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Best Ways to Free Up Hard Disk Space on Windows

Do you wish to free up hard drive space on a Windows computer? The latest updates of Windows 10 offer you new ways to do that. In the settings window, there is a dedicated space for cleaning up your Windows hard drive. It clearly bifurcates how much space has been utilized on your drive, and with what content. You can likewise make use of Storage Sense, which will naturally evacuate Temporary Files, Recycle Bin, and other files you aren’t bothered off.

free up disk space on Windows 10

With the Windows 10 May 2019 Update, the Storage screen has been revamped with new functionality so you can more effectively see your storage capacity and access the accessible devices to free up space. This article will lead you to free up hard disk space on Windows 10 system.

Fixing Low Disk Space Error

Our daily items are stored in the Temp folder and it fills up quickly that starts popping up a ‘Low Disk Space’ error. You may have a lot of space on your hard drive but this space quota is limitedly reserved. You can try these steps on a routine basis to free up the Temp files.

Step 1. Press Win + R to open Run Command Box and type ‘Temp’ and hit enter.

Step 2. A new window will open with temporary files and folders. Press (Ctrl + A) to select all and then press the (Shift + Delete) keys together to permanently delete these files.

Step 3. Press Win + R to open Run Command Box and type ‘%Temp%’ and hit enter.

Step 4. A new window will open with temporary files and folders. Press (Ctrl + A) to select all and then press the (Shift + Delete) keys together to permanently delete these files.

Step 5. Press Win + R to open Run Command Box and type ‘Prefetch’ and hit enter.

Step 6. A new window will open with temporary files and folders. Press (Ctrl + A) to select all and then press the (Shift + Delete) keys together to permanently delete these files.

Perform Disk Cleanup

In the event that your system doesn’t have enough Storage space. You can utilize the ‘Disk Cleanup utility‘ to erase transitory files and temporary system files from your computer.

Step 1. In the search box on the taskbar, type Disk Cleanup, and select Disk Cleanup App from the results.

Step 2. A new window will open up with the name of the ‘Disk Cleanup’ utility.

Step 3. Select the drive you want to scan and remove temporary files from. Normally, it’s the drive that has got the operating system installed on it. Click on ’Okay’ to proceed further.

How to free up disk space

Step 4. The utility will check the selected drive and look for temporary files that need to be removed. Make sure to select Temporary Internet Files, Recycle Bin, Thumbnail, and Temporary Files and click on the ‘Ok’ button to remove them from your hard drive.

Step 5. Click on the ‘Delete Files’ button once prompted. It will delete all the selected files permanently from your computer and free up hard disk space.

Erase Unwanted Files from the Main Partition

Open Windows Explorer and look for all the main folders like Pictures, Videos, Music, Documents, Downloads, or Desktop. Browse through the folders and delete unwanted files, videos, or movies that are laying on your system. You can sort the files through size before doing this exercise. Remember to press (Shift + Delete) while removing those items from your computer else they will go to the Recycle Bin.

Take a Backup of Important Files

If you have files on your computer that mean a lot to you, you can take a backup of those files on an external hard drive. Normally, every external hard drive comes with an auto backup tool installed on it. It is a plug-and-play that takes back up your selected folders every time whenever you connect it.

If this feature is not available on your external hard drive, you can copy and paste all important files on your external hard drive to keep them safe. Once the transfer is complete you can delete those files from your computer to free up hard disk space on your Windows 10. In an event of the non-availability of the external hard drive, you can also make use of a USB Pen Drive to take the back.

Perform Disk Defragmentation

Performing Disk Defragmentation on your computer will also free up hard disk space on Windows 10 computer. This process lines up the fragmented sectors on your hard drive and aligns them in a much better and more organized manner. Here is how you can do it.

Step 1. Open Windows Explorer and click on ‘This PC’.

Step 2. Right-click on the C: Drive and click on the ‘Properties’ option in the menu.

how to clear up disk space

Step 3. Click on the ‘Tools’ tab on the top.

Step 4. Select the ‘Analyze Disk’ option to analyze fragmented percentages.

Step 5. Click on the ‘Defragment Disk’ option to defragment files.

how to clear up disk space

Run Advanced System Optimizer

All of the above steps are tiring and time-consuming. To avoid this hustle, you can make use of one of the best disk optimizer software to clean and free up hard disk space on your Windows 10 computer. Advanced System Optimizer is one such disk cleaner and optimizer software that can optimize your hard drive in one click.

Advanced System Optimizer

It is a one-stop solution to provide privacy and security on your computer as well. It not only cleans your computer but also takes a backup of your hard drive so that you can recover it in extreme situations. You can download this all-in-one tool from the official site of Advanced System Optimizer.

Summing Up

There are numerous ways to free up disk space on Windows 10. We have listed the most common steps of how to clean up disk space on a Windows 10 computer. You can also make use of system Storage Sense in system settings to analyze and bifurcate the storage usage as per different categories. It gives you the option to select and delete unwanted file folders from the same window.

If you are unaware of how to free up disk space or can’t go through this hustle on a weekly basis, you can make use of an automated tool. The best-recommended option is to use Advanced System Optimizer to automatically take care of hard drive storage issues and free up hard disk space on Windows 10 computers.