Disk Clean up questions

Hi, Im trying to get an understanding of how disk clean up is supposed to work. Its always been my understanding that Windows 10 is supposed to clean up previous Windows Installations automatically after 10 days without any user input. The reason being, you have 10 days in which you can Roll Back to the previous installation if you wish. After 10 days I thought Windows should automatically remove the previous Windows installation files.
I clean installed 1909 using the Media Creation Tool a couple of months ago. In order to try out 2004 and test its stability I updated to the 2004 Feature Update by using the Windows Update method. That was 20 days ago. Ive just checked and I have 18.5 GB of previous windows installation files!!! Im wondering why?
a. Why do I have such a large amount...18.5GB seems like a lot?
and
b. Why havent these previous windows installation files been automatically removed by Windows as its been 20 days since I updated to version 2004?

dalchina said:

Do you mean Windows.old? That's what is removed after the default 10 days (extendable to 60).

Or something else?

Try reading this:
Delete Windows.old Folder in Windows 10
and appropriate related tutorials listed following the text.

Storage Sense:
Turn On or Off Storage Sense Automatically Free Up Space in Windows 10
Enable or Disable Storage Sense in Windows 10

Its listed under Storage Sense as Previous Windows Installations but in the description underneath windows.old is mentioned. Its been 20 days and it hasnt been deleted yet on my PC.

- - - Updated - - -

Samuria said:

Have you run disk clean then rerun to select system files? It's largely been replaçed with storage sense check your settings there

I have run both Disk Clean Up and Storage Sense but only to have a look. I havent tried deleting anything because I thought the previous windows installation files would eventually be automatically deleted (after the 10 days supposedly). Im not that confident in what you can delete and what is best left alone.
Can I ask opinions here...are we supposed to forget about using Disk Clean Up now and switch to Storage Sense instead? Im wondering if Disk Clean up might be coming to an end shortly about to be depracated in which case I'll only use Storage Sense if its the recommended method now?

dalchina said:

Thank you for your reply.
Let me ask a very simple question:

Does Windows.old exist on your system drive or not?

And a second:
Have you read the related tutorials? (See above). &
Open and Use Disk Cleanup in Windows 10

That shows you Disk Cleanup is virtually static, with the pending removal of Downloads as an option.

Storage Sense is newer and evolving.

Use whichever suits your needs.. choosing options appropriate to your PC

Hi mate, Windows.old does exist on my System drive and it says it is 17.6GB in size. Yeah..I have read through all the tutorial links you highlighted and in future I'll start using the new Storage Sense as Microsoft will continue to support that. I have used disk clean up before but only occasionally. Ive always been wary of deleting anything in Disk Clean up in case I delete something thats required by the OS. I have a small 128 GB SSD system drive now though and I want to install other Apps on the drive too so I intend to monitor space on the drive more closely than I have in the past. Ive disabled Hibernate and I can move the Documents folder as well to help conserve space if required and I know there are other options too if needed.
Windows hasnt automatically removed the previous Windows installation as it is supposed to after 10 days. I wonder why..it seems odd?
Do you use Disk CleanUp/Storage Sense and are they safe to use?

dalchina said:

Thanks, that's clear. I've seen a few reports in the past of that happening - there is an option to extend that time up to 60 days (tutorial) - I'll assume you've not used that.

You have the tutorial above on deleting it manually, and this covers both Disk Cleanup and Storage Sense:
How to delete the Windows.old folder on Windows 10 | Windows Central

Personally I've left Windows as default as far as its own maintenance settings are concerned, and run Ccleaner to clean
a. A range of items selected from its options
b. A few custom folders related to particular programs (e.g. dmp files as revealed by Wiztree)
c. Cookies with a number excluded typically related to financial institutions where it helps to keep these.

It's a matter of personal choice.

If you do a Google search for
disk cleanup vs Storage Sense you might find
Windows Storage Sense Lynn Dye
Why you should stop using Disk Cleanup on Windows 10 and embrace Storage sense | Windows Central
Just a moment...


for example. Happy reading!
(Note that the option to empty Downloads is being removed).

No I havent extended the deletion period for previous windows installations.
Thanks for the extra Storage Sense links and for your advice

- - - Updated - - -

AddRAM said:

You should be using Disk Cleanup all the time, everyday, 3x a day, 4x a day.

Open Disk Cleanup, if you`re running 2004 click on Clean Up System Files, make sure every single box is checked, click OK.

If it has to cleanup previous windows install files it may take a bit, it`s totally normal.

Trust me, just do it.

After that, your windows.old folder should be gone.

Microsoft really screwed up when they added the Downloads folder to the list in Disk Cleanup in 1909, big blunder there which was removed in 2004.

I would never let something like Storage Sense manage my drives and/or data, you should be doing that yourself.

Thanks for the feedback. I plan to use Storage Sense as it appears that Microsoft will be finishing Disk Cleanup at some point anyway so I may as well get used to the newer Storage Sense feature....but instead of letting Storage Sense run automatically...I'll select the Free Up Space now option and manually delete everything the way you do with Disk Cleanup. I presume all the options on what you are able to delete in Disk Cleanup and Storage Sense will be exactly the same