The local C drive is very important for your system, especially if you don't have a second drive on your computer at all. You need to monitor the amount of free space regularly so as not to find out about it when you have only a gigabyte or two left. In this article, you will learn several ways to effectively clean up the local C drive without removing the necessary programs and files.
How to clear space on the C drive - emptying the trash
- A simple yet effective method. If you do not keep track of the filling of your cart, then, most likely, it is clogged with a large amount of information. Click on the trash can icon with the right mouse button and select the line “Empty Trash”.
- In this way, you can free up several gigabytes of precious computer memory.
How to clear space on the C drive - delete downloads
- All downloaded files are stored by default in the corresponding folder, which is located on the C drive. Many of them, perhaps, you do not need for a long time, but you simply forgot about them. Go to drive C and find the "Users" folder.
- In it, double-click on your account name.
- Now go to the "Downloads" or "Downloads" folder for the English version.
- Most users will be surprised to see how much memory this particular folder is clogging up.
- Select unnecessary documents and files, click the Delete button. Confirm your intention by clicking on the word "yes". With this method, you freed up a few more gigabytes on the local C drive.
How to clean up space on the C drive - remove old programs
You have not used some utilities and programs for a long time, but you have not removed them from your computer either. On the Windows operating system, there is a dedicated dispatcher to help you do this.
- Go to the control panel via Start.
- Select the "Uninstall a program" subsection in the "Programs" section.
- The “Programs and Features” window will open in front of you, in it you can see the entire list of installed software, utilities and programs on your computer. Sort them using the "Installation Date", "Size" and "Version" buttons in the manager header.
- Once you find an unnecessary program, click on the “Uninstall” field. Uninstallation will start immediately. As a rule, programs do not take up that much memory, except for games. However, take note of this method.
How to clear space on the C drive - cleaning the Temp folder
- In the Windows operating system, the C drive contains two special folders called Temp. They serve to store temporary files that are needed by some processes and programs only for a short period. This folder itself is not cleaned - it only gets littered over the years. Find the first folder at: My Computer - Local Drive C - Windows - Temp... Remove all components from it, if any files are not removed, just skip them.
- Now go to the second folder at a different address: My Computer - Local Drive C - Users - “Your Account Name” - AppData - Local - Temp.Please note: if you do not see the AppData folder, then a separate article will help you open it.
- Delete all accumulated information. Each individual file in Temp takes up a small amount of memory, but you end up cleaning up a lot of space.
How to clean up space on the C drive - Disk Cleanup utility.
This program is located directly in the Windows OS, and every user can use it. You can clear temporary files, computer cache and many other unnecessary documents.
- Go to “My Computer” and right-click on it. Select the "Properties" line.
- Find the small "Disk Cleanup" button in the window that appears. Click on it.
- Wait a few minutes for the utility to analyze the data.
- Select all the menu items on the left, putting a checkmark in them, also click on the "Clear system files" button, then click "OK". The amount of free memory will be quite impressive.
Special programs for cleaning drive C
The most popular third-party program is called CCleaner, and it will help clean not only the cache and temporary files of your computer, but also all unnecessary data from browsers and other programs.
You can download it on the official website of the developer, or from your sources.
After completing all six steps, you will free up at least a quarter of the memory on the local C drive. Remember that it is recommended that you use this drive only for system needs, and create a separate drive for your personal files.
The free space of the C drive is constantly decreasing during the operation of Windows. Regardless of the user's actions - whether he wants it or not. Temporary files, archives, cookies and browser cache and other software elements, having completed their one-time mission (update, installation, unpacking), settle in the folders of the C partition. Plus, useful megabytes and gigabytes consume some functional Windows modules.
The first remedy for such "clutter" is a comprehensive cleaning of the C drive. It must be performed regularly and in a timely manner. Otherwise, the section will overflow, and you will not be able to fully use the OS and, accordingly, the PC. Windows will constantly interrupt your work with warning messages - "not enough memory". It will become impossible to watch the video online, since the browser will not be able to save the content downloaded from the server on the computer. Other troubles can occur.
Getting Started with Disk C Cleanup: What You Need to Know and Do
Removing any unnecessary elements from the C disk is a very delicate procedure. Requires increased caution and attention from the user. Cleaning should not harm the OS.
Deleting files in folders is contraindicated:
- Windows (the heart of the OS - all its components are stored here);
- Boot (system boot files);
- ProgramData (completely impossible! Installed applications may not start);
- ProgramFiles (installed software);
- Users (user data).
