Sooner or later, most of us find ourselves in a frustrating situation: our computer is running low on storage space. This can severely restrict what you can do, making you feel like you desperately need a new computer. While a new computer can be exciting, it also means a significant cost and the tedious task of transferring all your important files and folders – a task that often gets delayed indefinitely!
But before you commit to a new computer or subscribe to expensive cloud storage, let's take a hard look at what's eating up your current space. Is it essential? How can you get that space back? Let's find out!
Step 1: Discover What's Taking Up Space
The first thing to do is find out how much storage you're currently using.
Quick Check:
Open File Explorer.
Right-click on your C: drive (usually labeled "Local Disk (C:)").
Select "Properties."
You'll see a pie chart showing how much space is used and how much is free.
Detailed Look (Windows 11):
For a more detailed breakdown, Windows 11 offers a great visual tool.
In the Windows Search bar, type "System" and select "System" from the results.
Navigate to "Storage" (or "Storage sense").
This view breaks down your storage by categories like "Installed apps," "Temporary files," and "Photos." Here's an example of what your storage might look like before you start cleaning:
You might notice that certain categories, like "Temporary files," take up a surprising amount of space!
Step 2: Clean Up "Temporary Files" – Your Easiest Win!
"Temporary files" are often the biggest culprit and the safest to remove without any penalty. These are files created by Windows and other programs that are no longer needed. They include things like temporary internet files, downloaded program files, and temporary files created by applications. They accumulate over time and can be safely deleted.
How to Delete Temporary Files:
Step 3: Deeper Cleaning with DISM
For an even more thorough cleanup, especially to recover space from the Windows Component Store (often called the "WinSxS folder"), the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool is incredibly powerful. While DISM has many advanced functions (you might see a lot of commands if you just type dism in Command Prompt), we'll use a specific command for cleaning.
How to Use DISM for Cleanup:
Open Command Prompt as an administrator. To do this, search for "cmd", right-click on "Command Prompt," and select "Run as administrator."
In the Command Prompt window, type (or copy and paste) the following command and press Enter:
You will see output similar to this as it runs:
The [==========================100.0%==========================] indicates the process is complete.
Step 4: Check Your Regained Space!
After running the DISM cleanup, it's time to see the results! Go back to your Windows System Storage settings (as in Step 1). You should notice a significant difference in the amount of free space.
Here's an example of my storage after a cleaning operation, showing the considerable space recovered:
As you can observe, I recovered considerable storage space. By taking these simple steps, you can significantly extend the life and usability of your current computer, saving you money and the hassle of a new system!
DISM is a very powerful built-in tool and I recommend using it. Invoking and inspecting the various uses of DISM can be see by invoking it from caommand line as follows;
C:\Windows\System32>dism
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.26100.1150
DISM.exe [dism_options] {Imaging_command} [<Imaging_arguments>]
DISM.exe {/Image:<path_to_offline_image> | /Online} [dism_options]
{servicing_command} [<servicing_arguments>]
DESCRIPTION:
DISM enumerates, installs, uninstalls, configures, and updates features
and packages in Windows images. The commands that are available depend
on the image being serviced and whether the image is offline or running.
FFU COMMANDS:
/Capture-Ffu - Captures a physical disk image into a new FFU file.
/Apply-Ffu - Applies an .ffu image.
/Split-Ffu - Splits an existing .ffu file into multiple read-only
split FFU files.
/Optimize-Ffu - Optimizes a FFU file so that it can be applied to storage
of a different size.
WIM COMMANDS:
/Apply-CustomDataImage - Dehydrates files contained in the custom data image.
/Capture-CustomImage - Captures customizations into a delta WIM file on a
WIMBoot system. Captured directories include all
subfolders and data.
/Get-WIMBootEntry - Displays WIMBoot configuration entries for the
specified disk volume.
/Update-WIMBootEntry - Updates WIMBoot configuration entry for the
specified disk volume.
/List-Image - Displays a list of the files and folders in a
specified image.
/Delete-Image - Deletes the specified volume image from a WIM file
that has multiple volume images.
/Export-Image - Exports a copy of the specified image to another
file.
/Append-Image - Adds another image to a WIM file.
/Capture-Image - Captures an image of a drive into a new WIM file.
Captured directories include all subfolders and
data.
/Get-MountedWimInfo - Displays information about mounted WIM images.
/Get-WimInfo - Displays information about images in a WIM file.
/Commit-Wim - Saves changes to a mounted WIM image.
/Unmount-Wim - Unmounts a mounted WIM image.
/Mount-Wim - Mounts an image from a WIM file.
/Remount-Wim - Recovers an orphaned WIM mount directory.
/Cleanup-Wim - Deletes resources associated with mounted WIM
images that are corrupted.
GENERIC IMAGING COMMANDS:
/Split-Image - Splits an existing .wim file into multiple
read-only split WIM (SWM) files.
/Apply-Image - Applies an image.
/Get-MountedImageInfo - Displays information about mounted WIM and VHD
images.
/Get-ImageInfo - Displays information about images in a WIM, a VHD
or a FFU file.
/Commit-Image - Saves changes to a mounted WIM or VHD image.
/Unmount-Image - Unmounts a mounted WIM or VHD image.
/Mount-Image - Mounts an image from a WIM or VHD file.
/Remount-Image - Recovers an orphaned image mount directory.
/Cleanup-Mountpoints - Deletes resources associated with corrupted
mounted images.
IMAGE SPECIFICATIONS:
/Online - Targets the running operating system.
/Image - Specifies the path to the root directory of an
offline Windows image.
DISM OPTIONS:
/English - Displays command line output in English.
/Format - Specifies the report output format.
/WinDir - Specifies the path to the Windows directory.
/SysDriveDir - Specifies the path to the system-loader file named
BootMgr.
/LogPath - Specifies the logfile path.
/LogLevel - Specifies the output level shown in the log (1-4).
/NoRestart - Suppresses automatic reboots and reboot prompts.
/Quiet - Suppresses all output except for error messages.
/ScratchDir - Specifies the path to a scratch directory.
For more information about these DISM options and their arguments, specify an
option immediately before /?.
Examples:
DISM.exe /Mount-Wim /?
DISM.exe /ScratchDir /?
DISM.exe /Image:C:\test\offline /?
DISM.exe /Online /?
As far as cleaning is concerned, it may be evoked from the command line as follows:
C:\Windows\System32>Dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.26100.1150
Image Version: 10.0.26100.4770
[==========================100.0%==========================]
The operation completed successfully.
Here is a widely read post on DISM from 11 years ago on this blog:
