If you find your Windows folder taking 20GB, 100GB, or even more of your disk space, and you need to figure out why your Windows folder is too big, I will show you how to reduce its size in this article.
The best way to reduce the size of your Windows folder, you need to run Disk Cleanup (cleanmgr.exe), a built-in Windows tool that cleans unnecessary files like old Windows updates, old driver packages, and temporary files.
To run the Disk Cleanup tool:
- On Windows Search, enter Disk Cleanup and open it.
- On Disk Cleanup, click on Clean up system files:
- Check the files to delete. Then click Ok:
It is safe to delete everything here; they are non-essential files by nature. But if unsure, you can click on each item and read the description.
While this is the best way to clean Windows folder disk space, other methods are available to further clean useless system files. Keep reading to find them out.
Delete the Files in Temp Folder to Reduce Windows Folder Size
The Temp folder is where Windows keep temporary files that were once necessary but that aren’t vital anymore.
If you have used your PC for over a year, likely, these temporary files are already using a few GBs of disk space. So, a great way to reduce the size of the Windows Folder is to delete these files manually:
- Open the file explorer and go to C:\Windows\Temp.
- Press CTRL + A to select all files in the Temp folder.
- Press Del to delete all selected files.
Remember to delete only the files in the folder, not the folder itself.
Clean up the WinSxS Folder on Windows Folder
The WinSxS folder is where Windows keep a few GBs of old system and application files stored side by side.
While it is not advisable to delete files on this folder, we can safely use the DISM tool to clean up the WinSxS folder, as advised by Microsoft here.
To clean up the WInSxS Folder:
- Run the Command Prompt as Administrator.
- On the Command Prompt, enter the following command:
Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase
This will clean up the old system files and components that are currently stored on your PC. You might want to run this command every so often to ensure that your WinSxS folder is not taking up too much disk space.
Important: Microsoft does not recommend manually deleting files on the WinSxS folder since it can severely damage your system.
Disable Hibernate to Free up Disk Space
Windows has a Hibernate mode, available for laptops, that uses less power than the standard Sleep mode. It is designed to be a power-saving option when laptop users go for a long without being able to charge their batteries.
This mode is not helpful for most users, as Sleep mode usually does the job, but it keeps a big file called hiberfil.sys, which takes up around 3 GB of disk space.
Thus, disabling Hibernate is effective to reduce the size of your Windows folder. This is how to do it:
- Run the Command Prompt as Administrator.
- On the Command Prompt, enter the following command:
powercfg.exe /hibernate off
If you want to enable the Hibernate mode again later on, just run the command powercfg.exe /hibernate on
Conclusion
To reduce the size of your Windows folder, you should start by running the Disk Cleanup tool and deleting all the items there.
Besides that, you can also delete your temporary files under C:\Windows\Temp, clean up your WinSxS folder, and disable Hibernate mode.
To free up more disk space, read our articles on how to find large files and folders on Windows and how to uninstall multiple programs at once.
