My C: drive is only about 200 GB, while my D: partition has roughly 750 GB on the same 1 TB NVMe SSD. I've tried installing games and applications elsewhere, but launchers such as Steam, Epic Games, Rockstar, Roblox, and some anti-cheat software still place files on C:. Other games are on D: or a 2 TB external drive, yet C: keeps filling up. Storage upgrades are currently expensive, so I'm looking for safe ways to identify what is using the space and move or remove anything unnecessary. Would switching to Linux help, or are there better Windows-specific solutions?
4 Answers
Switching to Linux probably won’t free enough space to make a major difference, and some competitive games or anti-cheat systems may not work properly there. First run Windows Disk Cleanup, remove unnecessary temporary files, inspect restore-point storage, and check for unusually large files. If C: keeps filling after cleanup, the practical long-term fix is expanding the Windows partition or replacing the drive with a larger one. More RAM would not help because this is a storage-capacity problem.
Since the drive is split into a 200 GB C: partition and a much larger D: partition, the main issue is probably that C: is simply too small for Windows, updates, launchers, and game-related data. Steam can move installed games between libraries, and other launchers often have similar options. Also check Downloads, temporary files, the Recycle Bin, old Windows update files, restore points, and launcher caches. Moving the page file to D: may recover some space, but it usually won’t solve the underlying capacity problem.
The page-file change should be done carefully, and it’s usually best to leave some page-file space on the system drive unless there’s a specific reason not to.
Start by finding out exactly what is taking the space. WizTree or a similar disk-usage analyzer can scan the drive quickly, and running it as administrator helps reveal protected folders. Once you know whether the culprit is games, Windows files, user data, or something else, you can deal with it safely instead of deleting random folders.
Definitely check the results before deleting anything. System folders and application data can be important, so it’s better to remove files through Windows or the relevant launcher when possible.
You don’t need every installed game at the same time. Uninstalling games you aren’t currently playing and reinstalling them later can help, although large downloads make that inconvenient. For Steam, use the storage settings to move games to D: rather than uninstalling them. Check each launcher separately because some components or anti-cheat tools may still remain on C:.
Even if the game itself is on D:, save files, shaders, updates, and launcher data can still use C:. Those smaller folders are worth checking after the main installations are moved.
Also make sure the Recycle Bin and Downloads folder aren’t holding several gigabytes of forgotten files. Those are easy wins before changing system settings.