How to Use Disk Cleanup on Windows 7 (+ More Tricks to Free Up Space)

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Safely remove old files and programs to reclaim space
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Is your Windows 7 PC running low on disk space? Disk Cleanup in Windows 7 can delete temporary files, old system restore points, and other unnecessary files. You can also free up space by deleting programs in Control Panel, or by finding and deleting large files and folders. This wikiHow guide teaches you how to free up space on your Windows 7 computer's hard drive, with expert tips from Computer Repair Technician Jeremy Mercer.

Quick Steps

  1. Open the Start menu and type "disk cleanup".
  2. Click Disk Cleanup .
  3. Select Clean up system files and click Yes .
  4. Select items to delete and select OK > Delete Files .
Method 1
Method 1 of 4:

Using Disk Cleanup

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  1. To do so, open the Start menu, type disk cleanup into the search bar, and click Disk Cleanup in the search results. This will open the Disk Cleanup window.
  2. This is on the lower-left side of the Disk Cleanup window.
    • If you aren't on an administrator account, you can't clean up system files. Skip this step and the next one.
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  3. Doing so will allow Disk Cleanup to restart with additional options available.
  4. Click the checkbox next to each category of files or items you want to delete from your computer, making sure to uncheck any checkboxes next to items you want to keep. Some of the categories are as follows, though you may see more categories than these:
    • Windows Update — Removes the last Windows Update files from your computer (this does not remove the current update).
    • Service Pack Backup Files — Removes files left over from the most recent SP update.
    • Downloaded Program Files — Removes unnecessary files from programs.
    • Temporary Internet Files — Removes saved Internet files.
    • System created Windows Error Reporting — Removes error reporting files.
    • Recycle Bin — Removes any files stored in the Recycle Bin.
    • Temporary files — Removes other temporary files created by programs or web use.
    • User file history — Removes browsing and other histories.
    • Everything in this menu can be deleted safely, but removing things like the Windows Update cache will prevent you from being able to roll back to the previous version of the Windows update.
    EXPERT TIP

    Jeremy Mercer

    Computer Repair Technician
    Jeremy Mercer is the Manager and Head Technician at MacPro-LA in Los Angeles, CA. He has over ten years of experience working in electronics repair, as well as retail stores that specialize in both Mac and PC.
    Jeremy Mercer
    Computer Repair Technician

    Go through your download folder to free up even more space. Some people download files and never delete anything. Go through your downloads and delete anything you don't need. Then, empty your Recycle Bin so those files won't keep taking up space on your hard drive.

  5. It's at the bottom of the window.
  6. Doing so will allow Disk Cleanup to erase the selected items from your computer's hard drive. Once this process completes, Disk Cleanup will close itself.
    • It may take anywhere from a few minutes to around an hour for Disk Cleanup to finish running.
    • Mercer also recommends using CC Cleaner, a free third-party tool, to clean up files in Windows 7. "It's the most reputable, and it works," he explains. "CC Cleaner goes through and gets rid of all the junk files. You just scan it and run the cleaner."
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Method 2
Method 2 of 4:

Deleting Old System Restore Points

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  1. There's another area of Disk Cleanup that allows you to free up even more space from old System Restore points and shadow copies of files. To open Disk Cleanup, click the Windows Start menu, type disk cleanup , and click Disk Cleanup .
    • Having old restore points can be useful if you need to restore Windows 7 to a time before installing some problematic software. But if you need more space, deleting restore points older than the most current one will typically free up quite a bit.
  2. This is on the lower-left side of the Disk Cleanup window.
  3. Doing so will allow Disk Cleanup to restart with additional options available.
  4. It's at the top of Disk Cleanup.
  5. A confirmation will appear, asking if you want to delete all but the most recent restore point.
  6. Your old System Restore points and unneeded old shadow copies of files are now removed from Windows 7.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 4:

Uninstalling Programs

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  1. It's on the right side of the Start menu. Doing so opens the Control Panel window.
    • If you don't see Control Panel here for some reason, type control panel into the text box at the bottom of the Start menu, then click Control Panel in the search results.
  2. You'll see this menu in the upper-right corner of Control Panel.
  3. This is under the "Programs" heading on the lower-left side of the list of options.
  4. Scroll down until you find the name of the program that you want to uninstall, then click the program's name to select it.
  5. It's at the top of the window.
    • Some programs will require you to click Change / Uninstall here instead.
  6. You'll usually have to confirm that you want to remove the program and then follow the uninstaller prompts. Once the uninstall process is complete, you can uninstall another program if necessary.
    • In some cases, you'll need to restart your computer before the program in question can be fully uninstalled.
    • Some programs will uninstall immediately after you click Uninstall .
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Method 4
Method 4 of 4:

Deleting Large Files

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  1. Download WinDirStat from https://windirstat.net/download.html . This free tool helps you visualize which files use the most space and delete the ones you no longer need. Click the download link for your architecture (32-bit or 64-bit) to download the installer.
    • If you're not sure whether your Windows 7 PC is 32-bit or 64-bit, here's a simple way to find out:
    • Click the Start menu and type system .
    • Click System in the "Control Panel" list.
    • Look under "System type" for "64-bit" or "32-bit". [1]
  2. Double-click the installer, then follow the on-screen instructions to install the program. Once installed, you'll find WinDirStat in the Start menu.
  3. If you have multiple drives, you can select Individual Drives to scan them all.
    • If you want to scan your drives for multiple copies of the same file, check the box next to "Scan for duplicate files" first. Just be aware that this will add a lot of extra time to the scan—it could even take a few hours.
  4. In addition to seeing the amount of space each folder takes up at the top of WinDirStat, you'll also see a visual representation of your files as colored rectangles—the largest rectangles indicate the largest files.
    • Click a large rectangle to see its location and how much space it consumes.
    • "Check for things like movie files," Mercer advises. "Typically, if you save a lot of movies on your computer, they'll be taking up an average of 1 GB to 8 GB on your computer." Video files usually end in extensions like .MOV, .MP4, WMV, FLV, and AVI.
  5. Unfortunately, WinDirStat can't tell you which files you might need in the future. You can, however, select a folder and go to Cleanup > Select in Explorer to browse the file in File Explorer and see if it's something you've been using. To delete a file or folder, select it, press the delete key on your keyboard, and follow the on-screen instructions.
    • You may notice a lot of large files and folders in C:\Users\(yourusername)\AppData. When you uninstall programs, the associated files are not always removed from this folder. So, if you see a folder in AppData for a piece of software you recognize but don't use anymore and have already uninstalled, you can safely delete it to reclaim space.
    EXPERT TIP

    Jeremy Mercer

    Computer Repair Technician
    Jeremy Mercer is the Manager and Head Technician at MacPro-LA in Los Angeles, CA. He has over ten years of experience working in electronics repair, as well as retail stores that specialize in both Mac and PC.
    Jeremy Mercer
    Computer Repair Technician

    Phone backups also take up a lot of space. If you back up your phone to, say, iTunes, it can consume a lot of space. For example, if you have 32 GB phone and your backup is 30 GB, the backup will take up 30 GB on your computer.

  6. After deleting files with WinDirStat, the deleted files will remain in your Recycle Bin until you delete them. Fortunately, there's an easy way to delete them from within WinDirStat:
    • Click the Clean Up menu.
    • Click Empty Recycle Bin .
    • Click Yes to confirm.
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    How do I free you disk space on your phone?
    Community Answer
    Use CCleaner or do it manually by browsing through your settings and deleting programs, texts, media, etc. that you no longer need.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
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    Not Helpful 6 Helpful 8
  • Question
    I've upgraded from Win 7 to 10 and I need to recover a deleted desktop file containing a 3MB picture. How can I do that?
    Community Answer
    You can't. The most you can do is check the recycle bin.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
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      Warnings

      • Be careful when removing programs from your computer. If you see that a program's publisher comes from your computer's manufacturer or Microsoft, leave it alone unless you know what it is.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/determine-whether-your-computer-is-running-a-32-bit-version-or-64-bit-version-of-the-windows-operating-system-aac162a1-0cb3-46f2-888f-2f22897396ce#__toc289248465

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      1. Open the Windows search bar.
      2. Type "disk cleanup."
      3. Click Disk Cleanup .
      4. Click Clean up system files .
      5. Click Yes .
      6. Select items to delete.
      7. Click OK .
      8. Click Delete Files .

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        Jul 25, 2017

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