How to efficiently clean up disk space in windows 11?

One effective trick is to move large files to an external SSD.

If your main system drive (usually C:) is running low on space, moving large files or folders to another internal or external drive can quickly clean up free disk space for Windows 11 when the c drive is full. Common candidates include videos, high-resolution photos, archived projects, virtual machine files, and game installations.

You can manually move them via File Explorer or change app/game installation paths to another drive in Settings → Storage → Advanced storage settings. This method doesn’t delete anything—it simply relocates the data to a location with more available space, helping your system drive run more efficiently.

Pros:

Instantly frees up large amounts of space without deleting files.

Easy to do using File Explorer, no special software required.

Reduces strain on your system drive, potentially improving performance.

Cons:

Accessing files on an external drive can be slower than on the system drive.

Requires having another drive or enough storage space available.

Moving files used by certain apps may require reconfiguration or reinstallation.