how to clean out my downloads folder pc Tips to free up drive space on your PC. Getting a message that your PC is running out of room can be a stressful event—or, even a genuine emergency if you're in the middle of an important project. The good news is you can probably free up a lot of space on your PC running Windows by following the tips here. But if you keep getting messages about low drive space, you might want to consider other options, including adding additional removable storage. To get the most out of these tips, do them in order from top to bottom. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings , and then tap Change PC settings . (If you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, click Settings , and then click Change PC settings .) Select PC and devices , and then select Disk space . Under Free up space on this PC , note the amount of free space and total size. You can view the size of your Windows Store apps and choose whether to uninstall them by tapping or clicking See my app sizes . You can also free up space by tapping or clicking Empty my Recycle Bin if you have files there. If you don't see Disk space, you don't have the latest update to Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1. For more info, see Install the Windows 8.1 Update (KB 2919355). You can also check the current space on your PC in File Explorer by searching for This PC . Cleaning out your PC on a regular basis frees up drive space and helps it run better. One of the easiest ways to clean up files you no longer need is by using Disk Cleanup. Open Disk Cleanup by clicking the Start button . In the search box, type Disk Cleanup , and then, in the list of results, select Disk Cleanup . If prompted, select the drive that you want to clean up, and then select OK . In the Disk Cleanup dialog box in the Description section, select Clean up system files . If prompted, select the drive that you want to clean up, and then select OK . In the Disk Cleanup dialog box, on the Disk Cleanup tab, select the check boxes for the file types that you want to delete, and then select OK . To remove data from a previous installation of Windows, select the Previous Windows installation(s) check box. In the message that appears, select Delete files . Go back to Computer in File Explorer, select the drive you cleaned up, and then select Refresh . If you need to free more space (the drive is still marked red), go to the next tip. Uninstall desktop apps you don't need any more in Programs and Features. To uninstall or change a program. Open Programs and Features by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel , clicking Programs , and then clicking Programs and Features . Select a program, and then click Uninstall . Some programs include the option to change or repair the program in addition to uninstalling it, but many simply offer the option to uninstall. To change a program, click Change or Repair . If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. Note: If the program you want to uninstall isn't listed, it might not have been written for this version of Windows. To uninstall the program, check the information that came with the program. You can also uninstall Store apps you don't want anymore. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings . (If you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.) Select Search and apps , and then select App sizes to see how much space each app is taking on the local drive. Once you locate an app you want to uninstall, select the app, and then select Uninstall . Note: This will only uninstall Store apps from your user account. If you have photos, music, videos, or other files that you want to keep but don't necessarily want on your PC, consider saving them to removable media, such as an external drive, USB drive, DVD, or cloud storage. You'll still be able to view those files as long as your PC is connected to the removable media or cloud storage, but they won't take up space on your PC. Open This PC by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search ), entering This PC in the search box, and then tapping or clicking This PC . In the Search This PC box in the upper-right, enter size:huge . Select the View menu, select Sort by , and then select Size . The largest files display at the top. Once you locate a file you want to delete, press and hold or right-click the file and then select Delete . Warning: Deleting files from the WinSxS folder or deleting the entire WinSxS folder might severely damage your system and make it impossible to restart or update your PC. The WinSxS folder is located in the Windows folder on your PC (for example, C:\Windows\WinSxS). It stores the Windows Component Store files, which are used to support functions needed to customize and update Windows. You can use the Task Scheduler to reduce the size of this folder. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search . (If you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, and then click Search .) Enter Control Panel in the search box, and then select Control Panel . Select System and Security , and then select Schedule tasks under Administrative Tools . Select the arrow next to Task Scheduler Library , select Microsoft , select Windows , and then select Servicing . Select StartComponentCleanup , and then select Run under Selected item . Files that are available offline take up more space on your PC. OneDrive also needs 200 MB of free space on your PC to sync your files. To free up space, you can make some files or folders online-only. If you have Access all files offline turned on, you need to first turn off this setting before you can make files online-only. If you have pending uploads to OneDrive, you need to wait until they are completed before making files online-only. On the Start screen, select OneDrive to open the OneDrive app. Browse to the file or folder you want to make online-only. Swipe down or right-click the file or folder to select it. Select Make online-only . To make your entire OneDrive online-only, swipe in from the right edge of