Disk Cleanup [PORTABLE]
If you're just looking to free up disk space, consider using Azure File Sync with cloud tiering enabled. This method lets you cache your most frequently accessed files locally and tier your least frequently accessed files to the cloud, saving local storage space while maintaining performance. For more information, see Planning for an Azure File Sync deployment.
disk cleanup
Disk Clean-up (cleanmgr.exe) is a computer maintenance utility included in Microsoft Windows designed to free up disk space on a computer's hard drive. It has now been deprecated and replaced with a modern version in the Settings app, although it still exists as a legacy tool in Windows.
The utility searches files that are no longer of any use, and then removes the selected unnecessary files. There are a number of different file categories that Disk Clean-up targets when performing the initial disk analysis:
Aside from removing unnecessary files, users also have the option of compressing files that have not been accessed over a set period of time. This option provides a systematic compression scheme. Infrequently accessed files are compressed to free up disk space while leaving the frequently used files uncompressed for faster read/write access times. If after file compression, a user wishes to access a compressed file, the access times may be increased and vary from system to system.
Disk Cleanup searches your disk and then shows you temporary files, Internet cache files, and unnecessary program files that you can safely delete. You can direct Disk Cleanup to delete some or all of those files. This tool guides you through a series of tasks and systematic procedures to help you get back to work quickly.
If you don't clean your computer, before long you'll encounter low disk space warnings and notice it slowing down. Let's walk through how to clean Windows 10 (and Windows 11) using a step-by-step plan with a variety of tools for different situations.
Windows 10 and 11 include a pair of similar tools for clearing out old temporary files from your disk, meaning you don't need a dedicated Windows cleaner app. They're a great first stop on your Windows cleanup journey.
If you don't mind an old-school interface, the classic Disk Cleanup tool gets the cleaning job done. Access it by typing Disk Cleanup into the Start menu and selecting the disk you want to clean.
Windows 10 and Windows 11 both include much of this same functionality of Disk Cleanup, with a nicer interface, at Settings > System > Storage. You can use the Storage Sense feature found there to automatically clean up files when your disk space is low, or every so often. Click Configure Storage Sense or run it now (on Windows 10) to change these options.
Once installed, search for TreeSize on the Start Menu and launch it using the (Administrator) link so you can scan everywhere. To start, choose Select Directory in the top-left and select your main storage disk.
If you haven't taken the time to remove bloatware from your system, you should. It's an important part of Windows 10 cleanup. See our guide to removing bloatware from Windows 10 for instructions. If you're on Windows 11, see instructions for removing bloatware in Windows 11.
While we're discussing Windows 10 and 11 cleanups, it bears mentioning that you should be careful what cleaning software you download. While the tools explained earlier are all legitimate ways to clean your PC, you'll find many scammy "PC cleaners" online that are totally worthless (such as the one in the above video).
That's how to clean your computer without any frills. You now know the big steps to clean up large and unnecessary files in Windows 10 and 11. These methods should be sufficient to clean up a good chunk of space on your computer and make it feel fresh. Keep up with them every so often, and you shouldn't have to worry about low disk space warnings any longer.
While this is a pretty simplified description of the WinSxS folder, the general idea I want to convey here is that the WinSxS folder can grow so large that it takes up a good chunk of hard disk space. The problem gets compounded by the fact that the WinSxS folder is used to store so many files. This means that old files as well as files that are no longer necessary can still be taking up hard disk space.
For instance, Figure A shows the WinSxS folder properties dialog on a system that began as a Windows 7 system, which was upgraded to Windows 8.x and again to Windows 10. As you can see, the WinSxS folder on this system contains 60,209 files and takes up a grand total of 6.73 GB of hard disk space.
Wise Disk Cleaner is another hard drive cleaner that can help you remove unnecessary files from your system. Unlike CCleaner, this tool allows you to set up automatic disk cleaning according to your need for free.
Other features of Minitool Partition Wizard include hard disk partition testing to check any reading errors when one of your disks takes a long time to write files. It also has a deep clean feature that helps you clean your drive by deleting files from partitions without the possibility of retrieving them.
