What is disk cleanup windows 10

Updated: 11/06/2021 by Computer Hope

What is disk cleanup windows 10

Disk Cleanup is a Microsoft software utility first introduced with Windows 98 and included in all subsequent releases of Windows. It allows users to remove files that are no longer needed or that can be safely deleted. Removing unnecessary files, including temporary files, helps speed up and improve the performance of the hard drive and computer. Running Disk Cleanup at least once a month is an excellent maintenance task and frequency.

As the image shows, Disk Cleanup can delete temporary Internet files (associated with Internet Explorer), downloaded program files, and offline webpages. Disk Cleanup also lets you empty the Recycle Bin, delete temporary files, and delete thumbnails.

How to open Microsoft Disk Cleanup

Microsoft Disk Cleanup can be opened by following these steps.

Windows 11, Windows 10, and Windows 8

Windows 7 and earlier

  1. Open the Start menu.
  2. Click Programs > Accessories > System Tools.
  3. In System Tools, click the Disk Cleanup utility.

or

  1. Open the Start menu.
  2. Click the Run option.
  3. In the Run text field, type cleanmgr and press Enter.

What to do in Disk Cleanup

Once Disk Cleanup opens, the initial window asks you which drive you want to clean up. Select the appropriate drive and click OK. In the next window that opens, check each of the boxes you want to clean up. To the right of each item is the disk drive space each of the items are taking up on the hard drive.

Note

We highly recommend users DO NOT check the option to Compress old files (if seen). Often this option causes more issues than the small amount of space it recovers is worth.

Once each of the boxes is checked, click OK to start the cleanup process.

BleachBit, Operating system terms, Registry cleaner, Utility

What is disk cleanup windows 10

Using Windows 10’s Disk Cleanup utility, you can get rid of unwanted files and free up your storage space. The tool finds unnecessary files on its own, so you don’t have to manually locate any items. We’ll show you how to use this useful tool on your PC.

Generally, the tool only gives you options to delete files that don’t affect your system. However, you can review the files before they’re deleted to make sure they aren’t important, and we’ll give you some advice on making that judgment.

Remove Unwanted Files on Windows Using Disk Cleanup

To begin cleaning your PC, launch the Disk Cleanup tool. You can do that by opening the “Start” menu, searching for “Disk Cleanup”, and selecting the app in the search results.

What is disk cleanup windows 10

Disk Cleanup will prompt you to choose the drive to clean. Here, since most of your temporary (unwanted) files are stored on the Windows installation drive, select that drive. You’re free to choose another drive if you want.

Then, select “OK.”

What is disk cleanup windows 10

Wait for the tool to scan your drive and find unwanted files. This can take some time depending on your drive’s size.

Once the scan is finished, you’ll see the file types that you can remove from your PC. Click each file type and you’ll see more details about it.

Note that the tool may recommend deleting “Windows ESD Installation Files,” but you shouldn’t delete them. This is because Windows uses those files to help you reset your PC.

Here’s what each file type means in Disk Cleanup:

  • Downloaded Program Files: These are temporary ActiveX and Java applet files that were downloaded to let you view your content. You can safely delete these files.
  • Temporary Internet Files: These are the cache files for Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer. You can delete these files without any issues. Note that this won’t delete your Chrome or Firefox cache.
  • Windows Error Reports and Feedback: These are various Windows error reports and feedback generated on your system. You can delete them.
  • Delivery Optimization Files: These files are used to upload Windows Updates to other PCs. Feel free to remove these files.
  • Recycle Bin: Choosing this option deletes the files currently sitting in Recycle Bin.
  • Temporary Files: This option deletes your apps’ various temporary files. It only removes the files that haven’t been used recently.
  • Thumbnails: These are the thumbnails of your various file types. You can delete them and Windows will recreate them when you open your folders.

When you’ve chosen the items to delete, at the bottom of the Disk Cleanup window, choose “OK.”

What is disk cleanup windows 10

Choose “Delete Files” in the prompt and the tool will start removing your files. You’ll then be all set.

Enjoy a clean Windows PC!

