Disk cleanup is one of the most important windows utilities. It can help you manage your hard drive space and get rid of temporary files, cookies, logs, autostart entries etc., that are taking up valuable space on your PC. The following list will show you nine ways to use Disk Cleanup in Windows 10 to clean out unwanted data off your system with ease:
1) Find Your Disk Usage And See What Takes Up Space- Open “Run” by pressing Win + R on keyboard or hit the icon in taskbar either way it’s easy to find which disk takes up more storage than others so you know where to start cleaning things up next.2) Scan For Files That Are Not Refreshing In Cached Mode- If a particular file keeps refreshing every time you open it then this could be an indication that the program isn’t actually using CPU power for its functions but instead trying load cached resources from other computers across a network connection..3) Remove Temporary Internet Files (Temporary Internet Folder)- This menu option can delete any internet cache including those related only to browsing history and downloads if they’re not essential services like Google Chrome’s browser or MS Word’s word processor software respectively…4) Compact System Cache Data -Disk Cleanup allows users remove old content from their computer memory as well as permanently removing unneeded programs installed via autoplay installations5).6).7).8).9), giving extra room for new apps or updates
The “how to delete .bak files in windows 10” is a command-line tool that allows users to clean up Windows 10. The commands are listed below:
Windows 10 is a fantastic operating system (OS), but like with any other OS, the more programs, settings, and web browsing you perform, the more cluttered it becomes. In this tutorial, you’ll discover how to maintain Windows clean by deleting backup files in Windows 10, using disk cleaning cmd’s, removing file history, removing superfluous system restore points, deleting the Windows.old and $Windows.BT folders, and more.
You might possibly free up tens or even hundreds of megabytes of precious space on your Windows 10 PC by following the methods in this article!
Before You Begin
If you want to follow along with any of these helpful storage-saving strategies, you just need one thing: Windows 10. All of the exercises in this article were performed on Windows 10 Build 1909, although the advice should apply to prior editions as well.
Getting Rid of Backups on Windows 10
Let’s get started with this space-saving guide by learning how to erase backup files in Windows 10. Windows 10 has a built-in capability that backs up data to a different storage volume automatically.
The Backup and Restore tool helps you avoid losing crucial information, but it has a drawback: the size of the backed-up files continues growing.
You should check for and remove backup files on a regular basis to save space. To do so, eliminate the backups you don’t require using the procedures below.
- To begin, press the Start button and then type backup. The Backup settings program should appear; choose it.
Backup Settings in Use
2. Click the Go to Backup and Restore (Windows 7) link in the Backup settings to access the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) program.
Verifying the Existence of Old Windows 7 Backup Files
3. Your backup drive will appear in the Backup and Restore window. Select the Manage space option as shown below.
You may skip the remainder of this part if you notice “Windows Backup has not been set up” under the Backup section. There are no previous Windows backups eating up space on your hard drive.
Getting To Your Backup Drive
4. You’ll notice two choices to control your backup drive in the Manage Windows Backup disk space window: View backup and Change settings.
Select the View backups… option. This option allows you to pick and remove a backup period.
Windows Backup Drive Management
5. Select a Backup Period from the list that corresponds to a period you are comfortable eliminating.
6. Click Delete to delete the backup files’ contents for the given time period.
When you set up the Backup and Restore function, it stores a copy of the files in the folder you choose. Destroy a Backup Period, and the system will delete all the data it backed up during that time period.
Backup Periods Are Removed
7. Return to the Manage Windows Backup disk space window and choose Change settings.
8. Select the option to keep only the most recent system image and reduce backup space usage. Setting this option eliminates all backups presently saved and only preserves the most recent ones.
9. Click OK to continue with the choice you’ve chosen.
Maintaining the most recent system image
Windows File History Removal
Assume you’ve already deleted your backups from the previous example, but your hard disk is still lacking a significant quantity of space. Another approach to free up space is to delete files from your File History.
Another built-in feature of Windows 10 is Windows File History, which allows you to back up your data automatically. File History, unlike Backup, only saves files from the Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, and Desktop folders to a separate or external device.
To clear the Windows File History, follow these steps:
- To launch the Windows Settings window, right-click on the Windows Start button and choose Settings.
