5 Emergency Tips to Quickly Free Up Space on Windows

Experiencing storage shortages that hinder your ability to install or update software can be incredibly annoying. Fortunately, there are temporary solutions in Windows that allow you to free up space without permanently deleting important data. This guide offers practical and emergency methods to reclaim some storage on your device.

1. Disable Reserved Storage

Windows automatically allocates a portion of your storage—typically around 7GB—for reserved storage. This space helps in downloading updates and managing temporary files. However, if you are not in the middle of a Windows update, you can disable this feature to create some immediate space. Here’s how:

Launch the Command Prompt with administrative privileges and enter the following command:

dism /Online /Set-ReservedStorageState /State:Disabled

Running this command disables reserved storage, providing you with at least 7GB of space. When you’re ready to install updates again, you can reactivate it with:

dism /Online /Set-ReservedStorageState /State:Enabled

Remember, if a Windows update occurs while reserved storage is off and the space has been utilized, you may encounter the “not enough disk space for Windows Update” error.

2. Turn Off Hibernation

While it’s not recommended to fully disable hibernation, doing so temporarily can help reclaim valuable disk space. Hibernation is primarily beneficial for laptops that may need to save energy during inactivity. However, it can occupy space equivalent to approximately 75% of your RAM.

To turn off hibernation, open an elevated Command Prompt again and execute the following command:

powercfg -h off

This action deactivates hibernation and removes the hiberfil.sys file. If you decide to enable it later, simply input:

powercfg -h on

3. Modify the Pagefile Settings

The pagefile acts as virtual memory, allowing Windows to cache data from your RAM. While necessary, if your system has ample RAM (16GB or more), you might consider disabling the pagefile temporarily. However, if you’re concerned about potential app stability, moving the pagefile to another drive is a safer option.

Be sure to re-enable the pagefile after resolving your storage issue, as disabling it can lead to minor complications in some scenarios.

4. Activate CompactOS

CompactOS is a useful Windows feature that compresses system files, significantly reducing the footprint on your disk. This method could free up an additional 5-10 GB. Although it incurs a minor CPU overhead when decompressing files, the impact on overall performance is typically minimal.

To enable CompactOS, run an elevated Command Prompt and type:

compact.exe /compactos:always

After processing, Windows will report the total space recovered. To revert to the original state, use:

compact.exe /compactos:never

5. Utilize NTFS Compression

NTFS compression can help you save space by compressing specific data on your drive. Similar to CompactOS, it introduces slight CPU delays, but applies directly to files you have stored, which can be more noticeable. To compress data, ideally target larger folders or programs that are not in immediate use.

To compress a folder, right-click it and select Properties. Within the General tab, navigate to the Advanced options:

Select the option to Compress contents to save disk space, click OK, and then hit Apply. Ensure you update the changes to all subfolders.

The amount of space you reclaim will depend on the file types; for instance, we reduced the size of the Chrome browser from 811 MB to 559 MB, yielding a 31% reduction in size. You can always reverse these changes by disabling the compression option.

While these strategies will optimize your available space, keep in mind that the fastest solutions involve disabling hibernation or reserved storage. Use these methods wisely and effectively to manage your storage needs.

Source & Images