6 Ways to Resolve Low Disk Space Issues and Errors in Windows

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Make space on your hard drive and stop low disk space errors

Co-authored by Hannah Dillon Reviewed by Stan Kats

Last Updated: March 31, 2026 Fact Checked

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• Use Disk Cleanup
|
• Use Cleanup Recommendations
|
• Empty the Downloads Folder
|
• Empty the Recycle Bin
|
• Use Storage Sense
|
• Use External Storage
|
• Video

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If you're getting low disk space errors on Windows, the only way to really fix them is to clear up some disk space. Thankfully, there are a few ways to do this quickly and easily without spending hours sorting through all your files. In this article, we go over some ways you can quickly fix low disk space errors on Windows. Read on to learn how.

Ways to Quickly Fix Low Disk Space Errors

• Run Disk Cleanup and Cleanup recommendations.
• Empty your Downloads folder and Recycle Bin.
• Enable Storage Sense in your settings to automatically clean up your computer as you use it.
• Move old files to external storage, such as an external hard drive, external SSD, or flash drive.

Steps

Method 1

Method 1 of 6:

Use Disk Cleanup

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1. 
   1
   Open Disk Cleanup. To do this, type disk cleanup into the taskbar search bar and click on Disk Cleanup in the Start menu.
2. 
   2
   Choose the drive you want to clean. It will choose your main drive by default (which is typically your C: drive), but you can change it by clicking the drop-down menu and selecting another drive.

   • Click OK to progress to the next step.
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3. 
   3
   Choose which files you want to clean up. Disk Cleanup will analyze your drive and see which files it can clean up. These files include temporary internet files, various caches, the Recycling Bin, and more.

   • To select a file type to delete, click the checkbox next to it.
4. 
   4
   Click OK. Disk Cleanup will start cleaning up your files. Depending on how many files you have to clean up, this might take a few minutes. Once Disk Cleanup is done, it will close.
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Method 2

Method 2 of 6:

Use Cleanup Recommendations

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1. 
   1
   Open your storage settings. The fastest way to do this is to type storage into the taskbar search bar, then click Storage settings in the Start menu that opens up.
2. 
   2
   Click Cleanup recommendations. It's located under the breakdown of how your drive's space is being used, and it's the option under "Storage Sense."
3. 
   3
   Expand each tab on the page. There are four tabs: temporary files, large or unused files, files synced to the cloud, and unused apps. Each tab will have options you can choose for files to clean up.
4. 
   4
   Choose the files you want to clean up. To select a file type, click the checkbox next to it. Some tabs may not have any suggestions; in this case, the window will display "No recommended files/applications to clean."
5. 
   5
   Click Clean up [x] [bytes]. You'll have to do this for each tab; there isn't a single button to clear all the options you selected. The [x] will be replaced by how many bytes you're deleting, and [bytes] will be replaced with the unit of measurement in bytes (such as GB or MB).

   • If you're still getting low disk space errors after using Cleanup recommendations, do the following:
     • Go to Settings > System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters > Windows Store Apps and click Run.
     • Go to Settings > System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters > Windows Update and click Run.
     • Press ⊞ Win+R and type wsreset.exe, then press ↵ Enter.
     • Restart your computer.
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Method 3

Method 3 of 6:

Empty the Downloads Folder

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1. 
   1
   Open your Downloads folder. If you're not sure how to do this, open File Explorer (which is the yellow file folder icon in your taskbar) and click on Downloads in the left-hand sidebar.

   • The Downloads folder can easily get cluttered with files if you download a lot from the internet. There are usually files in your Downloads folder that you don't need to keep, such as old ZIP files and installers, that take up space.
2. 
   2
   Take note of any files you want to save. If there are any files in your Downloads folder you don't want to delete, note them before moving to the next step. If you don't want to risk deleting something you want to keep, move it to a different folder.
3. 
   3
   Select all the files in your Downloads folder. The quickest way to do this is to press Ctrl+A while the Downloads folder is open, but you can also click the top file, press and hold ⇧ Shift, then click the bottom file.
4. 
   4
   Right-click on the files. This will pull up a contextual menu.
5. 
   5
   Click Delete. This will clear all the selected files and send them to the Recycle Bin. If you get a notice that a file is too large to send to the Recycle Bin and must be fully deleted right away, click OK.

   • Don't forget to empty the Recycle Bin after you clear your Downloads folder!
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Method 4

Method 4 of 6:

Empty the Recycle Bin

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1. 
   1
   Open the Recycle Bin. You can do this by double-clicking the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop, or by typing "recycle bin" into the taskbar search bar and clicking Recycle Bin.
2. 
   2
   Restore any items you want to keep. If you see something you want to keep in the Recycle Bin, right-click it and select Restore. It will be moved back to the folder it was originally deleted from.
3. 
   3
   Click Empty Recycle Bin. This button is at the top of the Recycle Bin page.
4. 
   4
   Click Yes. You'll be prompted to confirm that you want to delete the items in your Recycle Bin. Click Yes to confirm.

   • If you realized you didn't want to delete something, click No, then restore any files you want to keep. Then, click Empty Recycle Bin > Yes.
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Method 5

Method 5 of 6:

Use Storage Sense

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1. 
   1
   Open your storage settings. The fastest way to do this is to type storage into the taskbar search bar, then click Storage settings in the Start menu that opens up.
2. 
   2
   Toggle on Storage Sense. It's located under the breakdown of how your drive's space is being used.

   • If Storage Sense is already enabled, you can skip to the next step.
3. 
   3
   Click Storage Sense. Ensure the following settings are set:

   • Check the box next to "Keep Windows running smoothly by automatically cleaning up temporary system and app files."
   • Toggle on "Automatic User content cleanup."
   • Choose your preferred settings under "Run Storage Sense," "Delete files in my recycle bin if they have been there for over," and "Delete files in my Downloads folder if they haven't been opened for more than."
4. 
   4
   Click Run Storage Sense now. This will force Storage Sense to run, which can easily clear up some disk space for you.
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Method 6

Method 6 of 6:

Use External Storage

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1. 
   1
   Plug an external storage device into your computer. This could be an external hard drive, an external SSD, or even a flash drive.
2. 
   2
   Open File Explorer. It's the yellow folder icon in your taskbar.
3. 
   3
   Locate the files you want to move to your external storage. If you have many files you want to keep but don't use often, moving them to external storage is a good idea. Examples of these types of files include old photos, tax documents, and important videos.
4. 
   4
   Cut the files. To do this, select the files you want to move, then press Ctrl+X.
5. 
   5
   Open your external storage. In the File Explorer sidebar, click on your external storage. It will be under the "This PC" dropdown, and will likely have a drive letter of D, E, or F, depending on how many drives are already in your computer.
6. 
   6
   Paste the files. To do this, press Ctrl+V. It will take a few seconds to a few hours to transfer the files, depending on how many files you're moving, how big they are, and whether you're moving to or from an SSD (SSDs are faster).

   • If you want to organize the files on your external drive a little bit more, you can create folders and move files into them.
   • Be aware of how much external storage you have. If you're using a small 8GB flash drive, you won't be able to store much on it, but it will help free up a little space on your PC.
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