Users often complain of a significant reduction in the free disk space on their PC, once they’ve upgraded to Windows 10. We’ve been looking for the reasons and decided to write down some corrective measures we suggest. While it is mainly due to some additional applications in Windows 10, it still doesn’t consume more than few GBs. But, the old Windows files and some unnecessary temp files generated during the upgrade process users the free disk space on your computer unnecessarily.
How to Remove Junk Files in Windows 10
So, it is the time to get rid of such junk files and free up your disk space and save hard drive storage. There are several methods to do this which we listed down below. So, here is how to remove junk files in Windows 10.
Remove Contents from the Windows.OLD folder
Windows 10 installer moves your old system files, program files, and user documents to a folder named Windows.OLD, located on the system drive. You should first go through all the contents of Windows.OLD folder, and move any documents that are of any importance to you, to a location of your choice. Once you’re done with it, permanently delete Windows.OLD folder by pressing Shift + Delete keys simultaneously.
In case the folder removal process aborts with either the file in use or similar errors, try the following:
- Close all open programs
- Log-in from Administrator account
- Restart your PC into Safe Boot
- Press Windows Key + R; type “MSCONFIG”
- Click OK
- Use the Selective Startup without loading any startup items
- Save changes. Exit & restart your PC
If nothing else works, download a free file unlocking tool designed to delete folders in use.
Use Disk Clean-Up
Disk Clean-Up shortcut is located in All Apps > Windows Administrative category on the Start Screen. Select a drive and hit OK. Let the disk analysis process complete and then perform the clean-up.
Scroll down a little bit and check the description of each item for more information. You’ll notice items such as temporary files from all categories including downloaded program files, temporary Internet files, Recycle Bin, temporary files, and so on. Check the boxes of all the items you want to remove. After you’ve selected all the items to be deleted, complete the cleanup process by clicking OK.
Advanced Clean-Up
To recover a lot more disk space by going into great depths, download Sorcim’s ST Cleaner and start a scan. It supports cleaning application-specific temporary files. Clear the contents of the system cache, software junks, web, and privacy, social and multimedia categories. You can also use any other junk cleaning application for Windows. But like already mentioned, make sure that you always keep a backup of your Registry, apps, and other files before proceeding. It will help you to easily roll back the changes in case of any problems or difficulties. So, clean your junk files inside Windows.