Forum Discussion

wanisaqib's avatar
wanisaqib
Copper Contributor
Jul 04, 2026

Factory Reset

I factory reset the laptop but, now after clearing everything and deleting old windows file as well, why is more than 100 GB occupied, i do not understand

 

IT
support team
Tech
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Win11

2 Replies

  • Hellen-Charless's avatar
    Hellen-Charless
    Iron Contributor
    Jul 08, 2026

    Normally 100+ GB used is not normal if you did a complete factory reset and deleted the previous Windows installation. Check: To see what is using the space, go to Settings > System > Storage. Run Disk Cleanup and choose Clean up system files. Find large folders using WinDirStat or TreeSize Free. If you still have more than 100 GB in use, let us know what the overall size of your drive is and share a screen shot of the Storage page.

  • Jamony's avatar
    Jamony
    MCT
    Jul 07, 2026

    Hi, that can happen after a reset, especially if Windows kept recovery files, driver packages, update cleanup files, or a Windows.old folder.

     

    I would check Settings > System > Storage first and open the categories to see what is using the space. Then run Disk Cleanup or Storage Sense and include options like Windows Update Cleanup, Temporary files, and Previous Windows installation if shown.

     

    Also check:

     

    1. C:\Windows.old

    2. C:\$WINDOWS.~BT

    3. Large files under Downloads or user folders

    4. The recovery partition, which will not appear as normal free space

     

    If this is an Insider build, I would be a little cautious before deleting recovery files until you are sure the laptop is booting and updating normally.