Getting to the Windows Settings
2. On the Windows Settings page. scroll down and click on Update & Security.
Setting up Windows Update, Recovery, and Backup
3. Select Backup.
4. If you’re currently using Windows File History, click More options to get the Backup Options box.
You may skip the remainder of this section if you see Back up using File History disabled. There are no backed-up files taking up space on your computer.
Getting to File History Options
5. The Keep my backups choice in the Backup settings box is presumably set to Keep data Forever. Change the Keep my backups option to 1 month or whatever time period you like to free up space on your disk, as seen below.
Setting Up Backup Options
You may also deactivate the File History by removing the current backup disk. However, because you intended to back up your information on an external disk in the first place, you should think carefully before doing so!
6. Scroll to the bottom of the Backup Options box while you’re there. You’ll get an option like the one below, and then you’ll want to select the Stop utilizing drive button.
Disabling Backup of File History
You may also choose to remove all file backups but preserve the most recent ones. Run PowerShell as an administrator, then run fhmanagew.exe -cleanup 0 into the command prompt.
How to Use PowerShell as an Administrator
Both Windows Backup and File History use an external or separate disk. It’s now time to free up some space on your local disk.
Removing System Restore Points in Windows
If you’ve ever had a problem with your Windows 10 operating system and realized that you could restore it using system restore points, you understand the value. A system restore point is a group of files and registry settings that were saved at a certain moment in time.
Even while having a system restore point is beneficial, maintaining a large number of restore points will use disk space. Follow the instructions below to delete restore points to ensure they don’t go too far.
- To Make a recovery point., go to the Start button and enter restore, then click Make a recovery point..
Make a recovery point.
2. Under the System Protection tab, click the Configure button as shown below. This will bring up the System Protection window, where you may customize the system’s restore points.
Configuration of System Restore Points may be accessed.
3. To remove all restore points and clear up the most space, click the Delete option and then OK.
If you need to keep some restoration points, you may modify the slider to specify the maximum amount of space they take up.
System Restore Points are being deleted.
Cached Updates are being removed.
Windows Updates have a tendency to do anything they want in the background of Windows 10. Windows 10 will download and install new updates automatically as Microsoft publishes them.
When Windows 10 downloads and installs updates, it saves the update files in a cache so that you may delete them later if necessary. The main drawback is that the files continue to accumulate, using storage space.
Other than cleaning up your storage, Cached Updates are being removed. fixes issues with Windows Update. Perhaps you’re getting an error, or it’s stuck at 0% download progress. You should start with a clean slate.
The Windows Update Service is being stopped.
Cached updates are usually locked by the Windows Update service. Stopping the Windows Update service is the first step in removing cached updates. To do so, follow these steps:
- Type services.msc into the Windows start menu. The Services window should appear after that.
2. Right-click Windows Updates in the Services box and choose Stop. To re-enable the Windows Update service later, keep the Services window open.
Windows Update Services may be turned off.
Get-Service -Name ‘wuauserv’ | Stop-Service is another way to stop the Windows Update service using PowerShell.
Using the GUI to delete Cached Updates
After you’ve disabled the Windows Update service, you may start deleting files and directories.
- Navigate to the C:WindowsSoftwareDistributionDownload folder in File Explorer.
2. Press Ctrl+A to select all files and directories.
Choosing Update Files from the Cache
3. After you’ve chosen everything, use the Delete key to clear the cached changes.
Instead of transferring the files to the Recycle Bin, use the Shift+Remove keys to delete them.
4. Return to the Services window, right-click the Windows Update service, and select Start after clearing the cached updates.
Using PowerShell to Delete Files
Manually uninstalling the cached updates from the File Explorer in the preceding example is certainly efficient. However, completing the procedure takes a significant amount of labor.
With PowerShell, you can remove the cached updates with a single script that runs all at once.
Create a PowerShell script and paste the code below into it, or run Windows PowerShell as Administrator and paste the code below into the console.
How to Use PowerShell as an Administrator
Stop-Service -Name ‘wuauserv’ ## Stops the Windows Update Service ## Targets the Windows Cached Update location Set-Location ## Deletes everything in the *Download* folder * $env:windirSoftwareDistributionDownload -Force:$false – (silent mode) disables prompts* ## -Recurse:$false – includes files in subdirectories ## Delete-Item ## Delete-Item ## Delete-Item ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## Start-Service -Name ‘wuauserv’ starts the Windows Update Service.