RELATED: 7 Ways To Free Up Hard Disk Space On Windows

What is disk cleanup windows 10
What is disk cleanup windows 10
What is disk cleanup windows 10
What is disk cleanup windows 10
What is disk cleanup windows 10

It happens. You’re in the middle of a computing task, and your screen blinks. The blue screen (Stop Error) is shown with the message that your PC ran into an error and needs to restart. These hiccups occur when your computer’s software, firmware, or drivers crash due to faulty or incompatible hardware or software.

If you’re like most people, you want a computer that’s nimble enough to keep up with your life. When your computer is bogged down with outdated files, you aren’t able to work at an efficient pace.

While a new computer or external drive may give you more file storage space, there’s a faster way to gain usable storage space without straining your budget. This option is called disk cleanup, and all Windows computers come with a version of it that you can use to reclaim hard disk space gratis. Here are some things that you need to know about Microsoft’s disk cleanup tool.

What is Disk Cleanup?

Disk cleanup is a maintenance utility that was developed by Microsoft for its Windows operating system. The utility scans your computer’s hard drive for files that you no longer need such as temporary files, cached webpages, and rejected items that end up in your system’s Recycle Bin. Unless you remove those files, they add up over time and begin taking a lot of space on your computer.

The utility displays the identified files and the amount of storage space that each of them uses within your hard drive. You decide which items to delete by the importance that you place on the files and the amount of hard drive space that you’ll be able to recover. In Windows 10, you can reach this utility by going to your start menu and scrolling to Windows Administrative Tools to click the disk cleanup button.

Windows also has the feature Quick Clean which lets you clean up the junk temporary files from your Windows desktop safely and quickly. It also cleans additional junk files, which the Disk Cleanup Utility does not.

What are System updates?

System updates such as major OS releases, monthly patches and emergency updates have become standard for today’s computers. Most operating systems are set to download the latest updates automatically. However, on Windows devices, the previous version of an operating system isn’t always deleted when the latest version replaces it. After years of updates, you’ll often have several versions of the OS on your computer.

The disk cleanup utility allows you to remove backup shadow copies from your computer. Programs that you download to open or edit a document take up storage space on your computer’s hard drive long after you’ve completed your project. Disk cleanup allows you to locate those programs, see how much storage space they use, and remove them to free up hard disk space. You’ll find these features by selecting the “more options” tab within the disk cleanup menu.

What is Storage Sense?

Microsoft Windows 10 comes with an upgraded disk cleanup function that’s called Storage Sense. With Storage Sense, you can set your system to automatically clean up unwanted files by setting the tab to the “on” position. You choose to allow Storage Sense to remove temporary files that your programs no longer use, files in the Download folder that haven’t changed in 30 days, and files that have been sitting in your Recycle Bin for over 30 days. You can reach Storage Sense by going to the Settings menu, clicking on the Systems button, and selecting the Storage option.

What Are the Benefits of Disk Cleanup?

While you can search for temporary files yourself and delete them manually, you save time by using the Windows disk cleanup tool. You can search your entire hard disk for specific files within a matter of seconds with the disk cleanup utility. The tool also gives you greater control over which files to delete and those to keep. When outdated application files are removed from your system, it runs more smoothly and has fewer crashes.

Does Disk Cleanup Remove Viruses?

One of the most common ways that viruses enter computer systems is through downloads. A user lands on an untrusted website and clicks on a button to get a free download. The download contains a virus that goes undetected. If the application remains untouched for longer than 30 days, you can run the disk cleanup utility to find the offending download and remove it quickly. While you shouldn’t use disk cleanup as a replacement for a robust antivirus product, the tool can work in conjunction with a trusted antivirus solution to better safeguard your computer’s system, files, and data.

The Wrap Up

Whether you use your computer to work from home or to manage your household, you’ll want it to function as it should. This includes the flexibility to download a program for a short-term project or quickly process spreadsheets to share with coworkers on an online portal. These operations are greatly impaired when your hard disk is full of unnecessary files and bloatware. Using the Windows disk cleanup tool allows you to remove these files that could contain malware and increase the capacity and safety of your computing environment.