In addition, it can also shred a large number of files, thus giving users the option to focus on deleting one file at a time or delete everything all at once. It can also clean up disk partitions, ensuring that your storage is truly free from junk and other files. When it comes to the intensity of the process, the software allows you to choose how thorough it can be.
Well dang, I was running the cleanup tool manually because I knew it uses quite some CPU and wanted it to get it over with on my schedule rather than random system schedule. Guess I should stop doing that.
An assisted-help campaign is triggered to perform a light (recycle bin) or a deep (recycle bin and user temporary folder) clean.In order to run a silent execution, campaign can be skipped by providing an empty GUID as input DiskCleanupCampaignId. In such case, CleanupLevel determines how cleanup will be processed.
All files inside user temporary folder (%TEMP%) whose last write time is older than 'RemoveFilesNotModifiedInDays' input parameter, will be removed if deep cleanup option is selected in the campaign. Parameter 'MaximumDelayInSeconds' can be used to add random script execution delay. It should be used in virtualized environments to spread over time number of I/O requests on server hosting virtual machines.The space freed is calculated by using the 'Free' property of the command Get-PSDrive before and after the execution.It may be unaccurate or even report 0 in certain situations due to the fact that external applications or services could be occupying the free space by downloading, creating or unzipping files. In those cases, the remaining space after the Remote Action execution could be lower than the total space freed by it.
Parameter 'MaximumDelayInSeconds' can be used to add random script execution delay. It should be used in virtualized environments to spread over time number of I/O requests on server hosting virtual machines.SCCM cache cleanup does not work with Configuration Manager older than 2012.The freed space shown in CleanupSpace output is calculated by accessing the 'FreeSpace' property of the Win32_Volume WMI Class before and after the execution.Please consider this output as an orientation. It may be inaccurate or report 0 in certain situations due to the fact that external applications or services could be occupying the free space by downloading, creating or unzipping files.
If your Windows 10 is running on low disk space, you are likely to find the most suitable solution here for Disk cleanup Windows 10. Here 9 solutions are listed. Read and try them out!
Before trying the nine ways to clean up disk space, you can try Disk Cleanup first. What Disk Cleanup is? What does Disk Cleanup do? It is a maintenance tool that scans your computer's hard drive for files that you don't need. When your Windows 10 is running on low disk space, you can utilize the tool. But if it does little help, you are likely to find the most suitable solution here for Disk cleanup Windows 10.
Sounds wired? We will explain. Although there are several solutions (Fix #2-9) that help computer cleanup, the allocated free space is limited to a great extent. In fact, the best way is to upgrade hard drive to a larger one. To transfer Windows 10 as well as all data on the hard drive, MiniTool Partition Wizard Free is recommended here for its two useful features:
Step 2: In the main interface of MiniTool Partition Wizard Free, you can see that the system disk is selected by default. Please select "Copy Disk" from the action panel.
Step 4: Accept the default copy options or make some changes. Be aware that the last option "Use GUID Partition Table for the target disk" is a paid feature that helps clone MBR system disk to GPT.
Step 5: You will be reminded to configure computer BIOS settings so as to boot from the new disk. Click "Finish" then. Press "Apply" button on the menu bar to start the copy. MiniTool Partition Wizard needs a restart to finish the job.
Files we delete usually go to the Recycle Bin if not permanently deleted. If you do not clean the Recycle Bin for a long time, there can be a large number of unwanted files. So the first trying we think is to empty the Recycle Bin. Right-click the Recycle Bin on Windows 10 desktop and choose "Empty Recycle Bin" from the context menu, thus helping disk cleanup Windows 10.
Storage Sense is an optional feature that can delete temporary files, files in the Recycle Bin for more than 30 days, files in the download folder that haven't changed in 30 days, as well as the previous version of Windows 10 after an upgrade. If your Windows 10 is running on low space, enabling Storage Sense helps free up disk space Windows 10. 041b061a72