Running out of storage space in your Windows PC again?
Seeing your storage get used up quickly is never a fun sight to see. Here's some great ways to free up storage on Windows PC, so you don't have to worry about being out of storage again.
Method 1: Empty Your Recycle Bin
Easy way to free up storage on your Windows PC
When you delete files on your Windows 10 PC, do you delete them, or do you permanently delete them? If you're not doing the latter, you can be clogging up multiple useless files on your PC. By emptying your recycle bin, you will rid of any temporary files that are in the recycle bin. To avoid having to empty your recycle bin every couple of days/weeks, you can alternatively permanently delete files. The permanently delete option will automatically appear when you left-click on any file on your main PC storage drive.
Method 2: Use The Disk Cleanup Utility Feature
Easy way to free up storage on your Windows PC
If you didn't know already, Windows uses a program called Disk Cleanup, this is a handy tool to free up storage by removing temporary internet files, data files from previous Windows 10 updates that might still be lurking on your device, and system error files which haven't been discarded of automatically.
To load up the disk cleanup tool, head to the start menu, type in "Windows Administrative Tools", then select "Disk Clean-up". The tool will load up and calculate how much storage you can free up.
Files that may appear include:
Downloads
Delivery optimisation files
Recycle bin files
Thumbnails
Internet Files
Offline web page files
Method 3: Manually Delete Temporary Files
Easy way to free up storage on your Windows PC
You don't have to use disk cleanup, alternatively, you can head to Settings > Storage. Under the storage details for Windows (C:), click on Temporary Files. A list of types of files that can be deleted will appear, pick which ones you'd like to remove and then click "Remove Files". This method will free up more space as it includes more update clean-up files via Windows.
Method 4: Optimise Using Windows' Built-In Feature: Storage Sense
Easy way to free up storage on your Windows PC
You probably didn't notice while trying the last step, but on the main page for storage settings, there is a built-in toggle from Windows 10, called Storage Sense, this will automatically delete temporary files of your choice when you switch the feature on. To use Storage Sense, simply Head to Start > Storage > Turn on Storage Sense (Configure Storage Sense or run it now).
From here you can choose which kinds of files you wish to automatically be removed from your device, and after how many days you would like the process to repeat itself. This is a handy tool to save you worrying about a backlog of temporary files lurking on your system, whether it be downloads, update logs or something else.
Method 5: Move Your Saved Files Onto A Dedicated Cloud Storage
Easy way to free up storage on your Windows PC
Depending on the size of files you're dealing with, switching to a cloud storage setup can dramatically improve the amount of free storage space on your PC, and keep it running at an optimum speed.
Method 6: Uninstall Non-Essential Applications
Easy way to free up storage on your Windows PC
Used to play that PC game back in the day? Downloaded a program only to use it once in your life? Non-essential applications can take up a serious portion of your storage without you realising, so it's best to remove these files. To do so, simply head to the Windows search box (Type here to search), and type "Add Or Remove Programs", this will open up a list of all your active applications - Uninstall any that you know you don't use, this will free up a large percentage of storage so you won't have to stress about running out of storage any time soon.
Method 7: Save Files Onto An External Hard Drive
Easy way to free up storage on your Windows PC
If you find that storage is used up too quickly from saving files to your Windows (C:) drive, it might be a good idea to purchase an external hard drive or USB drive. By having an external drive, you can still save files, but with much more reassurance, knowing that storage won't clog up on your PC, thus meaning your device will keep running efficiently.
Thank you for reading 'Easy way to free up storage on your Windows PC' by IT Block. IT Block is an IT support services firm based in Singapore and we love sharing out IT expertise with the world.
