Up until now, if your Windows 10 PC’s system drive (the drive where Windows 10 is installed) is running out of disk space, you had no option but to manually free up disk space by deleting temporary files and uninstalling programs.
Starting with Windows 10 Creators Update (build 15014), Microsoft has introduced in a new option to automatically free up some space on your Windows 10 PC by deleting some temporary files as well as older files in the Recycle Bin.
At present, the automatically free up disk space feature deletes temporary files that your apps are not using and also Recycle Bin files that have been there for over 30 days.
Although this feature is not as powerful as some third-party utilities out there, Microsoft is expected to add more temporary file locations and more options to this automatically free up disk space feature.
The new feature, for some reason, is turned off by default. You need to turn it on under Storage section of Settings app. The addition of this feature not only makes PC maintenance easier than before but also helps novice users free up disk space without any worries.
Tip: To free up more space, refer to our 16 ways to free up disk space in Windows 10 guide.
Automatically free up disk space
Complete the given below directions to make Windows 10 automatically free up disk space by deleting temporary files that your apps are not using and delete files that have been in the Recycle Bin for over 30 days.
Step 1: Open Settings app. Navigate to System > Storage.
Step 2: Here, turn on Storage sense option.
Step 3: Click Change how we free up space link (located under Storage sense) to choose what all files you want to automatically delete to free up disk space.
With default settings, both Delete temporary files that my apps are not using and Delete files that have been in the Recycle Bin for over 30 days are turned on, but you can turn off any of these if you want to do so.
We recommend you turn off Delete files that have been in the Recycle Bin for over 30 days if you often restore files from Recycle Bin at a later stage.
Microsoft should have turned on this feature by default as there are many users who never clear temporary files manually, and keep on complaining Windows for eating up disk space.
There are other ways to free up disk space as well. You can delete Windows.old folder, delete old device drivers, clear Windows Update cache, and uninstall unwanted apps.
You might also like to read our how to safely delete temporary files in Windows 10.
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