7 Effective Ways to Clean Up a Disk in Windows

Any operating system is gradually overgrown with junk files. Usually, the OS is able to delete them on its own so as not to clog the hard drive. However, not only she litters, numerous applications also do this. What to do if you want to clean the disk in Windows from unnecessary files? Let’s look at all the popular methods.

Deleting temporary files

The Windows operating system includes many system programs. Almost all of them save all sorts of temporary files. The OS also has a Recycle Bin, which many users forget to empty regularly. Windows can also create recovery images. Do I need to say that the oldest of them can be safely deleted?

Files considered temporary by the system can be deleted from your disk at any time. And they do not need to be searched with a magnifying glass through some Total Commander. Instead, follow these simple steps:

1. Go to «Explorer».

2. Right-click on the C drive (usually it is the system drive that stores the operating system files).

3. In the context menu, click on the «Properties» button.

4. In the window that opens, click the «Disk Cleanup» button.

5. In the next window, you need to mark the elements that take up the most space. After that, click the «OK» button. If the system asks for it, confirm the deletion.

In fact, at the first stage, Windows does not offer to get rid of all junk files. If you want to delete obsolete restore points and all sorts of temporary files, then click Disk Cleanup again, but now click on the Clean up system files button. Now you can mark the largest objects and delete them. After that, go to the «Advanced» tab. There is a section «System Restore and Shadow Copy» — in it you need to click the «Clear» button, after which it remains only to confirm the update.

The steps above are most useful after you’ve updated your operating system. The fact is that after that, a backup copy of the previous version of the OS, which you no longer need, may remain on drive C.

Auto Disk Cleanup

If you are a happy Windows 10 user, you can enable Auto Disk Cleanup. This feature is called Memory Sense. It will automatically delete files that you do not use. It should be activated if this is not the first time you are faced with a lack of free space.

To launch «Storage Sense», you need to go along the path «Start» — «Settings» — «System» — «Storage». Here you need to activate the switch «Memory control».

The default technology may not work for you. Therefore, we recommend that you additionally click the «Change how you free up space» button. In this case, you can change certain settings.

Removing unnecessary programs and games

Have you been using a computer for more than a year? It is possible that you have installed a huge number of programs and games. Do you delete them after apps and toys are no longer needed? It is unlikely that you still use all the software that you installed. But programs can also take up a large amount of free space. Not to mention the games, the size of which is beginning to amount to hundreds of gigabytes.

To view the list of installed programs and games, do the following:

1. Open the Control Panel.

2. Go to the «Programs and Features» section. It may have a different name, depending on the version of Windows.

3. Here is the list you need. Now you can sort it by software size in descending order. So you find out which games and programs take up the most space.

In the future, we recommend installing one or another uninstaller. Such a utility monitors what changes occur in the file system when a particular program is installed. In the future, this allows the uninstaller to remove such programs, cleaning up absolutely all the tails.

Deleting temporary files

As we have already said, the operating system accumulates a huge amount of temporary files. However, she is not the only one doing this. Third party programs also produce them. Sometimes even in large numbers. Luckily, you can always take care of them. Their absence often does not affect the performance of the software.

How exactly to clear Windows of temporary files — we have already described in a separate article. The easiest way is to install the free CCleaner. In it, to start the process, you need to press just a couple of buttons.

Removing the largest junk files

You can regularly download large files and then forget to delete them. For example, many people leave movies downloaded to their computer via torrent. Often the user is reluctant to find out the size of each file. And if he did, there would immediately be a desire to get rid of some of them.

To find heavy files on the disk, you can manually go through all the folders using Explorer or some Total Commander. However, you get bored quickly. Therefore, it is better to use one or another utility that solves this problem in automatic mode. Many of them are distributed free of charge. If you are interested, we will definitely write a separate article on this topic. In the meantime, let’s briefly talk about three programs of this kind:

To clean the disk, you can use the already mentioned CCleaner. The corresponding functionality should be looked for in the “Service” section, it is called “Disk Analysis”. Here you will see a chart that shows how videos, music, photos, and other types of files use up free space.

A little more functional is the program
WinDirStat. It will even more clearly show what exactly your hard drive is clogged with. In this case, you will be provided with a map of its status, where different types of files differ from each other in their color. Clicking on the map allows you to quickly jump to the selected file, after which you can delete it.

Provides a hard drive status map and
SpaceSniffer. But here the viewing depth is easily adjusted. You can also change the number of displayed parts. In a word, here you start by viewing the largest files, and then move on to smaller ones. Most importantly, the application is portable — it does not need to be installed.

The programs described above allow you to easily get rid of those files that take up too much space on drive C. In some cases, this helps to achieve a more stable operation of the operating system. However, no one forbids using these utilities to clean up other disks, where numerous files that have already become unnecessary can also accumulate. And be warned that the scan will take some time, especially if you are using an HDD rather than a solid state drive.

Removing duplicate files

Often we download files to our computer without really thinking about it. As a result, duplicate files can easily end up on a PC. This happens when we love photography very much. Also, copies of songs already on it may end up on the hard drive. Duplicates should be removed. But first they need to be discovered.

Special utilities are engaged in search and removal of duplicate files. In particular, this function has been mentioned more than once CCleaner, distributed for free. But this program may skip some files, especially if they have completely different names and tags. That is why it makes sense to download
dupeGuru — this utility is able to focus solely on the contents of files. To do this, before scanning, in the «Search Type» field, select the «Contents» item. The program can be downloaded on Windows (this version is not updated, but is fully functional), and on Mac OS X, and on Linux. Developers do not ask for money.

And these are just the two most popular utilities. If you so desire, we will talk in detail about programs for finding duplicate files in a separate article.

File Compression

Old versions of Windows did not support any special tools for freeing up space on the C drive. Well, Windows 10, as we already understood, can auto-clean up the disk. Also, «ten» allows you to compress data. The built-in Compact OS utility is responsible for this. It was developed for the sake of adequate operation of the operating system on laptops with a very small hard drive or SSD.

This utility compresses optional Windows 10 items and some other files. It usually frees up about 6 GB on the C drive. At the same time, the operating system is able to activate the utility on its own if it feels there is not enough free space. You can check if the OS is now compressed by opening a Windows terminal with administrator rights. Here you need to enter the following command: «compact / compactos:query» (without quotes).

If in response you see «The system is not in a state of compaction, but if necessary it can go into it», you should enter the following command: «compact.exe / CompactOS: always».

This will launch the aforementioned utility. It will immediately start compressing the data. Depending on the type of drive, the process may take a different amount of time. At the end, you will be provided with a corresponding report.

You will free up space on drive C in this way, but the operating system will start to work a little slower. This is due to the fact that its files will be decompressed on the fly, and this takes some time. Only owners of SSD and a large amount of RAM will not notice the slowdown. But even such people will have problems if the BitLocker feature that encrypts the system drive is also enabled.

Conclusion

As you understand, disk cleanup in Windows can be done in several ways. And often they are not in any way difficult to master. It is enough to try out at least one of them, after which in the future you will use it almost fully automatically.