If the Windows folder is too big on Windows 10 and makes the C drive crowded, the performance of your PC will be badly affected. Thus, measures should be taken to deal with this issue. Here, you can try some practical ways to efficiently compress the Windows folder on Windows 10.
"As the C drive is almost full, my PC is gradually becoming slow and sluggish. So, I plan on freeing up some space for the C drive by deleting some unnecessary files. I find the Windows folder takes up over 20GB of space. Is there any way to compress this folder?"
Over time, the C drive – the system drive– could run low on space and the performance could also be badly worsened. Then, you dig into it and find the Windows folder has become too large, especially the WinSxS folder under it accounts for most of the storage space it occupies. So, what are inside the WinSxS folder?
On Windows 10, WinSxS is an essential folder under the Windows folder, which contains most of the components to customize and update the current installation. The folder will get larger once there’s a new quality update installed. Thus, over time, the WinSxS folder, as well as the Windows folder, can take large space.
There’re many system-related files in the Windows folder or other folders on the C drive. Most of them are critical for the OS to run normally and can’t be deleted but some of them can be deleted to free up storage space. Here, I list some of them that are removable.
1. Windows update files. This kind of file allows you to uninstall an update later. However, if you don’t plan on ever uninstalling Windows updates, just feel free to delete it.
2. Windows upgrade log files.
3. Language resource files.
4. Recycle Bin. This place is used to hold all deleted files and you can remove them permanently from your PC.
5. temp files. These files are not essential for your PC. You can delete them when the C drive is out of space.
6. Windows .old folder. The Windows .old folder is generated as a backup copy after the Windows upgrade. It helps restore the operating system to the previous state as it contains a collection of critical Windows files.
7. Downloaded Program Files.
8. Created system restore point. This option helps with system restoration when you encounter a system crash but you won’t run into any trouble by deleting it.
Why is my Windows folder 20GB? As mentioned above, the Windows folder can sometimes eat up large space, cause the issue of the C drive full, and downgrade the computer’s performance. Hence, people are trying to find a way to compress the Windows folder.
Disk Cleanup is a built-in utility on Windows 10 that helps users to clean junk files including cache and cookies as well as other unnecessary files. Of course, if the Windows folder is too big on Windows 10, you can resort to Disk Cleanup to delete removable files from it.
1. In the "Type here to search" bar at the bottom left of the desktop, type "disk cleanup" and launch it from the result.
2. Select the C drive where system files are held and hit the "OK" button.
3. Under "Files to delete"tab, tick those files that are removable as mentioned above like "Downloaded Program Files" and hit "OK > Delete Files". The process will complete within seconds.
The WinSxS folder can hold large storage space and accounts for the large Windows folder issue. You cannot directly delete it from the C drive as it contains critical data for the OS. In this case, you can try DISM command line to reduce the folder size.
1. Run CMD from the search box as an administrator.
2. Type the command as follows and hit “ENTER” which will clean the files that’re useless for the system.
Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
3. Type the following command and hit “ENTER” which will remove all superseded versions of each component in the component store.
Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase
4. Type the command below and hit “ENTER”. In this way, the amount of storage occupied by a service pack will be reduced.
Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /SPSuperseded
Now, go back to the Windows folder and check whether its size has been shrunk.
Besides Disk Cleanup, Windows 10 has an exclusive disk cleaner – Storage Sense – to delete files you don’t need including .temp files and contents in the recycle bin. This program will scan your device for files that are safe to clean and provide you with an estimate of space that can be freed. Also, it supports schedule cleaning.
1. Go to "Settings > System > Storage".
2. Toggle on Storage Sense as the image shows.
3. Scroll down to the "Local Disk (C:)" section and select "Temporary files".
4. After the scan, you can directly hit the "Remove files" button to delete those unnecessary files.
If the Windows folder is still too big on Windows 10 after trying the 2 methods above, there’s another alternative option to fix the C drive full issue. AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is a powerful third-party disk manager that’s capable of enlarging the C drive with free space from another drive or moving large apps like Microsoft Office or video games from the C drive to another drive without any data loss.
In this way, you can allocate extra free space to the C drive from another drive like D, E, and F.
Step 1. Install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional and right-click on a partition whose drive letter is not C. Select "Allocate Free Space".
Step 2. Determine the size of free space you want to allocate and select the C drive as the destination drive.
Step 3. Hit "Apply >Proceed" to commit the pending operation.
With the app mover, you can move apps including Microsoft Office, video games, or any other large programs to another drive to efficiently free up the C drive space.
Step 1. Run the AOMEI product and go to "Free up> App Mover".
Step 2. Then, in the popup window, select the C drive and hit "Next".
Step 3. Check the programs you want to move, choose a destination, and click on "Move".
Step 4. Confirm the operation when asked and the transfer will start.
Step 5. After it’s done, hit the "Finish" button to quit the program.
How to fix the issue of the Windows folder too big on Windows 10? This time, you’ve not only learnt about the cause of the issue but also, learnt how to deal with it in 3 effective ways. An optional tool – AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional – is also introduced to help enlarge or free up the C drive storage. With this software, you can also try other features including schedule defrag and SSD 4K alignment to fully optimize the performance of your PC. If you want to use this software on Servers, you can try the Server edition.