How to Free up Space on C Drive in Windows

A C.A. by profession and a tech enthusiast by passion, Gaurav loves tinkering with new tech and gadgets. He used to build WordPress websites but gave it all up to develop little iOS games instead. Finally, he dropped out of CA to pursue his love for tech. He has over 5 years of experience as a writer covering Android, iOS, and Windows platforms and writes how-to guides, comparisons, listicles, and explainers for B2B and B2C apps and services. He currently divides his time between Guiding Tech (writer) and Tech Wiser (editor).

A computer engineer by degree, Varun has 7+ years of experience in the field of technology. After his stints at Beebom and MrPhone, Varun has been covering different facets of technology at Guiding Tech. Here, he contributes to Team GT by helping its readers make better purchases while also understanding the meaning of each feature. In his free time, you can find him sharing his excellent photography skills along with his Aces in Valorant over Twitter.

Fix 1: Clear the Recycle Bin

Let’s begin with some simple yet effective solutions. Have you emptied the Recycle Bin? Open it and make sure there are no files and folders that you would like to restore.

Open theRecycle Binfolder from the desktop or the Windows Explorer and click onEmpty Recycle Binto delete everything in there.

Fix 2: Check Your Downloads Folder

The Downloads folder on the C drive can hog quite a lot of space. At the same time, it helps to check other folders like Pictures, Videos, and Documents to see if there are files that you can move to other drives. Maybe duplicate files stored in the C drive are adding to the stress. Search for and delete them.

Press theWindows + Ekeys together to open the Windows Explorer. Navigate to theDownloadsfolder from the left sidebar. Here, deleteall the unnecessary files from your system.

Note: Some apps also download files to your desktop, and these files are stored as part of the C drive.

Fix 3: Uninstall Apps

Step 1: Press theWindows + Rkeys together to open the Run window. Here,enterthe following command and press Enter.

Step 2: This should open the list of installed apps on your PC. Simplyright-clickon the app and select theUninstalloption.

Note: You can also sort all installed apps by size to figure out which one is taking the most space and whether you can remove it.

Fix 4: Increase C Drive Size

If you are using a single disk which is divided into partitions, you can shrink a different partition and then expand the size of the C Drive. You can do this with the help of the Disk Management tool. Bothcreating and modifying drive partitions on Windowsis super easy. However, make sure to back up your data on an external drive before proceeding with this.

Fix 5: Disk Cleanup

Windows comes with a tool called Disk Cleanup that will help clean up system files that are no longer required, temp files, and files moved to the recycle bin. You launch it by directly searching it from the Windows Search bar.

However, for best results, we’d suggest using theMicrosoft PC Manager. It’s an app that can help to clear out temporary files, unwanted system files, cache, and much more. All with a single click.

Bonus: Upgrade to Bigger HDD/SSD

No matter how many files you delete, apps you uninstall, and reallocate space from other drives, you are limited by the total space available on your HDD/SSD. How about installing a new, bigger HDD on your computer? Better yet, why not use this opportunity to upgrade to an SSD?

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Last updated on 28 August, 2024

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