I'm using an HP Pavilion running Windows 11, and the available space on my C: drive keeps shrinking even though I haven't downloaded any large files. I've already deleted some big files, but the free space continues to disappear, and Windows won't let me copy files to my other drives because it says the C: drive is low on storage. How can I find out what is using the space and safely free it up?
3 Answers
You can move the default Documents, Downloads, Pictures, and Desktop folders to another drive. Right-click one of those folders in your user profile, choose Properties, open the Location tab, select Move, and choose a folder on the other drive. If OneDrive is syncing those folders, pause or reconfigure it first so files aren’t duplicated or unexpectedly downloaded back to C:.
Run Disk Cleanup from the Start menu, then choose “Clean up system files.” Temporary files, Windows Update leftovers, and old installation files can sometimes take up a lot of room. You can also open Settings > System > Storage and enable Storage Sense to automatically remove unnecessary temporary data.
Windows needs some free space for normal operation, including its paging file and updates. Try to keep roughly 10% of the C: drive free. Check your installed programs and sort them by size, then uninstall anything you no longer use. Move personal files or large game libraries to another drive or an external USB drive.
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