A full hard drive slows your PC and prevents updates from installing. Unused applications are often the biggest culprits. Here is how to identify and remove them efficiently.

See which apps use the most space

  1. Press Win + I to open Settings.
  2. Go to System, Storage.
  3. Click on your main drive (usually C:), then click 'Apps and features'. This shows all installed programs sorted by size — the largest offenders appear first if you click the Size column heading.

Uninstall apps you no longer need

In the Apps, Installed apps list, click the three-dot menu next to any program you want to remove and choose 'Uninstall'. Good candidates include old games you have finished playing, manufacturer bloatware pre-installed by your PC maker, duplicate tools (two PDF readers, two media players), and programs from previous jobs or courses.

Use Storage Sense for automatic cleanup

Windows 10 and 11 include a feature called Storage Sense that automatically deletes temporary files and empties the Recycle Bin on a schedule.

  1. Go to Settings, System, Storage.
  2. Click 'Storage Sense' and turn it on.
  3. Configure how often it runs and whether it should clean up downloaded files after a set number of days.

Run Disk Cleanup for system files

Search for 'Disk Cleanup' in the Start menu and open it. Select drive C:, let it scan, then tick the categories you want to clean (Temporary files, Recycle Bin, Thumbnails). Click 'Clean up system files' for additional options including old Windows update files, which can free several gigabytes.

If you are still short on space after all this, ask us — there may be other large files worth checking.