How to Check Reserved Storage Size in Windows 10


A new Reserved Storage feature is available for testing to Windows Insiders running build 18298 or newer.

To make sure your device can successfully update and that it runs its best, Windows reserves a portion of storage space on your device for use by temporary files, caches, and other files. When your device is low on space, Windows will clear reserved storage so it can be used for other processes, like a Windows update. Reserving storage also helps keep disk space usage on your device more predictable and more stable.

Starting with the next major update Microsoft is making a few changes to how Windows 10 manages disk space. Through reserved storage, some disk space will be set aside to be used by updates, apps, temporary files, and system caches. Microsoft's goal is to improve the day-to-day function of your PC by ensuring critical OS functions always have access to disk space. Without reserved storage, if a user almost fills up her or his storage, several Windows and application scenarios become unreliable. Windows and application scenarios may not work as expected if they need free space to function. With reserved storage, updates, apps, temporary files, and caches are less likely to take away from valuable free space and should continue to operate as expected. Reserved storage will be introduced automatically on devices that come with version 1903 pre-installed or those where 1903 was clean installed. You don’t need to set anything up—this process will automatically run in the background.

If you upgraded the device to the next available build after enabling reserved storage, you can check the reserved storage size.

How much of my storage is reserved?
In the next major release of Windows (19H1), Microsoft anticipates that reserved storage will start at about 7GB, however the amount of reserved space will vary over time based on how you use your device. For example, temporary files that consume general free space today on your device may consume space from reserved storage in the future. Additionally, over the last several releases we’ve reduced the size of Windows for most customers. Microsoft may adjust the size of reserved storage in the future based on diagnostic data or feedback. The reserved storage cannot be removed from the OS, but you can reduce the amount of space reserved. More details below.

The following two factors influence how reserved storage changes size on your device:

• Optional features - Many optional features are available for Windows. These may be pre-installed, acquired on demand by the system, or installed manually by you. When an optional feature is installed, Windows will increase the amount of reserved storage to ensure there is space to maintain this feature on your device when updates are installed. You can see which features are installed on your device by going to Settings > Apps > Apps & features > Manage optional features. You can reduce the amount of space required for reserved storage on your device by uninstalling optional features you are not using.
• Installed Languages - Windows is localized into many languages. Although most of our customers only use one language at a time, some customers switch between two or more languages. When additional languages are installed, Windows will increase the amount of reserved storage to ensure there is space to maintain these languages when updates are installed. You can see which languages are installed on your device by going to Settings > Time & Language > Language. You can reduce the amount of space required for reserved storage on your device by uninstalling languages you aren’t using.

See also:

• Managing reserved storage in Windows 10 environments | Windows IT Pro Blog
• How reserved storage works in Windows 10 | Windows Support
• Windows 10 and reserved storage | Storage at Microsoft

This tutorial will show you how to check the reserved storage size in Windows 10.

Contents

• Option One: Check Reserved Storage Size in Settings
• Option Two: Check Reserved Storage Size in Command Prompt

OPTION ONE

Check Reserved Storage Size in Settings

1 Open Settings, and click/tap on the System icon.

2 Click/tap on Storage on the left side, and click/tap on the Show more categories link on the right side. (see screenshot below)

3 Click/tap on System & reserved. (see screenshot below)

4 Look at the Reserved storage size. (see screenshot below)

5 When finished, you can close Settings if you like.

OPTION TWO

Check Reserved Storage Size in Command Prompt

You must be signed in as an administrator to do this option.

1 Open an elevated command prompt.

2 Copy and paste the command below into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

fsutil storagereserve query C:

3 You will now see a summary of all reserved storage on your Windows C:\ drive.

4 When finished, you can close the elevated command prompt if you like.

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Check for and Install Windows Updates in Windows 10
• How to Enable or Disable Reserved Storage in Windows 10

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