the screen (or, if you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, and move the mouse pointer up), select Settings , select Options , and then select Make all files online-only . Open File Explorer by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search ), entering File Explorer in the search box, and then tapping or clicking File Explorer . Browse to the file or folder you want to make online-only. Press and hold or right-click the file or folder, and then choose Make available online-only . To make your entire OneDrive online-only, press and hold or right-click OneDrive, and then choose Make available online-only . The removable drive will need to be formatted with the NTFS file system. To check space availability. Before you move your OneDrive files, you should make sure the removable drive has enough space to store your files. Follow these steps: Open File Explorer by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search ), entering File Explorer in the search box, and then tapping or clicking File Explorer . Press and hold or right-click OneDrive. Select Properties , and then look at the amount next to Size on disk . In File Explorer, select This PC , and then see how much space is free on the removable drive. To move your OneDrive files. First, you'll need to create a folder on the removable drive for your OneDrive files. After you create the folder, follow these steps to move your files: Warning: Moving your OneDrive files will cancel any pending uploads. In File Explorer, press and hold or right-click OneDrive. Select Properties , and then select the Location tab. Select Move . Browse to the removable drive, and then select Select Folder . In the OneDrive Properties dialog box, select OK . In the Move Folder dialog box, select Yes . Your OneDrive files have been moved to the new drive. You can now delete the old OneDrive location. Note: For more help with moving files in OneDrive, contact customer support. A longer-term strategy for expanding your PC's storage capacity is to add removable storage, including SD cards, USB flash drives, DVDs or CDs, or using cloud storage or network drives. Removable storage options: Secure Digital (SD) cards. There are few different types of cards, including SD (32.0x24 mm), miniSD (21.5x20 mm), and microSD (15.0x11 mm). It's important to check with your PC manufacturer to understand which types of SD cards options are available on your PC. Tip: If you're using Surface, you can add up to 64 GB of storage with a microSD card. On Surface RT, the microSD card reader is located under the kickstand on the right side. On Surface Pro, the card reader is located on the right edge, above the power connection. USB and external drives. Most PCs include one or more USB ports that you can plug a USB flash or external drives into. Some newer PCs include a USB 3.0 port, which includes faster transfer speeds of up to 10 times USB 2.0. While you can use a USB 2.0 flash drive in a USB 3.0 port (at USB transfer speeds), you can't use a USB 3.0 flash drive with a USB 2.0 port. Check with your PC manufacturer to understand which USB ports your PC supports. DVDs and CDs. If your PC has a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray Disc drive that can read and write to a blank disc, you can use the drive to store data, much like an SD or USB flash drive . Here's how: When you insert a blank disc into the PC, choose Like a USB flash drive from the list of options. Cloud storage using OneDrive. Windows comes with the OneDrive app, which helps you get to your free OneDrive storage in the cloud, sometimes referred to as online storage. You can save files to OneDrive and work with them in several different ways: on the website (OneDrive.com), with the app for Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1, with the desktop apps for a PC or Mac, and with apps for your mobile devices. To see how much storage is available, and add more storage, swipe in from the right edge of the screen (or, if you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen), select Settings , select Change PC settings , and then select OneDrive . You can also go to Manage storage on the OneDrive website. Look Out: Windows 10’s ‘Free Up Space’ Can Empty Your Downloads Folder. Windows’ built-in cleaning tool can now empty out your Downloads folder, so make sure you don’t check that option if you keep anything important there. We’ve shown you how to clean up hard drive space using Free Up Space in Windows 10. As of this week, with the Windows 10 October 2018 update, this cleaning tool can clean out your Downloads folder. The option isn’t checked by default, but we all know how tempting checking everything can be when using an app like this. There are two kinds of people in the world: those who regularly clean out their Downloads folder, and those who store literally everything there. If you’re in the second group make sure you do not check the Downloads option the next time you free up space, or you might lose literally everything. It’s also worth noting that there’s also a checkbox for emptying the Recycle Bin in the Free Up Space tool. Make sure there’s nothing important in your Recycle Bin before you run the tool, because otherwise it’s gone for good. My windows installer folder is over 90 GB. Does Microsoft have a safe way to get rid of orphaned installer files? This folder is used to store patch and installer files. We don't recommend removing files in the Windows Installer folder or directory as it may cause serious problems in your computer. It is not guaranteed that it will not remove important files when using a third-party software as it automates the removing process. We encourage you to submit your question using the Feedback Hub. You can either vote on an existing submission or submit a new question. When you submit a feedback item we gather additional details and information that will help our software engineers to create a way about your concern. Feedback items regularly receive Microsoft responses on the submissions in the Feedback app so you can see what we are