Some folders that need to be "cleaned up" are hidden by default, that is, they are not displayed in directories. To get to them, do the following:
1. Press simultaneously the key combination - "Win + E".
2. In the Computer window, press the Alt key.
3. A horizontal menu appears at the top of the window. Hover over the "Service" section. In the submenu, click "Folder Options ...".
4. In the options settings, go to the "View" tab.
5. Scroll to the bottom of the list of options in the "Advanced Options:" section.
6. Uncheck the box next to "Hide protected system ...". Enable the "Show hidden files ..." radio button by clicking the mouse.
7. Click OK.
Where to start cleaning drive C?
First of all, you need to empty the basket:
- hover the cursor over its icon;
- press the right mouse button;
- select "Empty Trash" from the menu.
Large, small files, regardless of which section they are stored in (drive D, E or C), after deletion are sent to C: \\ RECYCLER, the "Recycle Bin" file. As a result, the free space of the system partition is reduced. Deleting a large video file or image (for example, an iso file) with a shortage of extra gigabytes can easily lead to an overflow of the C drive.
Advice! Before emptying the Trash, check your desktop for unnecessary shortcuts. They are not large, but the fewer useless files the better.
Disk cleanup with the standard Windows utility
1. Click the "Start" icon.
2. In the right column, click Computer.
3. Right-click on the C drive icon. Select Properties from the menu.
4. In the property bar, on the General tab, click the Disk Cleanup button.
5. Wait a little while the system checks the directories for unnecessary files.
6. Next, in the "Delete the following files" section, select which items to delete and which ones to leave (check the boxes).
7. Click "Clean up system files" and then "OK".
Note. The use of this utility can be limited if there are no strong "clogs" in the system. When you need to clear 2, 3, 5 and more GB, you need to perform a few more procedures, which include not only deleting individual files, but also changing the OS settings.
Removing unnecessary files from system folders
Quite often, users, without knowing it, "put" content and software in special OS folders designed to store various information: "Downloads", "Images", "My videos", etc. Many programs and browsers send data to these directories by default (without changing the initial settings).
Open them one by one and delete everything you don't need. Move the files that are of special value to you into a logical partition (for example, drive D, E).
Advice! Be bold. Any item can be deleted here, and Windows will not be affected by it.
Temp folder
One of the main sources of OS clogging. Antiviruses, drivers, applications, games are placed in it. This happens during updates and installations. After the completion of the tasks, the used files remain in the "Temp". Of course, they need to be removed from there periodically.
1. On the C drive, go to the Users folder.
2. Click on the folder with your account name (username).
3. Then go to "AppData".
4. In the "Local" directory, open the "Temp" folder.
5. Empty it completely (send all files / folders to trash).
Advice! If you use the file manager "Total Commander": create a new tab (keyboard shortcut "Ctrl" + "up arrow") and go to the Temp folder. Thus, you will always have its contents in sight.
Disable paging file
Pagefile.sys - OS virtual memory. When RAM (random access memory) resources run out, the system saves the unplaced data to this file. If your PC has more than 4.6 or 8 GB of RAM, you can disable the Pagefile.sys container. On disk, it occupies about the same amount as RAM. For example, if your PC has 16GB of RAM, then Pagefile.sys will be about the same.
To disable the swap file:
1. Through "Start" (the "Win" icon) open the "Control Panel".
2. In the "System and Security" section, select "System".
3. In the settings window, click "Advanced options ...".
4. In the System Properties pane, on the Advanced tab, click Options.
5. In the "Performance Settings" option, on the "Advanced" tab, in the "Virtual memory" section, activate "Change ...".
6. In the "Virtual Memory" window:
- select drive C;
- enable by clicking the radio button "Without paging file";
- click the "Set" button, and then - "OK".
7. Reboot your PC.
Disable hibernation
Hibernation is a kind of sleep mode: when the user is inactive for a certain period of time, the OS saves all settings in a special file hiberfil.sys. Windows, as well as for Pagefile.sys, reserves free space for it on C equal to the amount of RAM.
Therefore, if you are not using hibernation mode, it is better to disable it.
1. Press "Win + R".
2. Enter "CMD", press "ENTER".
3. In the command line console enter - "powercfg -h off" (without quotes), then - "ENTER".
4. Restart the OS.
Using third-party utilities
Cleaning of the C drive can be easily "entrusted" with a special cleaning program, for example, CCleaner. It can automatically empty trash, memory dumps, clipboard, delete temporary files (cookies and cache) of popular browsers, as well as perform many other operations to remove system junk.
Always monitor the size of the C drive. Do not overfill. Delete unnecessary files not only to free up disk space, but also for prevention.
Good luck! Let your PC only store useful information.
