🚨 C Drive FULL? Free Up Disk Space NOW on Windows 11/10 (Make Your PC Faster), by Creative Computer Skills on YouTube. 6 min 48 s.
- Video length
- 6 min 48 s
- Time to do it
- 15 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Press Windows key + I to open Settings, then go to System and click Storage. Wait a moment while Windows scans your drives and shows what is using space.
Click Temporary files, tick the boxes for items like Windows Update cleanup, thumbnails and leftover downloads, then click Remove files.
Scroll down and open Installed apps. Sort by size and uninstall games or programs you no longer open.
Move large videos, photos and installers to an external drive or OneDrive, then delete them from the C drive.
Type Disk Cleanup in the Start search box, choose the C: drive, and click Clean up system files for a deeper scan.
In that same Disk Cleanup window, tick Previous Windows installation files and any other large entries, then confirm the deletion.
Empty the Recycle Bin and clear your Downloads folder of files you have already used.
Go back to Storage and turn on Storage Sense, setting it to run weekly so temporary files are cleared automatically.
Restart the PC and check Storage again to confirm the free space you gained.
Tips and common mistakes
Back up personal files before you delete anything, since Disk Cleanup removals cannot be undone.
Previous Windows installation files can be several gigabytes, but deleting them means you cannot roll back to the older version.
Empty the Recycle Bin last, after you have checked what is inside it.
Keep at least 10 to 15 percent of the C drive free so Windows updates and the page file have room to work.
Questions
Will deleting temporary files break any programs?
No. Temporary files are working files Windows and apps recreate when needed. Close open programs before you clean them up.
How much space can I expect to free?
It varies by machine, but old update files and previous Windows installations often add up to several gigabytes. The Storage page shows the total before you delete.
Does this work on Windows 10 too?
Yes. The Storage settings page and Disk Cleanup are in both Windows 10 and Windows 11, though the menu names differ slightly.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
