Hey everyone, I really need some help figuring out a super frustrating storage issue I'm having. For the past few months, my desktop's storage space has been disappearing at an alarming rate. No matter how much I clean up my C drive, I keep ending up with almost no space left, which is making it impossible to do even basic tasks like opening Chrome. I've stopped installing new software on my C drive and regularly tidy up my desktop and Downloads folder, but something seems to be devouring my storage. I definitely don't want to buy a new C drive right now since that's not in the budget!
Here's what I've tried to solve it:
* Used Windows Defender without finding any threats.
* Scanned my system with Malwarebytes – nothing came up.
* Ran CCleaner multiple times to clean out obvious junk.
* Manually checked my documents, Program Files, and Pictures folders to see what I could delete.
* Used WizTree to identify and delete large files.
My computer specs are:
* Intel Core i7-8700k CPU @ 3.70 GHz
* 64 GB RAM
* NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
* 500 GB SSD for my C drive (I've got other drives for additional storage).
* Running Windows 10 Pro version 22H2
Just the other day, I cleared out almost everything I could from the C drive, which should have freed up over 100 GB, but my computer only recognized about 50 GB. After a day of not using my computer, I came back to find I had dropped to around 2.6 MB of free space, which is beyond frustrating. Can anyone help me figure out what's going wrong?
4 Answers
It could also be possible that your SSD is dying or there's a software issue. Check for any software that might be generating log files—I've noticed some software takes up loads of space with log files that just keep expanding. You might also want to keep an eye on other programs like DaVinci Resolve or Adobe because they can create huge cache files if not managed.
First off, make sure that you're emptying your recycle bin after you delete files! If you've got unwanted files hanging around there, they can still be taking up space. Also, consider using a program like Tree Size to analyze what's actually consuming your disk space, which could help pinpoint the issue better. Good luck!
Yes, I'm emptying the recycle bin! Thanks for the Tree Size suggestion, I’ll definitely check that out.
You should really check if your SSD is formatted and working correctly. Sometimes formatting issues can cause weird storage behavior. If you could share more details on what 'correct' formatting is from your experience, that would be awesome! I've had my SSD for years, but this disappearing space issue only started recently.
I installed this SSD over five years ago, and I keep doing regular cleanouts, so I'm not sure what's wrong now.
Have you done a Disk Cleanup? It's a built-in Windows tool that helps clear out old updates and log files, which might free up a chunk of space. If issues persist, running an in-place upgrade using the Windows 10 media creation tool can also fix potential corruption in your system files without losing any of your personal data or apps.
I did notice Adobe doing something similar a while back. I moved its cache to a larger drive, but I’ll take another look with something like WinDirStat to see if there’s more to clean up.