Hello dear friends. In this article I will show you how to clean the C drive of unnecessary files. When it is packed to capacity, the computer may malfunction due to the lack of memory. If Windows is slow, slows down, or does not even load, then you can delete programs and other data to free up space on the system drive.
Information can be deleted manually or using Disk Cleanup, a built-in operating system utility designed to clean up a large number of unnecessary files. You can also consider uninstalling programs that take up a lot of disk space but are hardly used.
Now we will analyze the necessary steps to free up space on the C drive from garbage.
This requires:
- Open the Start Menu by clicking on the Windows icon in the lower left corner of the screen.
- Find "Control Panel" on the right side of the menu.
- Alternatively, you can go to My Computer if you already know exactly what you want. clean up system drive "C".
- Right-click on the Local Disk (C :) icon.
- Select Properties to open the pop-up menu. The General tab displays a pie chart showing the used and free space on the C drive.
- Click the Disk Cleanup button to see how much space you can free up.
- Then go to the "Control Panel", select "System and Security". The screen will open a window containing the option "Free up disk space", which, in turn, activates the built-in cleaning program. This menu also contains information that you can use to view and change the system status, back up data and system settings, update your computer, view the amount of RAM and processor speed, and check the firewall.
The whole process of cleaning disk "C" in more detail, see several videos in this article.
How to clean the local drive C and what is needed for this
- Select the "Free up disk space" command.
- Find the link in the little text under the Administration heading at the bottom of the page that will ask you to select a drive.
- Select drive for cleaning. Here you will be offered the opportunity to clear local drives "C", "D", etc. Select drive "C", provided that Windows XP is not installed on any other. Typically "C" stores system data, and "D" contains all documents, records and program files.
- After selecting a disk, click the "OK" button to continue.
You must avoid damaging the system data stored on the C drive as it is essential to the normal functioning of your computer. If the file looks strange, then it may turn out to be a virus. In this case, I advise you to check the entire system disk or a specific folder with such a suspicious file using the utility. You can also try to identify it using a search engine on the Internet. Surely someone has already encountered a similar problem and was looking for an answer on the net.
Choosing information to delete
How do I clear my local C drive? You need to wait while Disk Cleanup calculates how much space it can free up. This process can last from a few seconds to several minutes. The more information is stored on disk, the longer it will take to scan. A pop-up should appear informing you that Disk Cleanup is calculating how much space can be freed up on local drive C.
We select the data to be deleted. We select each option to see what information is included in this category, and what exactly we will delete. Here you can see how much memory each file type is taking up. If the temporary Internet data is only a few kilobytes, then deleting it is unlikely to change the interface. The user must independently decide whether the deletion of this data will affect his work. If you are in dire need of free disk space, then do not hesitate to select all items from the list.
How do I clean drive C? We delete the downloaded program files. This folder includes ActiveX and Java controls that are loaded automatically when you view certain pages. They are saved in the downloaded program data folder on the hard disk. If you clear them, then they will be loaded if necessary when visiting the corresponding pages. We clean temporary Internet files. These copies of websites are stored on your hard drive for quick viewing. You can safely delete this folder, as you will not lose your personalized settings and registration information for web pages.
You can now clear game news and statistics. This data takes up a lot of memory only if the user frequently launches computer games. All of this can be removed to free up space. What functions does all this data perform? Game news files make it easy to deliver RSS feeds to your personal game library. If a lot of games are not installed on your computer that are regularly updated, then you do not need to delete this. Game statistics data is generated to support various applications. All this can be safely removed along with the news.
Shopping cart and temporary data
What if the C drive is full? It's time to empty the trash can as it contains all the files that have been deleted. They are not permanently deleted until you clear this folder. The Trash can be full or nearly empty, depending on how many files were recently deleted and how often this folder is emptied.
Now we delete the temporary files. Clearing this category often frees up a lot of disk space. The operating system automatically creates these temporary files to protect the information we work with. These files can be associated with Word documents, edited images, unfinished or canceled downloads (from browsers and applications downloading updates, plugins, etc.). Delete all temporary files that have not been changed for at least a week.
Usually the system deletes temporary files when the computer is turned off. If it crashes, shuts down unexpectedly, or fails, then these files are not instructed to remove and are delayed indefinitely. If the user does not turn off the computer often enough, but instead puts it into sleep mode, then he may notice a build-up of temporary files.
Thumbnails, system information and other data
How do I clear the memory? Delete thumbnails. Windows XP keeps a cached copy of all thumbnails of photos, videos, and documents. This allows the system to display files faster when opening a folder. However, these files can accumulate when we create new folders and stop using old directories. If you delete these thumbnails, the system will automatically recreate them as needed.
