How to free up disk space on Windows 11 safely

When the C: drive is nearly full, Windows slows down, updates fail and some apps stop working. Ideally, keep at least 15% to 20% of the drive free. This guide shows the safe ways to reclaim space, from simplest to most advanced, without installing “cleaner” apps.

Step 1: see what’s using space

1. Open Settings › System › Storage.
2. Wait for the scan and click Show more categories to see how much space apps, temporary files, documents, pictures and videos use.

Step 2: delete temporary files

1. Under Storage, click Temporary files.
2. Select Temporary files, Delivery Optimization Files, Thumbnails and Recycle Bin (first check the Recycle Bin has nothing you want back).
3. Click Remove files.

Step 3: turn on Storage Sense

Storage Sense automatically cleans up temporary files and the Recycle Bin.

1. In Settings › System › Storage, turn on Storage Sense.
2. Click it to set how often it runs and after how many days Recycle Bin items are deleted.

Step 4: remove old updates and the previous Windows installation

After a major update, Windows keeps the previous version in the Windows.old folder so you can roll back. It can take up tens of gigabytes and is removed automatically after a few days — but you can delete it sooner if everything works well.

1. From the Start menu, open Disk Cleanup.
2. Click Clean up system files.
3. Select Windows Update Cleanup and, if listed, Previous Windows installation(s).

To shrink the component store left by updates, open PowerShell as administrator:

Dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup

Step 5: uninstall apps you don’t use

1. Open Settings › Apps › Installed apps.
2. Sort by Size and uninstall what you no longer use (old games often take up a lot of space).

Step 6: keep OneDrive files online only

With Files On-Demand, OneDrive keeps files in the cloud and downloads them only when you open them.

1. In File Explorer, right-click a OneDrive folder.
2. Choose Free up space. The files stay visible and download when needed.

Step 7: find your largest files

This command lists the 20 largest files in your user folder:

Get-ChildItem $env:USERPROFILE -Recurse -File -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Sort-Object Length -Descending | Select-Object -First 20 FullName, @{n='GB';e={[math]::Round($_.Length/1GB,2)}}

Videos, installers and old phone backups usually top the list. Move them to an external drive or delete what you no longer need.

Advanced option: turn off hibernation

The hiberfil.sys file can take up several gigabytes. On desktops that never hibernate, you can turn it off (PowerShell as administrator):

powercfg /hibernate off

What you should never delete manually

FAQ