How to free up Drive space in Windows 10

This article describes steps to free up drive space when running low on Windows 10.

Here’s something to remember: if your computer runs low on free disk space, you cannot install critical security updates or upgrade Windows OS, and your computer’s performance will suffer.

Freeing up drive space in Windows 10 is important for several reasons. If your computer runs low on free disk space, you may not be able to install critical security updates or upgrade Windows OS, and your computer’s performance will suffer.

It is, therefore, essential to ensure that you always have enough free drive space on your computer. Freeing up drive space can also help you keep your PC up-to-date and running smoothly.

Below, we’ll show students and new users some ways to free up space so you can keep your PC up-to-date and running smoothly.

When you’re ready to free of some disk space, follow the steps below:

Use Disk Cleanup Tool

You can use Window’s built-in Disk Cleanup tool to delete temporary and system files from your device and free up some disk space. To use Disk Cleanup, follow the steps below:

• Select the Start button, type disk cleanup, then select Disk Cleanup from the results list.
• Select the check box next to the type of files you want to delete. (To view a description of each file type, select the name.) Downloaded Program Files, Temporary Internet Files, and Thumbnails are selected by default.
• To free up even more space, select Clean up system files, and then select the type of system files you want to delete
• When you’re done selecting the types of files you want to delete, select OK, then select Delete files in the confirmation window to start the cleanup process.

That should free up some disk space.

Use Storage Sense

Windows 10 comes with a built-in tool called Storage Sense. If you turn on Storage Sense, Windows will automatically do the above steps by freeing up space, deleting unnecessary files, emptying the recycle bin, and others based on how often you’ve chosen to run Storage Sense.

To set up Storage Sense on Windows 10, follow the steps below:

• Select the Start button, and then select Settings  > System  > Storage.
• Turn on Storage sense.
• Choose how often you want Storage sense to run.
• To choose which files you want Storage sense to delete automatically, select Configure Storage sense or run it now, then select or clear the check boxes for options under Temporary Files and Locally available cloud content.

Windows should automatically clean up temporary files based on your configurations above. You can configure more advanced settings, but the default above should be enough in most cases.

That’s it!