How to Free Up Disk Space on Windows 11 – Running Out of Storage? Fix It Fast!, by How2&Review on YouTube. 3 min 2 s.
- Video length
- 3 min 2 s
- Time to do it
- 10 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 10
What you need
Steps
Press Windows + I to open Settings, then click System in the left sidebar. If the sidebar is hidden, click the menu icon at the top left first.
Click Storage and wait a few seconds for the bar to load. It lists every category, such as Apps, Documents and Temporary files, with the space each one uses.
Click Cleanup recommendations. Windows suggests items like temporary files, the Recycle Bin, and large or unused files it thinks you can do without.
Tick the categories you want to clear and check the total shown at the top of the list. Click Clean up to delete them in one go.
Go back to the Storage page and click Temporary files. Tick Downloads only after you have looked inside that folder, then click Remove files.
Turn on Storage Sense and set it to run every week. Choose how often it empties the Recycle Bin and clears the Downloads folder on its own.
Open Installed apps, sort the list by size, and uninstall programs you no longer use. Each removal frees the full install size, not just a few megabytes.
Move large personal files such as videos and photos to an external drive or OneDrive. Deleting them from the local drive is what actually frees the space.
Empty the Recycle Bin by right-clicking its desktop icon and choosing Empty Recycle Bin. Files stay on disk until you do this.
For deeper cleaning, type cleanmgr in the Start menu search, open Disk Cleanup, click Clean up system files, and tick previous Windows installations if listed.
Tips and common mistakes
Open the Downloads folder before deleting it, since Windows treats everything in it as removable.
Never tick System files or Windows.old in cleanup tools unless you are sure you will not roll back an update.
Storage Sense can wipe your Recycle Bin automatically, so set a long interval if you often restore deleted files.
Run a cleanup after big Windows updates, when leftover installation files take several gigabytes.
Questions
Will deleting temporary files break Windows or my apps?
No. Temporary files are working files that programs recreate when needed. Close your open apps before cleaning up so nothing is in use.
How much space can I actually free?
It varies. Temporary files, the Recycle Bin and unused apps often add up to several gigabytes, and a previous Windows installation can be much larger.
Do I need to install a cleaning program?
No. The Storage page and Disk Cleanup are built into Windows 11 and cover the same basic job without extra downloads.
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.
