I just picked up a Lenovo laptop with an AMD Ryzen processor and Windows 11, and I'm noticing that more than half of the 117GB hard drive is already used up—there's only 51.1GB left. I haven't installed much on it, just a few Word documents. Can anyone explain why my storage is disappearing so quickly?
5 Answers
Honestly, with a 117GB drive, you're limiting yourself. It's suggested to look into upgrading to at least a 256GB SSD, or even better, 512GB for future needs. It’s wild they’re still selling laptops with such small storage amounts in this day and age!
A lot of the storage is probably being used by Windows itself and any pre-installed software. Windows 11 can take up over 40GB right off the bat!
Windows updates and system files can fill up space quickly. If you're only using Office apps, you might manage, but if you ever want to install larger applications or games, you might need to reconsider this setup or upgrade to a larger SSD if possible.
117GB is really cramped for a laptop these days, especially with Windows 11. You're likely running into issues with updates and system files eating up space. Consider checking if there are any Lenovo-specific apps you can remove to free up some room.
You might want to try using Treesize Free to see which folders are hogging your space. If you have hibernation enabled, that alone could take a file size equivalent to your RAM. But honestly, in 2025, 117GB just isn't practical for a laptop!
I do have an external hard drive for storage, so I'm not too worried about files, just frustrated about what's taking up so much of the laptop's space.
I totally agree! Back when I bought laptops, I considered 256GB the bare minimum!