Solved: What to Do When Be Warned “Insufficient Disk Space”

What does “Insufficient disk space” mean?

"Insufficient disk space" refers to a situation where the storage capacity on your computer's hard drive or storage device has significantly decreased and is now at a critically low level. This lack of free space makes it impossible to store additional files, applications, or data. Essentially, the ongoing process demands more space than what is currently available on your disk.

When you receive this warning, it means that your computer's storage capacity is running dangerously low, and there is a risk of encountering various issues and consequences. These can include the inability to save new data, slow system performance, errors when running applications, and even data loss in some cases.

In such cases, it is time to take appropriate measures to ensure your computer functions normally. This post will provide you with several methods to free up disk space and provide helpful tips to better manage your storage.

How to free up disk space for fixing “Insufficient Disk Space”

In normal cases, Windows inbuilt tools like Disk Cleanup and Storage Sense can be helpful to cope with the “Insufficient Disk Space” warning. However, if they are not as good as expectations, you can also choose a powerful tool to fix that.

Way 1. Clear Unnecessary Files

Over time, your computer may accumulate a significant number of junk files, including .tmp, cookies, and cache files, which can take up the space on your hard disk. When your hard disk becomes full, it becomes essential to remove these unnecessary files. To do this, you can use the built-in Windows cleaner called Disk Cleanup to free up some space.

Step 1. Press "Win + R" simultaneously, type "cleanmgr" in the popup box, and click "OK".

Step 2. Select the drive you want to clean and click "OK".

Step 3. Check the files you want to clean and click "OK" again.

Step 4. Confirm the operation when prompted. You can also repeat the steps above to clean other drives if needed.

Way 2. Enable Storage Sense

In addition to Disk Cleanup, Windows 10 provides another built-in disk cleaner called "Storage Sense." With Storage Sense, you can clean various types of unnecessary files, and you can even schedule it to run automatically on a regular basis.

Step 1. Go to "Settings > System > Storage".

Step 2. Toggle Storage Sense “On” where the image shows.

Step 3. Scroll down to the "Local Disk (C)" section and choose any items you want to clean. For example, you can select "Temporary Files."

Step 4. After the scan completes, click the "Remove files" button to delete those unimportant files.

Way 3. Move apps to another disk without data loss

However, the Disk Cleanup and Storage Sense primarily targets limited-scope files. It may not identify and remove all types of unnecessary data, such as large application files or duplicate files, which can still occupy significant space.

If you find that the built-in tools are still not enough to fix “Insufficient Disk Space” warning, it might be worth considering third-party utilities for assistance. AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is a highly convenient and practical disk manager compatible with Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10, and 11.

With its APP Mover feature, you can effortlessly transfer applications like video games and Microsoft Office from your current hard disk to another one without any risk of data loss (provided you have multiple hard disks on your PC).

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional and then, go to "Free up > App Mover".

Step 2. Next, select the source drive where those apps are and click on "Next".

Step 3. Tick the apps you want to move, select a drive on another hard disk, and hit the "Move" button.

Step 4. Confirm the operation when prompted and the app moving process will begin.

When it completes, click on "Finish".

Bonus tip: Upgrade to a larger disk to fix “Insufficient Disk Space”

If you consistently struggle with insufficient disk space, consider upgrading your internal hard drive to a larger one or adding an external hard drive for additional storage.

Nevertheless, when it comes to hard disk upgrading or replacement, the process often entails reinstalling all applications and programs from the previous hard disk to the new one, which can be a time-consuming endeavor. Fortunately, there's no need to fret, as you can utilize another feature of this AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional product – the Clone Disk function to effortlessly copy all files from one hard disk to another without risk of data loss.

To sum up

When you receive “Insufficient Disk Space”, you can try the provided methods to free up disk space. It is worth mentioning that apart from extending drive space, you can also use the function like PC Cleaner of AOMEI product for regular cleaning.

What’s more, the features like allocating free space, merging partitions, and resize partitions are also can be helpful. For Windows Server users, you can turn to the Server Edition to enjoy this powerful tool.