What is Taking Up So Much Space on Hard Drive Windows 11, 10, 8, 7? Know Here
The disk space can run out quickly, sometimes even without notifying me what is taking up my hard drive space. Well, it is a very common issue encountered by almost all computer users that the hard drive or solid-state drive of the system is filled up and when users least expect it, they find there is no more space to save new data. If you are one of those users who is getting low disk space errors, then there is no need to worry about this. There are several ways to determine and free up space on Windows hard drives. Here is our guide for what is taking up so much space on hard drive windows 11, 10, 8, and 7.
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Reason 1. Installation of Space-Hungry Applications
There are many applications or programs installed on the computer that we no longer use and that occupy large storage spaces. Removing such applications can free up a good amount of space on the hard drive to install new programs and download photos, and videos. If you don’t know what is taking up so much space on my hard drive,. Then, perform the below-mentioned solution:
Solution: Follow the steps below to uninstall unnecessary programs in the Windows OS:
- Click on the Start menu and choose Settings
- Select System
- First, write App in the search bar and then click Apps & features option and you will get a list of all installed applications
- Select the application that you no longer use or that is unneeded and click on Uninstall.
Reason 2. Check for Extremely Large Temporary Files
Windows creates temporary files when a Windows session becomes dismissed in a suspicious way or when the system gets shut down without properly closing the running applications. These .tmp extension files are saved on the hard drive of a computer and sometimes the large-sized temporary files affect the performance of the OS and the system runs out of space. Here you will come to know what is taking up space on my hard drive in Windows 10.
Solution: The disk cleanup tool allows for deleting temporary files that are large in size. Below is how to use this tool:
- Click Start >> Computer
- Hit right-click on the system hard drive and choose Properties
From the General tab, choose Properties - Now, Windows will start scanning the drive and show how much space you can save via running Disk Cleanup
- Choose the files you want to delete from the drive and hit the OK button.
Reason 3. Check Junk Files as Temp/Log/Downloaded/Registry Files
Junk files remain on the computer after performing a task. In addition, sometimes Windows or any program creates a temporary file to execute some tasks and forgets to delete the .tmp file. After a time, the system accumulates a large number of junk files in the form of temporary files, downloaded files, log files, and unnecessary registry entries that display the system out of space. You will get a working solution for what is taking up so much space on hard drive Windows 11, 10, and 8.
Solution: Below are the instructions on how to remove junk files from the computer:
- Navigate to Settings >> System >> Storage
- Now, you will see that this feature is disabled by default and you can toggle it to turn on
- Click on Change how we free up space and you will get two different options:
- Delete temporary files that apps aren’t using: This option will remove all the temporary files generated by applications but not in use currently
- Delete files that have been in the recycle bin for over 30 days: This option will delete all the files present in the recycle bin folder for more than 30 days
- After this, hit the Clean now button to release more storage space immediately
Reason 4. Accumulated Duplicate Files Over Time
Today, almost every computer contains duplicate files. These files roll up over time, get scattered all over the computer drive and consume valuable disk space. The more duplicate files on the computer’s HDD or SSD, the slower the Windows computer will be. Check what is taking up so much space on my hard drive in Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7.
Solution: In order to remove duplicate files from the system:
- Go to the location where files are duplicated
- Now, select all the duplicate files you want to remove
- Press the Shift+Delete buttons and click Yes
- Repeat the steps to remove duplicate files from different locations on the computer.
Reason 5. Trash Folder Reaches Ridiculously Big Size
Normally, deleted files end up being moved to the Recycle Bin folder. This folder is handy from a safety point of view, as one can restore a file that was deleted mistakenly. However, this folder also has a defined size limit to store the eliminated data and when the limit is exceeded, the system starts crashing, resulting in other issues. In this case, you also don’t know what is taking up so much space on hard drive windows 11, 10, 8, or 7.
Solution: If you want to remove files from the Recycle Bin folder:
- Navigate to the location where Recycle Bin folder is situated
- Select the folder and right-click on it
- Choose the Empty Recycle Bin option
- After this, all the files in the Recycle Bin folder will be permanently deleted from the system.
Conclusion
Hard drives with higher capacity always seem to fill up and display low space while users try to save new data. In such conditions, users ask a common question: What is taking up so much space on hard drive Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7? In this article, we have tried to roll up all the most probable reasons and solutions to free up hard drive storage space in the Windows system. Users can opt for solutions according to their cases.
