If your PC is running low on free space, you might not be able to install important Windows updates, and聽your PC鈥檚 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 11 device, select File Explorer from the taskbar, and then select This PC on the left. The ailable space on your drive will appear under Devices and drives.
Note:聽If you follow the steps below聽and continue to he trouble updating Windows because of low disk space, resetting or reinstalling Windows might help. For more info, see Reinstall Windows.
If you used Cleanup recommendations to free up space on your device and then see a Low Disk Space error, it鈥檚 possible that your Temp folder is quickly filling up with application (.appx) files that are used by Microsoft Store.聽To fix this problem, you鈥檒l need to reset the Store, clear the Store cache, and run the Windows Update troubleshooter:
To reset Microsoft Store, select聽Start 聽> Settings 聽> System聽聽> Troubleshoot 聽>聽Other troubleshooters , then next to Windows Store Apps , select Run.
To clear the Microsoft Store cache, press the Windows Logo Key聽 + R to open the Run dialog box, then type wsreset.exe and select聽OK. A blank Command Prompt window will open, and after about ten seconds the window will close and the Store will open automatically.
To reset Windows Update, select聽Start 聽> Settings 聽> System聽聽> Troubleshoot 聽> Other troubleshooters , then next to Windows Update , select Run.
Restart your computer and see if you are still experiencing the issue.
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 you don't want to use Storage Sense, Cleanup recommendations can help you identify and clean up聽temporary files and system files from your device.
Select Start 聽> Settings 聽> System 聽> Storage聽 >聽Cleanup recommendations.
Review each of the categories, including Temporary files, Large or unused files, Files synced to the cloud, and Unused apps, and select the items you'd like to remove. Windows will suggest files for you and show the amount of space you'll se when you remove those items.
After you've selected items to remove, select the聽Clean up聽button for each section.
Note:聽If it鈥檚 been fewer than 10 days since you upgraded Windows, 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, and you won't be able to go back to your previous version of Windows.
Windows may indicate that it needs more space to get the latest Windows feature update. You can use an external storage device to help you complete the update.
To learn more, see聽Get more space with external storage.
Personal files聽such as videos, music, photos, and documents聽can take up a lot of space on your device. To see which files are using the most space:
Select File Explorer聽 from the taskbar and find the files you want to move.
Under聽This PC聽in聽the menu on the left, select a folder to see what files are sed in it. The Videos, Music, Pictures, and Downloads folders usually contain the largest files that you鈥檝e sed to your device.
To see the size of the files in a folder, select View from the taskbar, then select聽Details. Right-click in the open space (or select and hold), 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:聽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 sing them to an external storage device聽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聽like a USB drive or SD card聽to your PC.
Select File Explorer聽聽from the taskbar and go to the folder that contains the files you want to move.
Select the files, then select Cut on the ribbon. Nigate to the聽location of the external storage device you connected, then select Paste .
Sing new files to another drive will help prevent low space problems on that drive in the future, so you won鈥檛 he to move your files to another drive repeatedly. Instead of sing all your new files to the default drive, you can se some of them to a different drive that has more free space.
Select Start 聽> Settings 聽> System 聽> Storage聽聽>聽Advanced storage settings聽 > Where new content is sed.Open Storage settings
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.
You can se space by turning on OneDrive Files On-Demand, which stores a smaller placeholder聽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 hing to use up hard-drive space downloading full-size versions of them all.
For more info, see Se disk space with OneDrive Files On-Demand for Windows.
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 Security聽to run a virus scan and cleanup.
If your PC is running low on free space, you might not be able to install important Windows updates, and聽your PC鈥檚 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 ailable space on your drive will appear under Devices and drives.
Note:聽If you follow the steps below聽and continue to he trouble updating Windows because of low disk space, resetting or reinstalling Windows might help. For more info, see Reinstall Windows.
If you used Disk Cleanup to free up space on your device and then see a Low Disk Space error, it鈥檚 possible that your Temp folder is quickly filling up with application (.appx) files that are used by Microsoft Store.聽To fix this problem, you鈥檒l need to reset the Store, clear the Store cache, and run the Windows Update troubleshooter:
To reset Microsoft Store, select聽Start 聽> Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot, then select Windows Store Apps from the list and select Run the troubleshooter.
To clear the Microsoft Store cache, press the Windows Logo Key聽 + R to open the Run dialog box, then type wsreset.exe and select聽OK. A blank Command Prompt window will open, and after about ten seconds the window will close and the Store will open automatically.
To reset Windows Update, select Start聽 >聽Settings 聽> Update & Security 聽> Troubleshoot, then scroll down and select Windows Update from the list, and select Run the troubleshooter.
Restart your computer and see if you are still experiencing the issue.
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聽he 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 it from the results.
Select the drive you want to clean up files for, then select OK.
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, select a drive, select OK. When the system has done its calculations,聽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:聽If it鈥檚 been fewer than 10 days since you upgraded to Windows, 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., and you won't be able to go back to your previous version of Windows.
After you鈥檝e selected the types of files you want to delete, select OK, and then select Delete files in the confirmation window to start the cleanup.
Important:聽
You can also聽compress your OS drive (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 sing files from the compressed drive.聽
If you want to compress the OS drive, select File Explorer聽 from the taskbar, and in the left pane, select聽This PC. Right-click or tap and hold the OS drive (usually disk C), and then select Properties, and in the General tab,聽select Compress this drive to se disk space. Select聽Apply >聽OK.聽After you install the update, you can聽manually decompress the OS drive at any time by clearing the Compress this drive to se disk space check box, and then selecting聽Apply >聽OK.聽
Windows may indicate that it needs more space to get the latest Windows feature update. You can use an external storage device to help you complete the update.
To learn more, see聽Get more space with external storage.
Personal files聽such as videos, music, photos, and documents聽can take up a lot of space on your device. To see which files are using the most space:
Select File Explorer聽 from the taskbar and find the files you want to move.
Under聽This PC聽in聽the menu on the left, select a folder to see what files are sed in it. The Videos, Music, Pictures, and Downloads folders usually contain the largest files that you鈥檝e sed to your device.
To see the size of the files in a folder, select the聽View聽tab, then select聽Details. Right-click in the open space and聽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:聽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 sing them to an external storage device聽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聽like a USB drive or SD card聽to your PC.
Select File Explorer聽聽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聽and select Choose location.
Select the external storage device you connected in the location list, and then select Move.
Sing new files to another drive will help prevent low space problems on that drive in the future, so you won鈥檛 he to move your files to another drive repeatedly. Instead of sing all your new files to the default drive, you can se some of them to a different drive that has more free space.
Select Start聽 > Settings聽 > System聽 > Storage聽.Open Storage settings
Scroll down and under More storage settings, select Change where new content is sed.
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.
You can se space by turning on OneDrive Files On-Demand, which stores a smaller placeholder聽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 hing to use up hard-drive space downloading full-size versions of them all.
See Se disk space with OneDrive Files On-Demand for Windows 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 Security聽to run a virus scan and cleanup.