Windows 10 is a relatively small operating system. Once installed, it will take up 20GB of disk space. Other software you install eat up the rest of your disk space, which is to be anticipated. So, How to run the disk cleanup tool on Windows 10?

The installation files of a program take up the majority of disk capacity, however many apps, as well as user activity, accumulate garbage files that must be cleared or your drive will fill up. Two file containers that need to be purged are the Downloads folder and the Recycle Bin.

How to run the disk cleanup tool on Windows 10

Disk cleanup tool on Windows 10

Cleaning the Recycle Bin and Downloads folder is simple, but not all junk files are as straightforward to locate, identify, and delete. That’s why, on Windows 10, there’s a simple application called Disk Clean that can clean out junk files.

Related: How to enable the Game bar task manager on Windows 10

Disk cleanup may and should be conducted on a regular basis, especially after updating Windows 10 to a new version.

  1. Open File Explorer and go to This PC.
  2. Righ-click the C drive (or Windows drive) and select Properties.
  3. On the General tab, click Disk Cleanup.
  4. On the window that opens, click ‘Clean up system files’.

How to run the disk cleanup tool on Windows 10

  1. Select the items you want to delete.
  2. Click OK.
  3. Confirm you want to delete the files and disk cleanup will begin.

How to run the disk cleanup tool on Windows 10

Note that files that have been deleted cannot be recovered. You can clean out your disks on all of your drives, but the Windows drive is where you’ll be able to save the most space.

Related: How to View ping on system tray on Windows 10

Other disk cleaning utilities

You may also clean up garbage files or items you don’t need using the Settings app, which includes a disk cleaning tool called Storage sense in Windows 10.

  1. Open the Settings app (Win+I keyboard shortcut).
  2. Go to System>Storage.
  3. Click ‘Configure Storage sense or run it now’.

  1. Select where you want to delete files from, and how old they should be to be removed.
  2. Click Clean Now under Free up Space now.

Related: How to access the System Control Panel on Windows 10

Conclusion

After running the Disk Cleanup tool, running the Storage Sense Cleanup program has no advantage. Although the files cleaned by these two tools are similar, Disk Cleanup cleans more locations and file kinds.

Third-party programs are also available for managing disk storage capacity. You can use these products if they provide better disk space management, but be cautious about the items you remove, and keep in mind that most files deleted by a third-party disk cleaning tool are unlikely to be retrieved.

Disk Cleanup does not harm your Windows installation and does not remove programs.