[Fixed] Computer Says No Disk Space But There Is Plenty

Why does Windows say there is not enough disk space but there is plenty?

When you attempt to install programs or patches, have you ever met your computer says no disk space but there is a lot actually? Especially if you wish to store them on the C drive, you might see a note that warns you there's not enough disk space in Windows.

Before we find the solutions, let’s see some possible reasons that might cause the computer to say no disk space:

▶ Program or system is installed on the partition that does not have enough disk space.
This situation can be found when you check the storage location. The real needed space for a patch will be larger than the size it shows. Like a 2GB patch will require about 2.2-2.3GB to install. And for running normally, it might ask more space to store data or temp files.

▶ Program launcher without sufficient READING/WRITING privilege
If you don’t change the store directory, the programs and the files downloaded from platforms will automatically save in the C:\Program Files (x86) folder or Downloads folder. Only if users have administrator privilege, otherwise program files are unmovable. However, once the files are moved, they may not boot and run correctly.

▶ Folder of the program or the patch has some unreadable signs
It’s normal that the downloaded game patch has data files or folders named by some unidentifiable symbols. They also bring “No disk space” error when users run relevant applications.

How to fix “Computer says no disk space but there is”

There are several probable causes for the computer to report that there is no disk space available, even though there is on your drive. To figure out how to solve it, we'll show some solutions: two need Windows built-in tool and changing some settings, while the other two require the use of a professional disc management program.

Section 1. Use Windows tools

Windows has some built-in tools to help users simply organize their devices.

1. Clean the disk

Windows has a program to clean the target drive called “Disk Cleanup”, it can scan useless files and outdated Windows files and allow users to clean them.

Step 1. Open File Explorer and right-click on C: drive and select “Properties”, and then click the "Disk Cleanup" button in the disk properties window.

Step 2. Select the files you want to delete and click “OK”. From there, you can delete previous Windows installation (Windows.old folder), system restore points, Recycle Bin, and other system files.

2. Reinstall application on another directory

If you don’t insist to store the programs on the C drive, you can reinstall them on other drives with sufficient space.

Step 1. Use the search bar to find Control Panel in Windows.

Step 2. Click on “Uninstall” a program under the “Programs” > “Programs and Features”.

Step 3. Right-click on the program you wish to reinstall and uninstall it.

Or open “Settings” > “Apps & features” to uninstall the programs.

After you uninstall the programs, you can go to the official website to download them and change the storage location when the pop window shows.

Section 2. Employ third-party disk manager

Although you can reinstall the new programs, there aren’t Windows built-in programs that can help you move those you installed on the C drive. So, the space of the C drive still can’t be released.

With Windows tools, this way is unavailable, but with AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, you can do it. It is a Windows disk and partition manager to assist Windows 11/10/8/8.1/7/XP users in adjusting their devices safely and efficiently.

When the C drive is overburdened with loaded applications, we recommend that customers move certain programs from the C drive to another disk that still has enough capacity. And if there is some software you only use occasionally, you can move them to an external hard drive to release free space.

And after you moved some programs, your C drive should have more available capacity. But if the original space of the C drive is small, you also don’t need to worry, AOMEI Partition Assistant can fix this too. It can add free space on another partition to the target partition, so the capacity of the target partition will be larger, users can store more files on the partition.

If you’re badly in need of saving your C drive, try this tool. The following is the detailed operation.

1. App Mover

The “App Mover” is the feature to move the installed programs, you just need to follow the guide.

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. Click "Free up" > "App Mover".

Step 2. Click C drive and hit on "Next".

Step 3. All movable apps in C drive will be listed, choose whichever you need to move, select the destination path and click on "Move".

Step 4. In the pop-out window, click "OK" to close the running applications and start moving the app.

2. Extend C drive

“Allocate Free Space” is the function to share the capacity to drive with space crisis.

Step 1. Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant, right-click the partition from which you want to allocate free space, and select "Allocate Free Space".

Step 2. You will get a pop-up window. Type in the size of the free space which you want to split from the D drive and this free space will be directly added to the C drive.

Step 3. You can view "Pending Operations" on the sidebar in case of corrections and then click "Apply" on the toolbar to execute pending operations.

Then, you can restart the PC to finish the task.

Final lines

With AOMEI Partition Assistant, “computer says no disk space but there is plenty” won’t be a problem. As an all-around disk manager, it can do many things like converting the disk to GPT/MBR, migrating OS to SSD, PC cleaner, cloning…, and there’s the Server Edition for Windows Server users which supports Server 2022/2019/2016/2012(R2)/2008(R2).