PDF download Download Article PDF download Download Article

This wikiHow will provide detailed guides on how to clean drive C for more space on Windows 11. There are three solutions in this article, and you can use Windows Disk Clean-up and Storage Sense to clean space for drive C. You can also empty the Recycle Bin to free up space on the C drive.

Method 1
Method 1 of 3:

Applying Windows Disk Clean-up

PDF download Download Article
  1. 1
    Open Windows 11 search box. It should be on the bottom of your screen and located next to the blue Windows icon. You'll see a small box with a magnifying glass, and the word "Search" is written on it.
  2. 2
    Type in disk cleanup in the pop-up window. This operation will help you find matching Windows settings, applications, photos, and also website results.
    Advertisement
  3. 3
    Click Disk Clean-up. It should be in the Best Match section in the Windows search box interface. You'll open the Disk Clean-up window after clicking the button.
  4. 4
    Select  drive C and click OK in the pop-up window. If you change your mind, you can also click on Exit to cancel the disk cleanup. (You can also choose another drive in this selection part.)
  5. 5
    Click Clean up system files. You can clean up more space on the C drive by cleaning up system files. You may need to wait a few seconds to let OS calculate the available items.
  6. 6
    Choose files to delete. You'll see multiple items you can delete in Disk Clean-up, and every item has a checkbox. Ensure you check every checkbox next to the items you want to delete. Suppose you don't know the actual meaning of every item. In that case, you can check the following explanation:
    • Windows Update Clean-up: Windows will still keep copies of all installed updates after installation. You can free up a lot of space by deleting Windows updates.
    • Downloaded Program Files: These files include Java applets, Activex controls, and also website browser extensions.
    • Temporary Internet Files: All the internet caches, such as web pages, pictures, videos, and other media items. Basically, these caches were created while visiting the websites.
    • Offline webpages: All the webpages you can visit without any internet connections.
    • System error memory dump files: All the information about the system errors, and these files, like the Windows error reports that record every crash of the OS.
    • Temporary files: All the temporary files created by the applications and Windows operating system.
  7. 7
    Click OK. If you don't want to delete files and perform a disk clean-up, you can also click {{MacButton|Cancel} to close his window.
  8. 8
    Click Delete Files in the pop-up window. After clicking this button, the Disk Clean-up utility will start to permanently delete the selected files.
  9. 9
    Wait for minutes, and the Disk Clean-up window will automatically close when the deletion finish. If you select many large files, the deletion time will be longer.
  10. Advertisement
Method 2
Method 2 of 3:

Using Storage Sense

PDF download Download Article
  1. 1
    Open Windows 11 search dialogue. It is easy to find this search utility, and you'll see a small box with a magnifying glass, and the word "Search" is written on it.
  2. 2
    Type in storage settings and click Storage settings. You'll search for Windows Storage Settings and open the Windows Storage Settings window.
  3. 3
    Turn on Storage Sense by clicking the switch button. If the Storage Sense is already turned on, the switch button will show blue with the word "On".
  4. 4
    Click Storage Sense to adjust advanced settings. You can enable automatic cleanup and run Storage Sense manually in the pop-up window.
  5. 5
    Check the checkbox under Cleanup of temporary files, and turn on Automatic User content cleanup. You can configure Windows Storage Sense's cleanup schedules in this window.
    • Run Storage Sense every day/week/month or during low free disk space.
    • Delete files in the Recycle Bin for over 1/14/30/60 days. You can also set it to never do this operation as well.
    • Clean up files in the Downloads folder that are not opened for more than 1/14/30/60 days. Choose Never to refuse to automatically delete the files in the Downloads folder.
    • Click Run Storage Sense now will perform a cleanup immediately.
  6. Advertisement
Method 3
Method 3 of 3:

Empty Recycle Bin

PDF download Download Article
  1. 1
    Double click Recycle Bin icon to open the Windows 11 Recycle Bin folder. You can easily find Recycle Bin on the desktop.
    • You can easily empty the Recycle Bin by right-clicking the Recycle Bin icon and choosing Empty Recycle Bin.
  2. 2
    Click Empty Recycle Bin. This button has a trash icon at the top of the Recycle Bin window. Move your pointer to the button, and you will see the explanation "Delete all items in the Recycle Bin to clear some disk space".
  3. Advertisement


Expert Q&A

Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit
Advertisement

Tips

Submit a Tip
All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published
Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

You Might Also Like

Check if a Hard Drive Is SSD or HDD on WindowsHow to Check if a Hard Drive is an SSD or HDD on a Windows PC
Check Your Hard Disk SpaceHow to Check Free Hard Disc Space on PCs, Macs, iPhones & Androids
Install a Hard DriveHow to Install a Hard Drive: HDD, SSD, and M.2
Destroy a Hard DriveDestroy a Hard Drive
Remove a Hard DriveHow to Remove a Hard Drive
Recover Data from the Hard Drive of a Dead LaptopRecover Data from the Hard Drive of a Dead Laptop
Tell if Your USB Cable Supports High SpeedHow to Tell if a USB Cable Supports Hi Speed & Fast Charging
Fix a Physically Broken Hard DriveFix a Physically Broken Hard Drive
Format an External Hard DriveHow to Reformat an External Hard Drive on Windows or Mac
Unpartition a Hard DriveUnpartition a Hard Drive
Open a Seagate External Hard DriveHow to Open a Seagate External Hard Drive
Convert an Internal Hard Drive to External Via HD EnclosureConvert an Internal Hard Drive to External Via HD Enclosure
Take a Hard Drive Out of a LaptopHow to Remove a Hard Drive from a Laptop: Step-by-Step
Format an External Hard Drive to Fat32Format an External Hard Drive to Fat32
Advertisement

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 67,131 times.
How helpful is this?
Co-authors: 2
Updated: September 30, 2023
Views: 67,131
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 67,131 times.

Is this article up to date?

Advertisement