doing about your feedback. Please revisit frequently to see the status of your feedback items. For more information on Feedback Hub, see our support article and YouTube video. In order to submit new feedback, please follow these steps: On a Windows 10 device, search for “ Feedback Hub ” in Cortana search, then launch the app. Navigate to Feedback in the left menu, then press + Add new feedback . Select the Problem , and share any details you think are relevant, and choose an appropriate category and subcategory. Important: If possible, reproduce the problem(s) after clicking Begin monitoring (or Start capture ) near the end of the form; Stop monitoring when you’re done. Once you’ve completed the form and monitoring, click Submit . Click Continue using Feedback Hub. Click My feedback at the top, then find the item you submitted (it may take a while to appear). Open the item you submitted, then click Share . Click Copy link , then paste the link here in your response (it will look like https://aka.ms/ link>). Help us make Windows better. Report abuse. 4 people found this reply helpful. Was this reply helpful? Sorry this didn't help. Great! Thanks for your feedback. How satisfied are you with this reply? Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site. How satisfied are you with this reply? Thanks for your feedback. This is the stock Microsoft response that I've seen in many threads. The implication is that 90 GB is an appropriate size for this folder. In other words, the response says that it is ok if: old obsolete installer files occupy several times as much space as the entire OS. a hidden folder gets so big that it eats up all the empty space on the hard drive such that you can no longer update a small notebook computer and have no more room for any more files. all this happens without any obvious indication of where all the hard drive space has gone. a third party comes up with a free solution that lots of people use so they can bring their computers back to life, but Microsoft warns against using it, not because it has been shown to cause problems, but because it could possibly cause an unknown problem. users complain about an issue for over a decade without any response other than "leave it alone". Report abuse. 238 people found this reply helpful. Was this reply helpful? Sorry this didn't help. Great! Thanks for your feedback. How satisfied are you with this reply? Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site. How satisfied are you with this reply? Thanks for your feedback. Report abuse. 10 people found this reply helpful. Was this reply helpful? Sorry this didn't help. Great! Thanks for your feedback. How satisfied are you with this reply? Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site. How satisfied are you with this reply? Thanks for your feedback. I wonder how this particular folder can get up to 60GB ? Mine is @ 8GB, which even seems a bit much. My Win10 Windows folder. is currently 28GB total (and it's certainly never been bigger in the past decade). - Is your Win10 an upgrade, or clean install ? - Have you run Disk Cleanup w/ Cleanup System files yet ? Was there no benefit ? As this is a Windows system folder dealing with patch and updates for Windows functions I would also be very wary of messing with it. I believe you will have already read SpiritX's comments on the other thread. His suggestions are is as good as you will get. - Due to the large number of very small files in this folder, weeding them out manually is not really an option. Even if you did know. what they all do. - The WinSxS folder has brought on similar complaints in past. It also seems to get bloated on some peoples machines. "a third party comes up with a free solution that lots of people use so they can bring their computers back to life, but Microsoft warns against using it, not because it has been shown to cause problems, but because it could possibly cause an unknown problem." Yay for 3rd party developers. Too bad MS is making life harder for them on Win10. They've been important since day one Windows. Regarding this particular folder. Experiment with due diligence, and at your peril. Think Murphy's Law. Being the official MS Forums, this site is probably more conservative than some forums are on that level. If someone here has actually used Patch Cleaner with no long term issues and reads your thread they may pop in with a - "Go for it. ". You'd have to be lucky though, so if you have an external HDD with adequate space you could clone your Win10 to that before. taking the leap with Patch Cleaner. Then you at least have a solid base to go back to should something stuff up in a major way. This issue is similar to 'cleaning' the Registry. Many people use Registry 'cleaners' for years with no ill side effects (and no real benefit), but others find their Windows has been made unusable after a Registry 'clean'. Report abuse. 2 people found this reply helpful. Was this reply helpful? Sorry this didn't help. Great! Thanks for your feedback. How satisfied are you with this reply? Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site. How satisfied are you with this reply? Thanks for your feedback. I want to state up front that I take no responsibility for any damage done to your PC and will recommend you follow any/all best practices from Microsoft always. I try never to wonder from their advice. Lastly, always make a backup before running anything. I have seen this problem before and have used a tool on a couple of computers without issue. It is a tool not made or endorsed by Microsoft so please scan it first with your antivirus to ensure its clean. (You can never be too careful) I would download/run the uvkportable as nothing needs to installed. Then click “System Repair.” Under “Maintenance Actions” there is a fix called Cleanup MSI orphan file. Check the box and click start repair. Let it run until its complete and it should get rid of the unneeded files (without hurting the system). If this tool works i would consider buying a license. I use it to cleanup my machine at home. Report abuse. 