7 Ways to Create More Disk Space in Windows 10
Speed up your computer, make upgrades easier
When your computer runs low on physical storage, its speed, performance and ability to maintain system integrity will be affected. A poorly managed hard drive can leave you with little space to install significant updates and will generally degrade the user experience over time.
In this article, we will discuss several ways to create more disk space in Windows 10.
Empty The Recycle Bin
Deleting items from your computer such as photos, videos, and documents don’t remove them from your hard drive. They are moved to the Recycle Bin instead and continue to take up space on your hard drive. Emptying the Recycle Bin will create more disk space.
Delete Unwanted Apps & Programs
Windows 10 comes with pre-installed apps and games that take up space on your hard drive. Some of them take up a substantial amount of space. So if you aren’t using them you can delete them by:
Enable Storage Sense
Windows 10 comes with a feature calledStorage Sensethat monitors your computer and automatically removes different types of files that are usually temporary.
You can configure the settings by following the steps below:
Once you activate Storage Sense, you can set it to delete temporary files and dehydrate OneDrive files automatically. Dehydrated Microsoft OneDrive files are the ones that haven’t been used for a specific period. The default is 30 days.
Windows removes local copies and replaces them with placeholder icons. When you click on an icon, it will take you to the file in the cloud, thereby letting you create more disk space on your hard drive.
By default, Storage Sense uses this process only when the disk space on your system is low.
To enable Storage Sense:
Look for the drop-down menu under OneDrive and choose how often you want to dehydrate files. Choose from:
ClickClean nowto enable Windows 10 to create more disk space on your hard drive by getting rid of clutter.
Use Cloud Storage
If you are using cloud storage to save your photos and files and keeping a copy of them on your hard drive, you are double-storing. You may not wish to keep copies of everything you have on your computer and on the cloud.
Instead, you can choose which folders you want to download and save to your computer any time you need access.
To save space using OneDrive:
Disk Cleanup
Windows Disk Cleanup is a built-in utility that helps you delete data you don’t need such as temporary files. The steps below outline how you use Disk Cleanup:
Windows runs a scan on your computer and lets you know how much space you can save if you run Disk Cleanup.
See the screenshot above where it says:Total amount of disk space you gain: 336 MB. Scroll down to theFiles to deleterow and put a check in the box in front of the types of files you would like to delete. Then clickOK.
Disable Hibernation
Windows 10 has a feature called Hibernation as an option to use when leaving your computer. It will save a session you are working on when you shut down so that you can pick up right where you left off when you are ready.
However, this process writes the data currently in memory onto your hard drive and takes up space. It’s a convenient tool, but if you are running low on space, you can disable Hibernation by:
powercfg /hibernate off
With hibernation disabled, you will no longer be able to put your computer to hibernate mode, but you will increase your storage space.
You can revert at any time by typing the following as an administrator at the Command Prompt:
powercfg /hibernate on command
Delete Temporary Files
Windows uses the TEMP folder to store folders and files created by some third-party software programs and Windows services. Temporary files take up a lot of space on your computer. If you ran Disk Cleanup, it will haveremoved the temporary files.
Use some of the suggested methods described above to clean up your hard drive and create more disk space. From removing temporary files to utilizing cloud storage, you can keep your system running smoothly and save more space for programs and processes.
David has a background in small business and lives in Australia. He is a WordPress and Ubuntu Developer who enjoys design, CSS and tech tool integration.Read David’s Full Bio
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