How to see what’s taking up space on SSD in Windows11/10/8/7? If the hard drive is nearly full, how can you free up SSD disk space? This article aims to address these problems.
"Hi, a couple of weeks ago my hard drive slowly started filling up. When I start my system, the space is continuously decreasing. I can't figure out what is taking up space on my SSD, so can someone help me? I'm not very good at doing computer things, so I would appreciate some feedback."
There is nothing extraordinary if you find your HDD or SSD is full for no reason after they are used for a while. But you may ask: What is taking up space on my SSD? Usually, a hard drive is for data storage including system, applications, folders, and other personal files.
If you want to master the detailed occupation of each file, the guide on how to see what's taking up space on SSD can help you out.
Some files are hidden by the Windows system or users. They are eating up storage space but are not found directly. So you can make the hidden files visible and then know how much they occupy on SSD.
Step 1. Open File Explorer from the taskbar.
Step 2. Select "View" > "Options" > "Change folder and search" options.
Step 3. Click the "View" tab and select "Show hidden files, folders, and drives" in Advanced settings, and click "OK".
After displaying all hidden files, folders, and drives, you can view what is occupying on each hard drive from Storage Sense. Here we take Windows 10 as an example. You can do as follows:
Step 1. Press the "Windows + I" keys to open the settings. Then click "System" > "Storage".
Step 2. Then, you will get a view of the space usage on each hard drive like the screenshot below.
Step 3. To see what's taking up space on PC in detail, you can click a specific hard drive. And you will see all the contents stored on it, including apps, documents, temporary files, etc.
Now, you have know how to see what's taking up space on SSD in Windows 10. If you want to ease the burden of a nearly full hard drive, keep reading to learn some easy and effective methods for SSD cleanup.
Here are four common ways you can adopt in Windows 11/10/8/7 to clean up storage space on SSD. Feel free to begin with anyone that suits you most.
Junk files and temporary files are generated at all times when using the computer. They are constantly consuming valuable space on the disk. Thus, clearing these files out can help to release some space from the SSD.
Step 1. Search "Disk Cleanup" on the search bar, select the match result, and choose the target drive to open the Disk Cleanup.
Step 2. Tick the files that you want to delete from the selected drive and click "OK".
After do the cleaning up on the drive, all deleted files are moved to Recycle Bin. If you don’t empty the Recycle Bin in time, it will remain there and continue to take up your HDD or SSD space.
To empty a Recycle Bin, just right-click the icon on your desktop and select "Empty Recycle Bin". Or you can set it to auto-delete regularly:
Step 1. Search "Task Scheduler" in the search bar, and press "Enter".
Step 2. Right-click "Task Scheduler Library" and choose "New Folder". Give it a distinguished name, right-click the newly created folder and select "Create Task".
Step 3. Give a name for the task, like "Empty Windows Recycle Bin".
Step 4. Under the Triggers tab, click "New" to create an action that will trigger the task.
Step 5. You can set a schedule to act clean task regularly including At log on, At startup, On an event, and more.
Step 6. On the Actions tab, click "New" and follow the steps below:
In the "Programs/script" enter cmd.exe.
In the "Add arguments" enter "/c echo Y|PowerShell.exe -NoProfile -Command Clear-RecycleBin".
Then click "OK" to complete the task.
System Restore is a Windows feature for repairing some computer problems. It doesn't get much attention, but it still occupies a lot of space. Therefore, you can disable system restore to free up SSD space.
Step 1. Right-click "This PC", and click "Properties" in the menu.
Step 2. Select "System Protection" on the left.
Step 3. Choose the disk you want to disable System Protection for and click "Configure"
Step 4. Tick the "Disable system protection" option, and click "OK".
Hibernation mode will generate a "hiberfil.sys file" that is hidden on your system drive. It saves RAM content on your hard drive but still takes up lots of space. To free up space on SSD, you can disable Hibernate entirely. Here are the steps.
Step 1. Input "cmd" in the search box. Right-click on it and select "Run as administrator".
Step 2. Type "powercfg.exe /hibernate off" and hit "Enter". It will simultaneously disable Hibernation mode and delete the hiberfil.sys file stored on your SSD.
As you can see from the guide on how to see what’s taking up space on SSD, apps and programs are usually occupying the most space, causing the insufficient SSD space on your computer. Thus, removing those software that you don't need anymore is an effective way to get additional free space on the hard drive.
Step 1. Type "control panel" on the search bar and click the result to open Control Panel.
Step 2. Click "Programs" > "Programs and Features". Right-click on the program you want to uninstall and select "Uninstall".
Through the methods mentioned above, you can clean up your SSD to some extent. But it's not enough to reclaim an SSD with good maintenance. In this part, we'll introduce you a third-party hard drive cleaner called AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional to help you.
Compatible with all editions of Windows 11/10/8/7/XP/Vista, AOMEI software is featured with many intelligent functions in freeing up disk space. Even if you are a computer novice, you can exert this tool. Now, download the demo version and see how to free up disk space on SSD effortlessly.
Windows Disk Cleanup only removes useless files from your computer. If you have amounts of files that are in large size and no longer needed, AOMEI software can help you delete them quickly and safely.
Step 1. Download and open AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, click "Delete Large Files" under the "Free up" section.
Step 2. In the new interface, all partitions will be listed, tick the target partition and click "Start Scan".
Step 3. After scanning, all the large files on the SSD will be listed. Files in red is not recommended to delete. Tick the large files you want to delete and click "Delete".
Step 4. After confirming the files to be deleted, click "Delete Now" to remove them completely.
If your SSD is full of programs, applications, and games that you don't want to uninstall, you can change the location of these programs to obtain the goal of disk cleanup. AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is such a reliable app mover that can move installed programs, games, and files to a different place with a few clicks.
Step 1. Run AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, click "Free up" > "App Mover".
Step 2. In the new window, choose to move apps or folder. Here we choose "App Mover" as example.
Step 3. In the pop-up window, choose the partition you want to free up and click "Next".
Step 4. Then, all movable apps and programs on the selected drive will be listed. Tick the one you want to move and select the destination partition (like D drive). Then click "Move" to continue.
Step 5. Read a note and then click "OK".
Step 6. The movement will be done after a while. Finally, click "Finish" to exit the window.
Now, you've learned how to see what's taking up space on SSD Windows 11/10/8/7 and how to free up space on SSD with several feasible methods. However, as time goes by, the data on the disk will only increase but not decrease. Apart from using the above cleaning ways to clear up your hard drive regularly, you can also choose to upgrade to a larger SSD for more storage capacity.