Running out of storage space is a dilemma that all of us face these days. With the increased use of the computer systems, the amount of generated data has also increased up to such an extent that our physical storage devices such as a hard-disk fail to provide sufficient capacity to store this data. At times, you are in the middle of some important task and your hard-disk space runs out which causes hindrance in your work. In this article, we will explain to you different methods through which you can free up hard-disk space on Windows 10.
Freeing Up Hard-Disk Space on Windows 10
In order to free up the hard-disk space in Windows 10, you can make use of any of the following five methods:
Method # 1: Empty the Recycle Bin to free up disk space
In this method, we will tell you how you can free up the hard-disk space by clearing the Recycle Bin in Windows 10. For doing this, you will need to perform the following steps:
Double click on the Recycle Bin icon located on your desktop in order to launch it. The newly opened Recycle Bin window is shown in the following image:
Right-click anywhere in the Recycle Bin window in order to launch a menu as shown in the image below:
Now click on the Empty Recycle Bin option from this menu as highlighted in the image shown above.
As soon as you will click on it, Windows 10 will ask you for confirmation by displaying a message as shown in the following image:
Click on the Yes button to continue.
After pressing the Yes button, your Recycle Bin will be cleared and you can utilize this free space anywhere.
Method # 2: Use the Disk Cleanup tool in Windows 10
In this method, we will tell you how you can free up the hard-disk space by using the Disk Cleanup tool in Windows 10. For doing this, 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 disk cleanup window. Windows 10 will ask you to select a drive for cleaning up. Select any drive you want from the dropdown list and then click on the OK button as shown in the following image:
As soon as you will click on the OK button, Windows 10 will calculate the amount of space that you can free up for that particular drive. After that, the Disk Cleanup window will appear on the screen which is shown in the image below:
Select all those files that you want to delete by checking the check boxes corresponding to those files. If you want to clean up the system files, then click on the Clean-up system files button and when you have selected the desired files, just click on the OK button in order to clean them up.
Method # 3: Remove temporary files to free up disk space
In this method, we will tell you how you can free up the hard-disk by cleaning the temporary and the downloaded files 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 System tab as highlighted in the image shown above.
Now click on the Storage tab.
Click on This PC as shown in the image below:
Click on the Temporary Files as highlighted in the following image:
Now select the temporary files that you want to clean up and then click on the Remove Files button in order to remove them as highlighted in the image shown below:
Method # 4: Using Storage Sense utility to free up disk space
In this method, we will tell you how you can free up the hard-disk space by using the Storage Sense utility 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 System tab as highlighted in the image shown above.
Now click on the Storage tab.
Locate the toggle button corresponding to the field of Storage Sense and turn it on as highlighted in the image below:
As soon as you will turn on this toggle button, Windows 10 will be able to delete all the temporary and unused files after every 30 days so you will not have to do this manually.
Method # 5: Uninstall unneeded applications to free up disk space
In this method, we will tell you how you can free up the hard-disk space by uninstalling the unused 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.
Select Size from the dropdown list corresponding to the field of “Sort By” as highlighted in the image shown below:
Now all the applications will be sorted according to the descending order of their sizes as shown in the following image:
Click on the application that you want to uninstall and then click on the Uninstall button as highlighted in the image shown below:
As soon as you will uninstall an application, the space occupied by it will immediately free up.
Conclusion
By following any of the five methods listed above, you can free up the hard-disk space anytime you want very easily. It is difficult to regard any of these methods as “The Best” or “The Worst” method because the choice of a method will entirely depend upon your own situation and the amount of space that you want to free up. However, once you manage to select a suitable method, you can conveniently free up your hard-disk space.