Now you can start cleaning up the system files. The Disk Cleanup menu has a System Files Cleanup button. We select it if we want to clear extra space, and wait while the program calculates how much information can be safely deleted. Within 1-2 minutes, the same Disk Cleanup menu should appear with additional categories of files to be deleted. You need to think about what each of these file types mean and decide if you can delete them.
How do I free up space on the C drive? Service pack backup files are old versions of data that Windows stores. Keep in mind that once these files are cleaned up, it will be impossible to uninstall service packs. Windows temporary installation files are information used by the operating system installation. These files remain after installation, but they are no longer needed, so you can delete them.
A Windows Update Cleanup is a backed up copy of each recently installed Update Center that is generated after a newer version is received. This function removes old versions of updates that are no longer needed but take up space on your hard drive. You need to be prepared to restart your computer after the system is cleaned up.
Unnecessary files
How do I quickly clean up drive C? When everything is ready, all that remains is to click "OK" to delete. You need to make sure that the checkboxes next to all the categories of files to be cleaned are checked. The program will ask if we want to permanently delete these files. We check all the selected files again. If you are sure, then you need to click "Delete" to shut down and clean the disk with Windows 7. If you are not completely sure, then you need to return to the file selection window and make sure that the correct categories are marked.
We are waiting for the program to free up disk space. After clicking the Delete button, a pop-up window will appear informing you that the cleaning utility is deleting unnecessary disk files on your computer. Observe the green progress bar to see how far the removal process has progressed. Depending on the amount of information to be deleted (in the worst case, it can be several GB), the utility can run from 1 to 20 minutes.
If for some reason you change your mind, you can click the "Cancel" button to the right of the green status bar. Files that have already been deleted will disappear, but the program will retain the remaining information for the freed disk. Below the progress bar, you can see which files are currently being cleaned up. This can help us measure progress and decide whether to cancel the process.
Old apps
How do I completely clean up disk space? Remove old applications to free up disk space with Windows 10. Open the Programs and Features menu by clicking the Start button. We select "Control Panel", "Programs", "Programs and Features". We are waiting for the list to display all applications installed on the computer.
We are looking for programs that take up a lot of space and are not used often. Select any of them and click "Delete". Some applications will also offer change or restore functions in addition to uninstalling. To change the program, select "Change" or "Restore".
The following equivalence rules must be learned:
1 kilobyte (KB) \u003d 1024 bytes;
1 megabyte (MB) \u003d 1024 KB;
1 gigabyte (GB) \u003d 1024 MB;
1 terabyte (TB) \u003d 1024 GB.
The sizes of your programs are probably in the 100GB range. If you are prompted to enter the administrator password, you will need to do this. If you do not know the password, you should contact your computer administrator for help. How to free up space on the system drive? Now all that remains is to delete the old installation files. When we download an application from the Internet, in most cases it is an "exe" file named "setup". After running this file and successfully installing the program, it can be safely removed.
How do I clean up the C drive? Please be patient before freeing up hard disk space, as individual processes can take 1 to 20 minutes. It is normal for the monitor screen to flicker slightly when files are deleted. Be careful not to delete important programs or other valuable information. If you are not sure about the advisability of deleting a file, then it is better to leave it alone.
Recently I met a poll "how much space do you have on the C drive", and this prompted me to show you how to clean the C drive of unnecessary files without deleting anything unnecessary.
As the survey showed, most people have only 100 GB allocated for the C drive, of which a couple of GB are free. This is not surprising, the OS and the necessary software take up 50 GB, plus garbage, temporary files and, as a result, all memory is occupied. Let's get started and remove all the trash from the computer in order.
We clean the downloads
I think everyone knows what this folder is and why it got full. If anyone is in the "Downloads" tank, this is the place where all your files that you downloaded / saved on the Internet are located. To find this folder on your computer, open “Computer / My Computer” and “Downloads” will be in the left menu.
If, for some reason, this folder is not in the left menu, then go to: Drive C, Users, "Your PC username", Downloads.
Now, as you understand, I propose to delete everything from this folder, except for what you need. It is better to move the rest of the files that will be useful to you to another disk.
To move files to another section, hold down the "Ctrl" key and left-click on the files / folders you need. After you have selected everything, press "Ctrl" + "X" (Cut) then open the folder where you want to move and press "Ctrl" + "V".
We transfer the downloads folder to disk D, E, F
If you have little space on the C drive and you cannot / want to expand it, it would be logical to transfer the downloads to another drive, where the capacity allows it. It won't work just like that, so you have to use the following method:
- Go to drive C, Users, "Your PC Username", "Downloads".
- Right-click on the "Downloads" folder and select "Properties" from the menu.
