How to Free Up Storage Before Installing Windows 11?

Vikas Windows

If you don’t clean and organize your hard disk periodically, it may run short of free space at one point of time. There will come a time when updating to Windows 11 can become difficult when it finally releases for the consumers in the holiday season. If you’re curious how to reclaim a couple of gig’s worth of storage space to make way for Windows 11, you’ve come to the right place.

Clean Temporary Files

The procedure to delete temporary files is simple. Launch Disk CleanUp and select the file types you want to get rid of. Disk CleanUp will automatically delete those files for you.

  1. Type disk cleanup in the Search Box on your Taskbar.
  2. Open the Disk CleanUp tool from the search results.
  3. Choose your system drive (usually, C:\)
  4. Click on OK.
  5. Check all the file types to free-up maximum storage.
  6. Click on OK.
  7. Repeat over the same process for other drives on your hard disk.

Clean Temporary System Files

Apart from the standard temporary files, Disk CleanUp allows you to delete temporary system files which might be no longer required.

Let’s take an example. Your machine automatically creates new System Restore points occasionally, especially before installing a major update or adding a new software. These system restore points take a considerable amount of storage, which can be freed-up using the Disk CleanUp tool.

  1. Open the Disk CleanUp tool.
  2. Click on the Clean up system files option.
  3. Choose the file types you want to get rid of.
  4. Click on OK.

Find & Delete Duplicate Files

If you don’t deduplicate the data on your hard disk, duplicate files can take a significantly higher space and eat up a large storage space. Finding and deleting duplicates will help you not only make free space for the Windows 11 but also keep your files accessible all time. Finding files will become easier and quicker. As Windows 10 doesn’t have any in-house duplicate files finding functionality, we’d rely on a popular third-party tool called Clone Files Checker.

  1. Download Clone Files Checker.
  2. Click on the Add button on the left.
  3. Select a drive or folder where you want to look for duplicates.
  4. Click on the  Start Search button. The scan should begin immediately.
  5. Either use the checkboxes to manually select your files or make use of the Select Duplicates button to automate this task for you. You can choose from a range of patterns to automatically mark newest/ oldest files in each group. By default, CFC will retain at least one file in each group to protect your data.
  6. Once you’ve marked your files, click on Select Action and delete your files.

Features:

  • Find and delete iTunes duplicate songs
  • Find and delete duplicate songs by their music tags (artists, album, content, etc)
  • Clean duplicates from the cloud using complementary subscription to Cloud Duplicate Finder
  • Fast, accurate scan with file hashing mechanisms
  • In-house file previewing facility
  • Automated duplicates selection to assist you select the right files

Delete Browser Cache

If you frequently visit multimedia websites, your browser cache may grow in size. Empty your browser cache to make some free space.

Google Chrome:

  1. Click on the Menu button.
  2. Select More tools | Clear browsing data.
  3. In the new screen, select the All Time option and check-up the Cached images and files option.
  4. Click on Clear data.

Mozilla Firefox:

  1. Click on the Menu icon.
  2. Select Settings.
  3. Click on Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data > Clear Data.
  4. Check-up the box named Cache Web Content and then click on Clear.

Note: Firefox also has an automatic browser cache cleaning feature that wipes out your cache whenever you close the browser. To activate the automatic cache cleaning, follow the procedure given here.

Opera:

  1. Click on the Menu icon on the left.
  2. Select Settings.
  3. Click on Privacy & Security.
  4. Click on Clear browsing data.
  5. Choose “the beginning of time” option.
  6. Check-up the “Cached images and files” option.
  7. Click on Clear browsing data to confirm.

Internet Explorer:

  1. Click on the Tools menu, select Internet Options.
  2. Click on the General tab and then click on the Delete option under the Browsing history.
  3. Check-up the “Temporary Internet files and website files” box.
  4. Click on Delete.

Uninstall Unneeded Programs

You can make additional free space by uninstalling the programs you don’t need. Look for crapware that was installed when you bought your computer.

  1. Click on Start, followed by the Settings icon.
  2. Click on the Apps icon.
  3. In the Apps & Features tab, you will be able to see the list of all installed programs.
  4. Select a program and then click on the Uninstall button.
  5. Follow the uninstall wizard.
  6. Repeat over the same procedure for other programs on your PC.

Empty the Recycle Bin Contents

When you delete files from your hard disk, they are not gone forever. Your files are temporarily moved to the Recycle Bin which gives you an option to restore them later. Not deleting large unrequired files from Recycle Bin can cost a significant storage. Empty your Recycle Bin or manually find and delete the files you don’t need.

To empty the Recycle Bin, open it first using its Desktop shortcut. Click on the Empty Recycle Bin icon under the Recycle Bin Tools tab on the Ribbon interface.

Alternatively, you can select multiple files manually using keyboard shortcuts. Press and hold the Ctrl key of your keyboard and click a file you want to delete. Now, click other files you want to delete simultaneously. Finally, right-click your selection and choose the Delete option and confirm it.

Save Personal Data to Another Partition

Many people have a partitioned hard disk. If you’ve other non-system partitions with spare storage space, move all of your files to those partitions.

The easiest way to do it is to change the default folder location:

  1. Open the Users folder on your Desktop.
  2. Right-click a folder you want to move. For example: Documents
  3. In the Properties dialog, click on the Location tab.
  4. Enter the path to a folder stored on another partition. For example: D:\Personal Data\Documents
  5. Click on Move.
  6. Once the files are moved, click on OK.