How can I Free up Space on my hard drive in Windows 11

If your PC or Laptop is short of storage. The only question that appears in your mind is How can I free up space on my hard Drive? There are multiple methods to free up space on the hard drive. If you are using Windows 11 so these methods are best for you otherwise you can also apply any windows.

This guide will walk you through the best techniques to free up space on the hard drive of your PC.

Table of Contents

How can I Free up Space on my hard Drive:-

There are several methods to Free up space on the hard drives. These methods include are delete unnecessary files, Temporary files, NTFS compression to shrink files, and the use of cloud drives like OneDrive. After applying these methods you got a lot of Free space to use.

FREE UP SPACE WITH CLEANUP RECOMMENDATIONS:-

In Windows 11, “Cleanup recommendations” are a new feature that automatically suggests you the files to remove from your Computer and get free space on the hard drive. This tool tells you the files that are not necessary for you.

To use “Cleanup recommendations” follow these steps:

Open Settings.
Click on System.
Click the Storage section on the right side.

Click on the “Cleanup recommendations” setting.

Click on Temporary files.
Select the files to delete to free up space.
Click the Cleanup button.

Click on “Large or unused files.”
Select the large and unused files to delete.
Click the Cleanup button.
Click on “Files synced to the cloud.”
Select the synced files that you can delete locally

If you delete synced files, they are saved on your OneDrive account.

Click on Unused apps. Those apps that are not used.
Check the recommended apps that you can delete to free up space on Windows 11.
Click the Cleanup button

When you complete these steps you got of space to use for your important use. These are deleted those files and apps that are not necessary for you but the use your computer space.

FREE UP SPACE WITH STORAGE SENSE:-

The next method to free up the space is “Storage Sence”. Storage sense is another feature that helps to quickly delete the many junk files, such as previous installation files, temporary files from applications, and more, from the device, got free storage space.

To use the Storage Sence feature follow these steps:

Open Settings again.
Click on System.
Click the Storage section.

How can I Free up Space on my hard drive — Credit: Future

In the “Storage management” section, turn on the Storage Sense toggle switch.

When you turn on the Storage Sense feature will clear up files automatically based on your configuration. However, Storage Sense will turn on Storage Sense if the feature remains turned off and the system needs space to perform specific tasks like installing a new feature update.

In the “Cleanup of temporary files” section, check to mark the “Keep Windows running smoothly by automatically cleaning up temporary system and app files” option to allow the system to delete junk files as needed.
Enable the “Automatic User content cleanup” button switch.

In the “Configure cleanup schedules” section, use the “Run Storage Sense” drop-down menu and select the best cleanup option for you. You can set Schedules to automatic cleanup.

Every day.
Every week.
Every month.
During low free disk space (suggested).

In Recycle bin section use it to delete your Recycle bin files.
The Download, section uses it to delete your download files from the internet automatically.

Note: Make sure you back up your download files because sometimes we download important data.

After you complete the steps, if you click the Run Storage Sence Now button, Storage Sense will clear the files instantly. Otherwise, the system will clean up the files as space is needed.

FREE UP SPACE BY DELETING TEMPORARY FILES:-

In Windows 11. you can also delete temporary files manually using some settings.

To delete temporary files manually you can follow these steps:

Open Settings.
Click on System.
Click the Storage.

Click the Temporary files section.

Here you find all the files that you want to delete. Select the temporary files that you want to delete. Here you find Download, Recycle bin, Windows Update Cleanup, Delivery Optimization Files, Thumbnails, Microsoft Defender Antivirus, Temporary Internet Files, and many more. Select files that you want to delete.

Then click on the Remove Files Button on the top.

After completing these steps the files are permanently deleted, and you got free space in your computer hard drive.

FREE UP SPACE WITH DISK CLEANUP:-

Windows 11 still have the Disk Cleanup option to free up space in the hard drive. Disk Cleanup tool to delete temporary files and recovery points.

To free up space in the hard drive with Disk Cleanup follow these steps:

Click Start Button.
Search for Disk Cleanup and click on it.
Use the “Drives” drop-down menu and select the (C:) drive (if applicable).
Click the OK button.
Click the “Cleanup system files” button.

Use the “Drives” drop-down menu and select the (C:) drive.
Click the OK button.
Check all the files you want to clear:

In the files delete section, select the files that you want to delete.

After the selection click on the Ok button.

Then Click on the Delete file button.

Those unnecessary files you selected will be removed from the device.

Delete System Restore and Shadow Copies:-

You can also delete older files to get additional space using System Restore and the Shadow Copies feature in Disk Cleanup.

To delete old system restore points on Windows 11, follow these steps:

Click Start Button.
Search for Disk Cleanup and click on it.
Use the “Drives” drop-down menu and select the (C:) drive (if applicable).
Click the OK button.
Click the “Cleanup system files” button.

Click the More Options tab on the top.
In the “System Restore and Shadow Copies” section, click the Cleanup button.

Click on Delete Button.

After completing these steps you also get more free space.

These are some methods to free up space hard drive. After applying these methods you got a lot of free space to use for your important files. If your computer is working slowly apply these methods for fast speed.