Resolving Low Storage Space Issues After Upgrading Windows
💾 Low Disk Space After Upgrading to Windows 10? Here’s How to Free Up Storage
After a successful Windows 10 upgrade, many users notice a significant drop in free hard drive space. That’s because your previous version of Windows—whether it was Windows 7 or Windows 8—is still stored on your system, taking up several gigabytes of valuable storage.
Microsoft keeps this backup of your old Windows installation in a folder deep within the C:/ drive to allow you to roll back to the previous version if needed. While this is helpful as a safety net, it can consume up to 20 GB or more of disk space. If you’re happy with Windows 10 and need more room, you can safely delete these files.
🧹 How to Remove Old Windows Installation Files in Windows 10
Follow these steps to clean up your disk and remove previous Windows installations:
Open the Disk Cleanup Tool
Click the Start Menu, type “Disk Cleanup”, and select the app from the search results.
Select Your Main Drive
When prompted, choose your C:/ drive (the default Windows installation drive), and click OK.
Clean Up System Files
In the Disk Cleanup window, click “Clean up system files” in the bottom left corner.
Find and Delete ‘Previous Windows Installation(s)’
Windows will scan your system again.
Scroll through the list and check the box labeled ‘Previous Windows installation(s)’—this can free up several gigabytes of storage.
Click OK, then confirm by selecting Delete Files when prompted.
That’s it! You’ve now freed up space on your hard drive by removing outdated files no longer needed by Windows 10.