How to free up disk space on Windows 11

Most guides open with cleaning temporary files. That is the wrong end: temp files rarely account for more than a few gigabytes, while the real weight sits in three or four folders you have never opened. Start by looking, then delete.

1. Look at the drive first

Run a disk analyzer and let it map the volume. You are looking for single folders that own a visible share of the disk. On a typical machine the top of the list is games, video projects, virtual machines, cloud folders synced offline, and package caches from development tools.

2. The usual suspects

• Games in Steam, Epic and Battle.net - tens of gigabytes each, and reinstalling later is free.
• Video exports and camera footage in Downloads and Documents - often larger than everything else combined.
• node_modules, target, build and vendor folders on developer machines - they regenerate from a single command.
• Docker and WSL disk images - a WSL virtual disk grows and does not shrink on its own.
• Old Windows installations in Windows.old - removable through Disk Cleanup after an upgrade.
• The Recycle Bin itself. It is not empty just because you deleted things.

3. What Windows can do for you

Storage Sense in Settings > System > Storage empties temp folders and the Recycle Bin on a schedule. Disk Cleanup with the system files option removes Windows Update leftovers and Windows.old. Both are free, built in, and safe.

4. What not to touch

• pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys - system files. Manage them through system settings, never by deleting.
• WinSxS - it looks huge, but the reported number counts hard links twice. Clean it only with Disk Cleanup.
• Program Files and Windows folders of applications you still use - uninstall properly instead.
• Anything under System Volume Information.

5. Delete in a way you can undo

Send things to the Recycle Bin rather than removing them permanently, and empty the bin a day later when nothing has broken. CleanMyWin does exactly that: it shows the map, and deletion from the list goes to the bin, including paths longer than 260 characters that Explorer refuses to handle.

Frequently asked

Sources and official documentation: Microsoft: Free up drive space in Windows, Microsoft: Storage Sense, Microsoft: WSL disk space, DaisyDisk, WizTree, WinDirStat, TreeSize