Windows takes up a good amount of storage space on the C drive. After adding the pushy bloatware updates, and a few big software, your C drive can run out of space very fast. You might have noticed a folder named “Windows.old” in the system drive. If you check its size, it can easily eat up 8 GB or more storage space while hiding in plain sight.
Simply deleting the folder is not possible, and you must grant folder ownership to do so. But you can delete the folder using multiple methods which we will discuss in this post. Let’s begin.
What Is the Windows.old Folder, and Should You Delete It?
Whenever you upgrade to a new version of Windows (via Windows update) ordo an in-place Windows upgrade, the OS creates a Windows.old folder. It contains all your old system files and personal files, and you can use it to revert to the old version of Windows if you want to. But this folder takes up a lot of space on the C drive, which can be an inconvenience for users who just upgraded their PC.
Windows will automatically remove the Windows.old after 30 days of its creation. But if you need that storage space now, you’re able to try any of these methods to wipe the folder from your PC.
1. Using Storage Settings
Microsoft introducedStorage Sensefeature with Windows 10, and it exists in Windows 11 too. It can help you purge temporary files from your PC and manage OneDrive files too. But if you want to do a manual cleanup, you need to visit the Storage Settings and delete the Windows.old folder from there.
Repeat the following steps:
It will take a while to delete the Windows.old folder and other temporary files on the C drive.
2. Using Disk Cleanup
While Storage Sense and the revamped settings section is a new concept, the trusty old Disk Cleanup still works. You can use it to find and delete temporary files on Windows 11 and older operating systems. It doesn’t have the modern UI but can help you locate and delete the Windows.old folder and other space-hogging folders like Temporary Windows Update files.
Repeat the following steps to delete Window.old folder using the Disk Cleanup tool:
3. Using CMD
Repeat the following steps to delete the Window.old folder using the Command Prompt tool:
Save Space on the System Drive By Deleting Windows.old
Window.old folder can consume copious amounts of storage space, so it is best to remove it after upgrading your PC. You can use the Storage settings or Disk Cleanup tool to delete this folder. Lastly, you can use the Command Prompt to gain complete access over Windows.old folder and then delete it.