After a Windows 10 upgrade, deleting the Windows.Old folder
If you updated from Windows 7 to Windows 10, you may have a folder titled Windows.old on your PC. When you switch to Windows 10, this folder serves as a backup of your Windows 7 installation.
In some ways, it’s nice that you can still access files from your previous Windows version. How can you get rid of an outdated Windows version that takes up a lot of space on your hard drive?
You have three options for cleaning out the Windows.old folder, each with its own set of benefits and drawbacks.
Using the Storage Sense Configuration
Using a Windows 10 feature called Storage Sense, you can delete outdated Windows versions. Storage Sense is a built-in function in Windows 10 that monitors storage and automatically frees up space. Here are some of the characteristics of Storage Sense that set it apart from other ways to clean up your Windows 10 machine.
- Removes temporary files from your computer that are no longer in use.
- Cloud-based material that hasn’t been accessed in a specific number of days is dehydrated.
- If a file in the Downloads folder hasn’t been accessed in a particular number of days, it will be deleted.
- If files have been in the Recycle Bin for longer than the period specified in the Storage Sense settings, they are removed.
Storage Sense is handy for a variety of purposes, including uninstalling previous versions of your Windows system. Here’s how.
To delete a Windows.old folder using Storage Sense, follow these steps:
- Click the Start button, enter storage, and then choose Storage Settings.
Changing Storage Options
2. Once you’ve completed the Storage settings, choose Set up Storage Sense or Run It Now.
Set up Storage Sense
3. In the Set up Storage Sense window, scroll down and enable the Delete previous Windows option.
You may skip this part if you don’t see the Delete previous Windows option.
4. Select the Clean Now option.
Using Storage Sense to delete a previous Windows version
Temporary Files Configuration
Temporary Files is a useful feature buried beneath the Storage part of the Settings menu in Windows 10. This function may be used to delete a variety of unnecessary files, but for now, let’s concentrate on the Windows.old folder.
- Return to the Storage Preferences window. Select Temporary files from the drop-down menu.
Getting Access to Temporary Files
2. Select the Previous Windows installation(s) option in the Temporary files box. The full old Windows version is included in this selection.
If you don’t see the Previous Windows installation(s) option, your machine doesn’t have any older Windows versions, therefore you may skip this phase.
3. Click the Remove files button to delete all of the temporary files that have been examined.
The total space to be cleaned is 23.57 GB, which is significant, right?
Selecting and Deleting Previous Windows Installations
The Disk Cleanup Tool is being used.
The Disk Cleanup program is the ultimate option for removing a Windows.old folder and an old installation. Disk Cleanup is a Windows heritage utility. Windows 98 was the first to include it. The Disk Cleanup tool in Windows 10 might be considered an older version of Storage Sense.
Yes, it’s ancient, but it’s not outdated since it still performs a good job of cleaning up the previous version of Windows on your hard drive.
To wipe away the Windows.old folder, use the Disk Cleanup tool:
- Select Disk Cleanup from the Windows start menu after typing cleanmgr.
2. Select the drive you wish to clean up from the little pop-up box that appears and click OK. Choose C: since you’ll be using the Disk Cleanup program to delete the windows.old folder.
Choosing a Clean-Up Drive
3. Click the Clean up system files button in the Disk Cleanup box to add system files to the list of files and folders you may remove.
Delete System Files via Accessing System Files
In the Disk Cleanup option window, which we’ll explore later, you may also choose to erase temporary files.
4. Select C: once again when you click the Clean up system files option. The system files, such as the past Windows versions presented with Previous Windows installation, will then appear in a list (s).
5. Select the option to add previous Windows installation(s) to the list of files to remove from the system, then click OK.
Selecting and Deleting Previous Windows Installations
Depending on the overall quantity of disk space to be cleaned, cleaning the drive will take some time. You’re all set after the cleanup is completed!
Drive for Cleaning
Is it OK to delete the $Windows.BT and $Windows.WS folders?
When you update Windows to Windows 10, it produces a $Windows.BT and a $Windows.WS folder, similar to the Windows.old folder from the preceding section. These folders hold a backup of your Windows system, allowing you to restore to an earlier version of Windows.
You may roll back to your prior Windows version within ten days after installing the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (Version 1607). When the rewind time is ended, both the $Windows.BT and $Windows.WS directories are immediately erased.
