS Folder

The WinSxS folder is located in the C drive of your PC at the Windows folder location – for example, "C:\Windows\WinSxS." It stores the necessary files to recover your system. You tin can easily reduce the size of this binder, merely this comes with the below warning.

Warning: practice not delete any files directly from the WinSxS binder or the folder itself. This would greatly harm your organisation and make information technology incommunicable to restart or recover.

ane. It's very of import to tread cautiously and handle these files directly from Task Scheduler.

two. Once information technology opens, search for "Task Scheduler Library -> Microsoft -> Windows -> Servicing -> StartComponentCleanup" and correct-click to select "run."

3. Wait a few minutes for the operation to terminate.

x. Brand OneDrive and File Explorer Files Online Simply

OneDrive and FileExplorer files tin be fabricated online-but. This would profoundly save the amount of space yous use on C bulldoze. If you have reliable, fast Internet, yous should benefit from this amazing space-saving tip.

For OneDrive, select the OneDrive app from a Starting time menu search in Windows 11 and searchbox of Windows 10. Sign in using your Microsoft account used in the local PC. Become to the OneDrive binder by clicking "Adjacent."

Right-click on whatsoever OneDrive subfolder, and if they take upwards a lot of infinite, brand them "online but" instead of putting them on the device to e'er be available.

The same methods to a higher place can be repeated for whatever files or folders in the File Explorer window. Past making them online only, you lot tin access them whenever yous want. Of course, if you have some of import data you always need access to, you lot will want to make information technology available on your device.

Ofttimes Asked Questions

1. Are the methods to clean upwards the C drive similar for Windows 10 and Windows 11?

Yes, the methods to clean up the C bulldoze are very like for Windows 10 and Windows 11. There may be minor variations in the placement of some carte options, only the methods to make clean up the C bulldoze are applicable for both Windows 10 and Windows xi.

2. Should I use disk cleanup software for the C drive?

Y'all should always opt for built-in Windows methods to clean upwardly the disk space, including your C drive. Nosotros have extensively covered many of these native techniques in this tutorial.

Periodic Microsoft Windows updates are the surest means to verify the integrity of your system. Tertiary-political party software does many of the aforementioned things as the native tools: they can identify temporary files, pending update files, files in the Recycle bin, and then forth.

Withal, if they accidentally delete whatsoever of import files, such as WinSxS folder files, that can cause y'all a lot of problem. Information technology can prevent y'all from rolling dorsum updates or troubleshooting Windows problems on your own. Mostly, I would not recommend using whatsoever third-party software to clean up your Windows drive. It does more harm than practiced. Avert tools such as CCleaner and Wondershare RecoverIt.

3. Why is my C Drive automatically filling up?

With regular use, the C drive will go along filling upward. Each file and folder you create (on any drive) has an bear upon on the available space in the C drive. Did you finish a System Restore? It will definitely allocate a certain amount of space in the C drive.

If you lot haven't updated your computer in a long while, it can become vulnerable to bloatware, and it can exist hard to delete files. Of course, we often forget to delete temporary files, unnecessary programs, and space intensive applications. These all play a function in making the C drive make full automatically.

We have seen some of the best ways to make clean up the Windows C drive. It's good to get through this routine every at present and then, but it'southward advisable to make sure it doesn't fill up in the first place. Read on to acquire some native means to clean the Windows registry. If y'all want to keep streamlining your Windows setup, see how to install Chromium on Windows. We as well take a guide on how you tin view network adapter details in Windows.

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