8 Ways to Free Up Disk Space on Windows

Corbin Davenport / How-To Geek

To free up disk space on Windows, you can use the Windows Disk Cleanup tool, run Storage Sense, and uninstall applications. You can also use third-party tools that will find and delete temporary files, analyze what's using storage space, and hunt down duplicate files for you.

Drives are getting larger and larger, but whether you have a solid-state drive (SSD) or a huge mechanical hard drive, they always seem to fill up. These tips will help you free up space on your Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC’s internal storage.

Table of Contents

Run Disk Cleanup
Uninstall Space-Hungry Applications
Analyze Disk Space
Clean Temporary Files
Find Duplicate Files
Reduce the Amount of Space Used for System Restore
Enable Storage Sense

Run Disk Cleanup

Windows includes a built-in tool that deletes temporary files and other unimportant data on your internal storage drive. To access it, right-click one of your drives in the This PC window and select “Properties.”

Tip: Alternatively, you can just search for “Disk Cleanup” in the Start Menu.

Click the “Disk Cleanup” button in the disk properties window.

Select the types of files you want to delete and click OK. This includes temporary files, log files, files in your Recycle Bin, and other unimportant files.

You can also clean up system files, which don’t appear in the list here. Click the “Clean up system files” button if you also want to delete system files.

After you do, you can click the “More Options” button and use the “Clean Up” button under System Restore and Shadow Copies to delete system restore data. This button deletes all but the most recent restore point, so ensure your computer is working properly before using it — you won’t be able to use older system restore points.

Uninstall Space-Hungry Applications

You can also uninstall old and unused programs to free up space on your SSD or hard drive.

Open the Settings app via the Start Menu, then go to System > Apps & Features to uninstall programs on Windows 10. You can sort your programs by size, the drive they’re installed on, and a few other criteria. Sorting by size is helpful if you’re trying to aggressively free up space.

App & Features will let you remove either Windows Store apps or regular apps.

You can, of course, still open the legacy Uninstall Programs in the old Control Panel if you want. Search “Control Panel” in the Start Menu and open it, then head to “Uninstall A Program.”

From the Programs and Features control panel, you can click the Size column to see just how much space each program installed on your computer is using.