- In the top menu go to "Location".
- Here is the path of your folder, which can be changed manually or by clicking "Find folder".
- Once you have selected a folder on another drive, click "Apply" and you're done!
Removing temporary files
Temporary files are stored in the Temp folder and they are all unnecessary junk that clogs up your computer. These files remain after installing programs, updates, etc. You can delete absolutely everything without even looking at what is there.
First, let's open the Temp folder. Open "Drive C", then "Windows" then open the "Temp" folder. Select all files with the keyboard shortcut "Ctrl" + "A" and delete them.
Windows may notify you that you can only delete a specific file with Administrator rights. Click yes / continue.
If you have Windows XP, then go to the next item, if Windows 7-10, then do the following:
In the search, on the start panel write "% temp%" and open the folder.
Alternative way of opening: in the address bar, enter "C: \\ Users \\ UserName \\ AppData \\ Local \\ Temp". Where "UserName" you need to enter the username of your PC.
In this folder, delete everything that you can delete. Personally, I have collected almost 2 GB of temporary files in 1 month.
We carry out cleaning with the Ccleaner utility
I would like to suggest that you use a program called "ccleaner". This is a very powerful utility that does half of what I said above, and also cleans cache, browser history and whatnot. If you don't need to clean something, for example, your browser history, you can turn it off in the settings.
In any case, I advise everyone to use it, so let's see where to download it and how to use it:
Go to the official website "https://download.ccleaner.com/ccsetup541.exe" and download the program.
Install and run the program. During installation, remove the checkboxes next to unnecessary programs (Avast, etc.).
Go to the "Options" tab, then "Setting" and select Russian instead of English.
Go to the cleaning tab and uncheck the checkboxes everywhere that you do not want to clean (browser history, etc.). After that click "cleanup".
You will be pleasantly surprised, after cleaning the program will show how many MB it has freed up your computer.
Removing unnecessary programs
Over time, a large amount of software is collected, which is essentially not used. Something you installed yourself, something installed itself (viruses from mail.ru, avast and others ...). Earlier, I already wrote « » , so let's take a look at his example:
Remove the program in Windows 7:
- Open the Start Menu and click on Control Panel. Now find "Programs and Features" in the list.
- In the menu, you see all the programs that are installed on your computer. Choose among them "Avast", click on it 1 time and in the top menu, click "delete".
- You will open the program installer, in which there is an inconspicuous delete button at the very bottom. Click on it. After that, the anti-virus will try to convince you, but you continue what you started and do not believe him.
- Done! Next time, be careful while installing software and games.
Uninstalling Avast in Windows 10:
- Open "Start", then "Settings", after "System".
- Find "Avast" in the list, click on it, then click "delete".
In this way, remove all programs that you do not use. Do not deletenothing you're not sure about, especially software from Adobe and Microsoft, and the rest is not really important.
Increasing disk space C
Increasing space on drive C at the expense of another drive is quite simple and in order not to take a million screenshots, I suggest watching a short video:
We clean the basket
After you delete any file or folder, it goes to the trash in case you suddenly change your mind. These files accumulate there until the moment you empty the trash manually or restore them back.
After such a global cleaning of the C drive, be sure to empty the trash. In general, I recommend doing this regularly (once a week will be enough), especially since it does not take much time.
So that empty trash, find on the desktop the icon with a trash can and the corresponding inscription, then right-click on it and select "Empty Trash" from the menu. Done! Case for 10 sec. and more disk space.
What not to do
Here I will try to list all possible mistakes of inexperienced users, as well as mention the tips of other sites and explain why you should not do this (if you forgot something, add in the comments):
- Do not under any circumstances delete any files and folders on the C drive if they are there without your actions. Those. you can only delete the folders that you have created. Otherwise, it could crash the OS.
- Don't do anything with the hibernation file. Do not disable it, do not delete it. Only experienced users can properly disable it, so as not to face a system error in the future. The megabytes won are not worth it.
- Do not disable or resize the paging file - this will affect the performance of your system.
- Standard "Disk Cleanup". In the properties of the computer there is a standard utility that supposedly cleans the C drive from garbage. Yes, it is, but for example, for 1 year of using a computer, 60 MB of files will be collected there (this is very small). It's just not easy already not relevant and don't waste your time.
- Uninstall programs completely (described in detail above) using special installation files uninstall.exe. It is not necessary to delete programs together with the folder in the “program files” section, otherwise many other files of this program will remain on the disk.
Conclusion
As you can see for yourself, a lot of unnecessary files, programs and folders have been removed. Now you have a lot of free space on the C drive. I also recommend cleaning your computer so that it does not slow down.
