How to reduce the amount of space being used on my computer?

DebbyJ · 21 Jul 2021

Hi! How can I reduce the amount of space taken up on my computer? It's almost completely full! Is that done just by removing programs and documents, one by one?

dalchina · 21 Jul 2021

How can you do that? Please have a look at the tutorial section and the various discussions already on the form on this topic.

Free Up Drive Space in Windows 10

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

Open and Use Disk Cleanup in Windows 10

I like Wiztree (free) - Windirstat is outdated - to give a quick, convenient and helpful view of how your space is used. That will help you prioritise where to look. That with Ccleaner can help find and remove dmp, tmp and other unnecessary files that can take up significant space where these are not removed by other routine means.

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Paul Black · 21 Jul 2021

Hello @DebbyJ,

DebbyJ said:

How can I reduce the amount of space taken up on my computer? It's almost completely full! Is that done just by removing programs and documents, one by one?

There are a few options available to achieve this.

Besides the ones given by @dalchina, if you really use ALL the Programs and Files that you have, and you would REALLY miss them if you were to Uninstall / Delete them, then you could purchase a NEW HDD/SSD [ SSD is better and quicker ] and then Clone your existing Disk to the NEW HDD/SSD.

There are MANY ways to do this if you decide to go down that path, and we can supply the relevant information if needed.

I hope this helps.

JackSandoz · 22 Jul 2021

I agree that WinDirStat is outdated.
Thats why I use: Directory Report

If you run the control panel / Programs and Features
Click on the Size column
It will then sort the installed size of all programs in descending size order

wiganken · 22 Jul 2021

You say "It's almost completely full" but how big is the drive capacity? Some drives are quite small and Windows 10 can use 20 to 30GB leaving little room for, Restore points, apps & programs. If you have a small drive then, as a first step delete your restore points except the latest.

pparks1 · 22 Jul 2021

For disk space usage, I use TreeSizeFree. Will show you were the space hogs are. For example, you might find a game installed like Call of Duty Cold War and it's taking up 170GB of space. Well, you can uninstall this game if you like and it's not something you are actively using to get that space back.