Clear disk space

First, clearing up disk space tends to be a temporary fix – best option is to get a bigger hard disk drive.

DISCLAIMER
Although everything in this list of guidelines, we cannot take any responsibility for any loss of data or system failure of any sort. They have been researched but ultimately, you are responsible for any issues arising.

Disk cleanup

Click Start, search for Disk Cleanup, and open it.

If prompted, select the drive you want to clean (e.g., C:), then click OK.

Click Cleanup system files, select the same drive, and click OK.

Check all file types you want to delete, such as Temporary files, Recycle Bin, and Previous Windows installations.

Click OK, then Delete Files to confirm.

Please note, this program is called cleanmgr.exe.

Uninstall unnecessary applications

Go to the control panel, select ”Programs and Features’. Select and remove any programs you no longer need. Please note, this will usually clear very little space.

Clear your downloads folder

Browse toi your downloads folder and delete all the files in it. If you think you might need them later, move the contents to an external backup drive.

Delete old backup files

Open your C: drive and type ‘*.tmp‘ into the search box. This searches the whole hard disk and may take a while.

When finished, you can delete all the .bak files.

You can repeat the procedure with ‘*.tmp‘, ‘*.old‘ files as well.

Deleting Old System Restore Points

Open Disk Cleanup and select the C: drive.

Click Cleanup system files, then select the drive again.

Go to the More Options tab and under System Restore and Shadow Copies, click Clean up.

Click Delete to remove all but the most recent restore point.

Using Storage Sense

Click Start and open Settings.

Go to System > Storage and turn on Storage Sense.

Click Configure Storage Sense or run it now.

Under Temporary Files, check Delete temporary files that apps aren’t using.

Click Clean now to free up space immediately.

Uninstalling Non-Essential Applications

Open Settings from the Start menu.

Go to Apps > Apps & features.

Sort by Size to find large applications.

Select an app you no longer need and click Uninstall.

Repeat for other non-essential apps and restart your PC.

Moving Large Files to External Storage

Connect an external drive to your PC.

Open File Explorer and locate large personal files (videos, images, etc.).

Select the files, click the Home tab, choose Move to, then Choose location.

Select the external drive and click Move.

Disabling Hibernation

Click Start, search for Command Prompt, right-click it, and select Run as administrator.

Type powercfg /hibernate off and press Enter.

Restart your PC to apply changes.

Delete the Windows.old

Open Settings.

Select System.

Select Storage.

Select Cleanup recommendations.

Select the Previous Windows installation(s) checkbox.

When finished, browse to your C: Drive and delete the Windows.old folder.

Clear browsing data (Chrome)

Run Chrome.

Click the 3 dots at the top right and select ‘History’.

Then select ‘History’ again.

Select ‘Delete browsing data’.

Clear browsing data (Edge)

Run Edge

Select the 3 dots on the top right.

Select ‘Delete Browsing Data’.

Delete user temp files manually

Delete the contents of the users temp folder. First lets assume the username used to log onto the computer is Brian.

Go to C:\Users\Brian\AppData\Local\Temp

All the files and folders in this Temp folder may be deleted. If there are any stubborn files, just skip them as they may be in use by other programs.

Delete Windows temp files manually

Browse to C:\Windows\Temp

Select all the files and folders and delete them. If there are any stubborn files, just skip them as they may be in use by other programs.

Analyze component store:

Dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /AnalyzeComponentStore
(Shows whether cleanup is recommended.

Delete the contents of the Windows SoftwareDistribution folder

First select the search icon and enter ‘services‘.

Select ‘Windows Update‘ and select ‘Stop‘.

Browse to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution and delete the entire contents.

Then go back to the services and select ‘Windows Update‘ and select ‘Start‘.

DISM and Delivery Optimization Cleanup

Reclaim superseded components. Proceed with Caution.

Run this as an elevated command; Dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup

If you don’t plan to uninstall updates you can delete older update installation packages. Please note, this is Irreversible. It will not be possible to uninstall updates released before the reset.

Run this as an elevated command; Dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase