Free up drive space with Disk Cleanup

Separate the junk from the jewels, then mop up.

CHOOSE FULL SCAN

The first time you run Disk Cleanup, you’re prompted to wait while it analyses selected parts of your system. When the scan completes, you’re shown an amount of disk space you can gain. For a more thorough scan, click the ‘Clean up system files’ button, and wait while the scan repeats.

REVIEW SCAN ITEMS

You should find Windows has found lots more free space it can clear. Review each item by highlighting it for a description. You can select or unselect boxes to add or remove items to be cleaned — you should see the space gained figure adjust. Ready to clean? Click ‘OK > Delete Files’.

MORE ITEMS TO CLEAN

If you have System Restore enabled, you can launch Disk Cleanup again and click ‘Clean up system files’ for a second time. Switch to the ‘More Options’ tab, and quickly wipe all but the most recent Restore points by clicking the relevant ‘Clean up’ button after reading the warnings.