Many times, while working in Windows 10 or any other operating system, we run out of hard drive space because of which we are unable to perform our daily activities. In this article, we will explain to you the methods through which you can reclaim the hard drive space by shrinking Windows 10.
Reclaiming Hard Drive Space by Shrinking Windows 10
In order to reclaim hard drive space by shrinking Windows 10, you can make use of any of the four methods listed below:
Method # 1: Remove the hibernation file
In this method, we will tell you how you can reclaim hard drive space by disabling the hibernation file in Windows 10. For doing this, you will need to perform the following steps:
You will need to launch the Command Prompt with administrative privileges. For doing that, type cmd in the search section of your taskbar and right click on the search result in order to launch a menu as shown in the following image:
Click on the Run as Administrator option from this menu as highlighted in the image shown above. The newly opened Command Prompt window with administrative privileges is shown in the image below:
Now type the command
powercfg /hibernate off
in your command prompt window and press the enter key. This command is also highlighted in the following image:
As soon as you will press the enter key, your hibernation file will be disabled.
Method # 2: Do a Disk Cleanup
In this method, we will tell you how you can reclaim hard drive space by running disk cleanup in Windows 10. For doing that, you will need to perform the following steps:
Type disk cleanup in the search section of your taskbar and click on the search result to launch the Drive Selection window as shown in the following image:
Select the drive by typing in its name in the text box shown in the image above and then click on the OK button in order to continue.
Now select all the files that you want to delete by checking the checkboxes corresponding to each file from the Disk Cleanup window as shown in the image below:
Finally, click on the OK button in order to continue as highlighted in the image shown above.
Method # 3: Shrink the page file
In this method, we will tell you how you can reclaim hard drive space by shrinking the paging file in Windows 10. For doing this, you will need to perform the following steps:
Type Advanced System Settings in the search section of your taskbar and click on the search result to launch the Advanced System Settings window as shown in the following image:
Now click on the Settings button under the Performance section as highlighted in the image shown above.
As soon as you will click on it, the Performance Options window will appear on your screen as shown in the image below:
Click on the Advanced tab as highlighted in the image shown above.
Now click on the Change button as highlighted in the following image:
Uncheck the checkbox corresponding to the field saying, “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives” in order to define your own custom size as highlighted in the image shown below:
Now you need to click on the radio button corresponding to the field of custom size and then you can give your desired size in the respective textbox.
Finally, click on the OK button in order to save your settings.
Method # 4: Remove unwanted Applications
In this method, we will tell you how you can reclaim hard drive space by removing the unwanted applications in Windows 10. For doing this, you will need to perform the following steps:
Type settings in the search section of your taskbar and click on the search result to launch the settings window. The newly opened Settings window is shown in the following image:
Click on the Apps tab as highlighted in the image shown above.
As soon as you will click on it, you will be able to see a list of all the apps installed in your computer system as shown in the image below:
Now select any app that you want to uninstall by clicking on it.
Finally, click on the Uninstall button as highlighted in the following image in order to uninstall the desired application:
Conclusion
By following any of the four methods discussed in this article, you can easily reclaim hard drive space by shrinking Windows 10. All these methods are very easy and convenient to use and you can get your work done within a few minutes.
