I've been really puzzled because my Windows 11 system drive is almost full even though I haven't installed any new applications lately. A month ago, I had around 20 GB of free space; now, it's dropped to less than 1 GB! I also noticed that the drive, which has a total capacity of 128 GB, only shows up as having 102 GB available, and the available space seems to fluctuate by about 10 MB at a time. I've attempted several fixes, including a disk cleanup and a full Windows Defender scan that didn't find anything. I even turned off my Wi-Fi and the random fluctuations in storage stopped. I tried using WizTree, but it only shows 73 GB allocated and that figure has now moved to 85 GB. This discrepancy makes me think something is off, especially since I had more space a few months back without any significant changes. Is it possible I have a virus, or is there something else happening? Any advice would be appreciated!
4 Answers
Another idea is to look at your page file size. If it’s set too high, it could be problematic given the total disk space you have. Lowering it might help free up some of that space. Otherwise, if you’re looking for a more drastic solution, a clean install could fix this issue by wiping everything out, including hidden partitions that might be causing problems.
Sounds like you might have hidden files or even some system restore points taking up space. Have you checked your settings for restore points? Sometimes they can occupy a lot of disk space if they’re set to automatically create backups. You can try deleting the old ones. Also, ensure you’re not running out of space due to hibernation files or system paging.
I’ve already done that! The max I allow for restore points is set to 2 GB, and it’s never been an issue before.
This sounds frustrating! Just to clarify, the main drive is an SSD, right? If it's running low after all that storage on additional drives, maybe it’s time to look into optimizing or managing files better. Also, if you have other drives, make sure nothing is misdirected to the system drive accidentally. Sometimes downloads or apps might not be installed where you think they are.
It could also be that malware or some kind of unwanted program is using up space. You mentioned running a scan, but it might be worth checking again with different software just to be certain. Sometimes things can slip by, especially if they're not traditional viruses.
I was considering a clean install, but the page file is only set to 2 GB and hasn't changed at all over time.