Where Is Disk Cleanup In Windows 11?

Disk Cleanup utility in the Windows operating system lets you free up valuable disk space on your computer by deleting unwanted files.

With the Disk Cleanup tool, you can delete Windows error reports and feedback diagnostics files, DirectX shader cache, delivery optimization files, Recycle Bin files, temporary files, thumbnails, files from the previous versions of Windows (Windows.old folder), Windows Update files, old device drivers, and language resource files.

In Windows 10, launching the Disk Cleanup tool is easy. All we need to do is right-click on the drive, click Properties and then click the Disk Cleanup button in the Properties dialog to run the Disk Cleanup tool.

In Windows 11, however, the Disk Cleanup button does not appear in the disk properties dialog. So, how to launch the Disk Cleanup tool and perform disk cleaning in Windows 11?

Is the Disk Cleanup tool present in Windows 11?

Yes, the Disk Cleanup tool is very much part of the Windows 11 operating system. It’s just that it has been moved to a new place.

How to launch the Disk Cleanup tool in Windows 11?

The Disk Cleanup tool can be accessed by typing Disk Cleanup in the Start/taskbar search and pressing the Enter key.

How to perform Disk Cleanup in Windows 11?

Follow the directions given below to perform a disk cleanup job in Windows 11.

Step 1: Type Disk Cleanup in the Start/taskbar search and press the Ener key to open the Disk Cleanup utility.

If the search does not work, open the Run command using the Windows logo + R hotkey, type cleanmgr.exe, and then hit Enter.

Step 2: When you get the following dialog, select the drive you want to clean up from the drop-down and click OK. Note that you cannot select multiple drives at once. In other words, you can clean up only one drive at a time.

Step 3: The Disk Cleanup app will look for files and folders that can be safely deleted to free up drive space. In a few seconds, you will get the Disk Cleanup dialog.

Step 4: In the Files to delete section, select the items you want to delete and click the OK button.

If you have selected a drive where Windows 11 is installed, the dialog will show a Cleanup system files button. Click on it, select the drive again (not sure why Windows 11 asks to select the drive again) to see additional types of files (like Windows.old folder containing the previous version of Windows) that can be deleted.

NOTE: As you can see in the picture above, the dialog also shows how much space you can free up by deleting shown files.

Step 5: You will see the confirmation prompt upon clicking the OK button. Click the Delete files button to clean up all selected types of files.