11 people found this reply helpful. Was this reply helpful? Sorry this didn't help. Great! Thanks for your feedback. How satisfied are you with this reply? Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site. How satisfied are you with this reply? Thanks for your feedback. I wonder how this particular folder can get up to 60GB ? Mine is @ 8GB, which even seems a bit much. My Win10 Windows folder is currently 28GB total (and it's certainly never been bigger in the past decade). - Is your Win10 an upgrade, or clean install ? - Have you run Disk Cleanup w/ Cleanup System files yet ? Was there no benefit ? Thanks for the response. I have three computers running Windows 10 and they have all gotten bloated. The computer with the 60 GB folder is about 4 years old. It was originally a windows 7 or 8 machine (I forget which). The installer files go back to the middle of 2013. It is as if nothing was ever removed. I have a suspicion that this might have something to do with my machine having an SSD, because many of the complaints I've seen are from people with small SSD drives. It might just be that these drives are often smaller so the bloating becomes a problem sooner. I've run Disk Cleanup and it does not appear to have any effect on the installer folder. I wasn't able to get a definitive word from Microsoft Chat if Disk Cleanup is designed deal with installation orphans. I did get the sense that they have a way of fixing the problem, but it would cost me at least $100 in technical support to find out! Perhaps that is why they are in no rush to fix this? I tried PatchCleaner on my other computer which I use as a media center. It mainly just runs iTunes and Chrome, so it would not be difficult to restore it if something happened. PatchCleaner found about 45GB of cruft in the file and moved the orphan files to my external drive, so it can be restored if need be. It took a few minutes but now there is space on my internal hard drive. The Windows folder is now about 25 GB. I'm going to have it go through a few updates without any problems before committing myself to using it on my other machines. It seems to work just fine. How To Clean Up Downloads Folder On Windows 10? Windows 10 has brought the Storage Sense long back, but with every major upgrade the feature is getting replenished and changed. With Storage Sense, the temp files, unused files and the files in the Recycle Bin of the computer were deleted after a span of 30 days, if left untouched. With Windows 10 October Update, the Storage Sense has been revamped. It has got new touch and added a mind blowing feature, that is integrated with One Drive. With OneDrive integration, files on the local drive that are left untouched for some time will be automatically uploaded to OneDrive. So, Storage Sense is no more limited to temporary files. Previously cleaning up unnecessary files were a bit hectic. Now, the situation has completely changed. Removing temporary files, unnecessary system files, upgrade log files have become a lot easier than before. Download files, to be frank, is a huge source of trash files. We download so many unimportant stuffs from the internet just to read them or check them. Finally, we completely forget about their existence and complain about low storage. There is basically no point in deleting the files and transferring them to the Recycle Bin when you have a handy option to delete the Downloads folder so easily. In this article, I shall show you how to cleanup Downloads Folder on Windows 10 on the October Update 2018. Steps To Clean Up Downloads Folder On Windows 10. 1. First tap on the Start button and go to the Settings app. 2. As the Settings app opens, go to System set of Settings. 3. Under the System settings, in the left panel click on Storage . 4. In the right panel, under Storage Sense, you will find an option called Free Up Space Now . 5. As you tap on the Free Up Space Now option, you will see that Windows 10 has started calculating the temporary files that can be removed to free up your device space. The scanning will take a few minutes. 6. In the results, the Windows Update Cleanup files will pop up. Usually these files occupy huge space, nearly about 1 GB. The box beside the option is checked. Click on Remove Files . All your computer’s Downloads Files will be removed. Cleaning the Windows\Installer folder. After installing Windows 10 on my laptop, I noticed that the C:\Windows\Installer folder has now reached 23.8 GB. Since I only have a 128 GB SSD, the size is getting ridiculous. It's not nearly so large on other Windows installations I've checked. My question is: can I clean this somehow? Some preemptive notes: - I have already done all disk cleanup procedures, including system files and old windows installs. - The folder is already compressed. - I gather from other forum posts that programs like msizap and cclean don't work. - Some of the msi/msp files are super old: like 2008, whereas I bought the laptop in 2013. Thanks for your help! Subscribe Subscribe to RSS feed. Report abuse. Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it. Report abuse. 201 people found this reply helpful. Was this reply helpful? Sorry this didn't help. Great! Thanks for your feedback. How satisfied are you with this reply? Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site. How satisfied are you with this reply? Thanks for your feedback. Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community. The Windows Installer Cache, located in c:\windows\installer folder, is used to store important files for applications installed using the Windows Installe r technology and should not be deleted. The installer cache is used to maintain (remove / update) the applications and patches installed on the machine. The installer files are a record of file versions and registry dependencies involved in a particular application or application update installation. The availability of this record in the cache helps to uninstall and update applications properly. Let us know if you have any further query on Windows, we are glad to assist.