How do I free up storage space on my Windows 11 PC?

Running out of storage is the digital equivalent of trying to shove a sleeping bag back into its original sack—frustrating and seemingly impossible. If your PC is starting to "breathe through a straw," here are the most effective things to clear out, ranked from easiest to most impactful.

Best things to delete for freeing up storage on Windows pc

1. The "Junk Drawer": The Downloads Folder

This is almost always the biggest culprit. We download installers ($EXE$ or $MSI$ files), PDFs, and zipped folders, use them once, and forget them.The

Fix: Sort your Downloads folder by File Size. You’ll likely find massive installers for programs you’ve already installed. Delete them—you can always download them again later if needed.

2. Large Applications and Games

Modern games can easily take up 50GB to 150GB each. If you haven't played Call of Duty or The Sims in six months, they are holding your hard drive hostage.

The Fix: Go to Settings > Apps > Installed Apps. Sort by Size. Be ruthless. If you use Steam, use its built-in manager to move games to an external drive or uninstall them.

3. Temporary System Files

Windows keeps a lot of "just in case" files that it rarely actually needs, including old Windows Update files (which can be massive).