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Anjan Kant
Anjan Kant

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Development Machine Performance: Free up drive space in Windows 10

If your PC is running low on free space, you might not be able to install important Windows updates, and your PC’s performance may be affected. Here are some ways to free up space so you can keep your PC up to date and running smoothly. These suggestions are listed in order, so start with the first one, see if that helps, and then continue to the next one if it doesn't.

1) If you're getting a Low Disk Space error because of a full Temp folder
2) Free up space with Storage Sense
3) Free up space for Windows 10 updates


4) Delete Personal files or move them to an external storage device
Personal files such as videos, music, photos, and documents can take up a lot of space on your device. To see which files are using the most space:
i) Select File Explorer from the taskbar and find the files you want to move.
ii) Under This PC in the menu on the left, select a folder to see what files are saved in it. The Videos, Music, Pictures, and Downloads folders usually contain the largest files that you’ve saved to your device.
iii) To see the size of the files in a folder, select View > Details. Right-click in the open space and then select Sort by > Size to show the largest files at the top of the list.
iv) If there are files you no longer need on your device, you can either delete them or move them to an external storage device like a USB drive or an SD card.

5) Save new persoanl files to another drive

1) Select Start > Settings > System > Storage.
2) Under More storage settings, select Change where new content is saved.
3) For each content type, select a drive from the drop-down menu. If the drive you want to use isn't listed there, make sure it's connected to your PC.

6) Turn on OneDrive Files on-Demand

OneDrive Files On-Demand requires Windows 10 version 1709 or later and OneDrive client version 17.3.7064.1005 or later. To see which version of Windows you’re running, select Start > Settings > System > About . To see which version of the OneDrive client you have installed

7) Run Antivirus Software

Sometimes a virus or other malware can consume significant hard-drive space by corrupting your system files. If you suspect your PC is infected with malware, use an antivirus program like Windows Defender to run a virus scan and cleanup. If this doesn't fix the problem, you might need to reset your PC.

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