Is it safe for you to remove them by yourself? Yes, however getting rid of these files is a little difficult.
The WS folders are system folders, which means they belong to the system rather than the user. To remove the folders, you must first assume control of them, as explained in the following section.
Using PowerShell to Remove System Folders
You may remove the $Windows.BT and $Windows.WS folders in a variety of methods that you can discover on the internet. Some claim they work, while others claim they don’t, however PowerShell as administrator is the most effective technique to delete these system files.
Open Windows PowerShell as administrator and paste the following code into the console to remove the $Windows.BT Folder and other system folders. This code may also be used to construct a PowerShell script.
*/F – defines the filename or directory name pattern ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## /R – recurse: tells the tool to work on all files in the current directory and its subdirectories. * takeown /F C:’$Windows.BT*’ /R /A ## /A – assigns ownership to the administrators’ group instead of the current user. ## */T – specifies that this action is executed on all matching files/directories below the directories given in the name, giving the Administrator account complete power over the folder. ## /grant – provides access permissions to the given user. * icacls /T /grant administrators: C:’$Windows.BT*.*’ ## F Deletes the system folder ## *-Force – deletes read-only files by force ## -Recurse:$false – (silent mode) disables prompts -Recurse -Force -Confirm:$False Remove-Item C:’$Windows.BT’
The technique for removing the $Windows.BT folder is shown here, but the same procedure may be used to delete the $Windows.WS folder.
Using PowerShell to delete the $Windows.BT folder
Other Space-Saving Windows 10 Cleaning Tips
Other than the primary examples in this guide, you may free up space in your storage by eliminating items from the Downloads folder and uninstalling unnecessary software.
Delete the Downloads Folder
Your Downloads folder is a common source of lost space on your hard drive. This folder, which is usually configured as the default download destination in your web browser, may rapidly grow.
To clear it up, follow these steps:
- Open File Explorer and type C:Users% USERPROFILE% Downloads in the address bar, then hit Enter. This route leads to your home directory’s Downloads folder.
2. Press Ctrl+A to select all files in this folder, or hold the Ctrl key while clicking on each file to remove and retain the ones you want.
Getting into the Downloads Folder
3. Once you’ve made your choice, use the Remove or Shift+Delete keys to permanently delete the files.
Unused Applications Are Removed
You often install software and then leave them in the system even if you aren’t utilizing them. As a consequence, these programs take up space on your hard disk, therefore uninstalling some of them is a good idea.
How to Use Revo Uninstaller to Keep Your Windows System Clean
To remove apps, follow these steps:
- Click on the Start button, type in apps and click on Apps & Features.
Accessing Apps & Features
2. From the Apps & features section, look for any application you don’t need anymore, select an application and click on Uninstall to remove it from the system.
Application Uninstallation
Windows 10 Temp Files Removal
You may have already used the Disk Cleanup program if you’ve been following along. When running Disk Cleanup, this utility cleans up Temporary Files by default. However, if you’re concerned and want to be cautious, you may also delete temporary files using File Explorer or PowerShell.
The C:Users percent USERPROFILE percent AppDataLocalTemp folder contains temporary files. If you prefer the command line or are automating this operation, you may securely remove all files in this folder using File Explorer or PowerShell.
If you want to remove transient files in Windows 10 using PowerShell, follow these steps:
- Start typing powershell in the Windows start menu.
2. Right-click Windows PowerShell and choose Run as Administrator from the context menu.
How to Use PowerShell as an Administrator
3. In the PowerShell console, paste the following command. This command will try to delete every file and folder in your transient file folder.
-Path $env:USERPROFILEAppDataLocalTemp* -Recurse Remove-Item
As illustrated here, PowerShell may produce a few problems. This is understandable. Other applications will almost always be actively utilizing certain files. If this occurs, restart Windows 10 and try again; however, you may not be able to delete all of the files.
Permission denied errors while Windows 10 Temp Files Removal
Conclusion
You should now have all of the information you need to keep Windows 10 clutter-free! After you’ve eliminated backup files, file history, the Windows.old folder, ran disk cleaning cmd’s, and erased temp files in Windows 10, your operating system should be much more streamlined and ready to use!
Windows 10 automatically backs up your files to the cloud. Disabling this feature can help you clean up your hard drive. Here are 9 ways to do it with Disk Cleanup Cmd’s. Reference: disable automatic backup windows 10.
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