[Tip] How to Get Extra Free Disk Space in Windows?

Its a common problem when we face lower disk space problem in Windows and Windows notifies us about the lower disk space and we are forced to delete some useless files or to resize the partition to get some free disk space.

Today in this topic, we are going to share some simple and useful tips to get as much free disk space as we can.

Following are some easy ways to free up some disk space in Windows:

STEP 1: Using Disk Cleanup

First thing is to use Windows built-in “Disk Cleanup” application. You can right-click on a drive in My Computer and select “Properties” now click on “Disk Cleanup” button. Alternatively you can run “Disk Cleanup” directly from RUN dialog box by giving “cleanmgr.exe” command. You can also add “Disk Cleanup” option in drives context menu for quick and easy access as described in this tutorial.

Once you open Disk Cleanup program, select all given options such as “Downloaded Program Files”, “Temporary Internet Files”, “Compress old files”, “Previous Windows installation(s)” etc. At last click on OK button and it’ll free up good amount of disk space in your computer. You can get more than 1GB free space after using Disk Cleanup.

BONUS TIP: Many times when you upgrade your Windows to a new version, you may notice that a new folder “Windows.old” is automatically created on the system drive you installed the new Windows version on. This folder can be very large in size approx. 5-10 GB. It contains system files of the previously installed Windows version. You can remove this folder to get a lot of free disk space. Just select “Previous Windows installation(s)” option in Disk Cleanup program and it’ll completely remove this unnecessary folder. Make sure to check the content of this folder before removing it. If you find something useful, you can take a backup of that file first.

Related: [Tip] How to Free Up Hard Disk Space in Windows 10

STEP 2: Empty TEMP Folder

You can also empty TEMP (just type TEMP and %TEMP% one by one in RUN dialog box and press Enter) and C:\Windows\Prefetch folders regularly to free up disk space.

Also check: Where Does Windows Store Temporary Files?

STEP 3: Empty Browser Cache and Cookies

Also empty temporary Internet files (cache and cookies) of your web browser to get some free space.

[Tip] How to Clear / Delete Cache and Cookies in Your Web Browser

STEP 4: Disable Hibernation

Disable Hibernation from “Power Settings” (powercfg.cpl), if you don’t use this feature. Disabling this feature will free up 1GB+ disk space.

STEP 5: Turn Off System Restore

Open “System Properties” by right-click on “My Computer” icon on Desktop and select “Properties“. Now go to “System Restore” tab and select “Turn Off System Restore on all drives” option and apply it. Don’t use this trick if you use System Restore. If you disable it, Windows will not create system restore point in future and it’ll not waste any valuable disk space.

STEP 6: Remove Windows Updates Uninstallation Folders

You can also delete all updates uninstallation folders which can be found in C:\Windows folder. All these folders will be hidden and their names will start with $NtUninstall (or similar term). Keep in mind that after deleting these folders you’ll not be able to uninstall any Windows update.

Also check: [Tip] Reclaim Free Space by Removing Old Windows Updates Files in Windows

STEP 7: Disable Windows File Protection Service

You can also disable WFP (Windows File Protection) service in Windows XP using WFP Patcher. This service runs in background and checks for system files status. Whenever it finds that a system file has been changed/modified, it replaces the new file with the original file stored in “DLLcache” folder.

First disable this service and after disabling the service, open “C:\Windows\System32\DLLCache” folder (it’ll be HIDDEN & System Folder, so copy paste the path in address bar and press Enter key). Now you can safely delete all files present in this folder. It’ll give you approx. 1GB free disk space.

STEP 8: Delete Temporary Files

Open Windows Search and copy paste following code in search box and perform a search:

You’ll find many temporary files in search result. Make sure to check all the files before deleting. You’ll get 100’s of files after searching, simply select them all and delete them.

PS: Please check the files before deletion! It’ll delete all readme files, backup files, log files, etc. So deselect the files which you don’t want to delete.

STEP 9: Delete Unnecessary Image Files

You can also delete several BMP files present in C:\Windows folder which are used as wallpapers in Desktop Properties. You can also delete all files in C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper folder. All files in this folder are also used as wallpapers.

STEP 10: Delete Unnecessary Video Files

You can also delete all video files present in C:\Windows\system32\oobe\images folder. These files are used when Windows runs for the first time after installation.

That’s all. You can apply all above mentioned methods to get lots of free disk space in Windows.

You can also use 3rd party Utilities such as Tuneup Utilities, System Mechanic, etc to free up some disk space but these utilities also use most of the above mentioned techniques.

Also Check:

• Reclaim Free Space by Removing Unnecessary Files After Installing SP1 in Windows 7
• Get Free Space by Removing Unnecessary Files After Installing SP1 in Windows Vista
• [Tip] Automatically Free Up Disk Space in Windows 10