How to See What’s Taking Up Space on Your PC in Windows 11

To see what’s taking up space in Windows 11, open Settings > System > Storage. Windows shows how much space apps, temporary files, documents, pictures, and other categories use. Select Show more categories for the full list, then select any category to see and clean up what’s inside.

This guide explains what each category means, how to find your largest apps and files, how to check other drives, which tools go deeper when Settings isn’t specific enough, and how to safely reclaim the space. Nothing here needs a download unless you choose one of the optional folder tools.

Check Storage by Category

1. Press Windows key + I to open Settings.
2. Select System, then Storage. Expected result: a bar for your main drive (usually Local Disk C:) shows used and free space, with the biggest categories listed below it.
3. Wait a moment for the scan to finish, then select Show more categories. Expected result: the full list appears, including System & reserved and Other.
4. Select a category, like Installed apps or Temporary files, to see what’s in it and clean it up.

Microsoft describes these categories and the other tools on this page in its Storage settings guide.

What Each Category Means

• Installed apps: programs and Store apps. This is often the largest category, especially with games installed.
• Temporary files: Windows Update leftovers, thumbnails, the Recycle Bin, your Downloads folder, and sometimes a previous Windows installation.
• Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music: files in those user folders. Selecting one opens the folder in File Explorer.
• System & reserved: Windows itself plus space Windows reserves for updates, temporary files, and caches. Microsoft says Windows clears reserved storage when the device runs low.
• Other: files Windows can’t put into another category, such as large folders you created at the root of the drive.
• Other people: files belonging to other accounts on the same PC.

Find Your Biggest Apps

1. Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps, or select Installed apps on the Storage page.
2. Change Sort by to Size (large to small). Expected result: the apps using the most space move to the top.
3. Select the three dots next to an app you don’t use and choose Uninstall.

Some Store apps and games also offer Move to put them on a second drive. See how to uninstall a program on Windows 11 for other methods. If a synced Dropbox folder is taking up space on C:, you can move the Dropbox folder location from the Dropbox app.

Find Large Files in File Explorer

1. Open File Explorer and select This PC, then the C: drive (see how to find the C drive).
2. Type size:gigantic in the search box to find files over 4 GB, or size:huge for files between 1 GB and 4 GB. Expected result: after the search finishes, only files in that size range are listed.
3. Select View > Details, then sort by Size to put the largest at the top.
4. Delete files you don’t need, or move them to another drive.

Microsoft notes that the Videos, Music, Pictures, and Downloads folders usually hold the largest files you’ve saved, so they’re good places to start. If Downloads is filling your C: drive, you can move the Downloads folder to another drive.

Check Other Drives

1. On the Storage page, expand Advanced storage settings.
2. Select Storage used on other drives.
3. Select a drive. Expected result: the same category breakdown appears for that drive.

Go Deeper With a Folder Scan

Settings is less helpful for categories like Videos or Other, which simply open File Explorer. To see which folders are biggest across the whole drive, a free third-party tool such as WinDirStat or TreeSize Free scans the drive and lists folders from largest to smallest. WinDirStat can be installed with this command in an administrator Command Prompt:

winget install WinDirStat.WinDirStat

Recent Windows 11 builds may also include a command-line diskusage tool. Run diskusage /? in an administrator Command Prompt to see if yours has it; if so, diskusage C:\Users /h /t=10 lists the ten largest folders under Users.

Whatever tool you use, don’t delete folders under Program Files or Windows directly. Uninstall programs from Settings instead, or you can break them.

Free Up What You Found

• Cleanup recommendations: on the Storage page, this reviews temporary files, large or unused files, files already synced to the cloud, and unused apps, and shows how much each cleanup saves.
• Temporary files: select it, check the items you don’t need, and select Remove files. Leave Downloads and Recycle Bin unchecked unless you’ve looked through them. See how to delete temp files in Windows 11 and how to empty the Recycle Bin.
• Storage Sense: turn it on to clear temporary files and old Recycle Bin items automatically.
• Windows.old: for about 10 days after a Windows upgrade, the previous version is listed as removable. Deleting it means you can’t go back. See how to delete Windows.old.
• Hibernation file: if you never hibernate, running powercfg /hibernate off in an administrator Command Prompt removes the large hiberfil.sys file. Read sleep vs. hibernate first.
• Restore points: in the System Protection settings, lowering Max Usage keeps fewer restore points, which frees space but leaves fewer rollback options.
• Where new content is saved: under Advanced storage settings, send new apps, documents, and media to a second drive.

Microsoft’s Free up drive space in Windows covers these options, plus OneDrive Files On-Demand and using external storage for updates.

Troubleshooting

The categories don’t add up to the used space

Give the scan time to finish, then check Show more categories, especially Other and System & reserved. For anything still unexplained, a folder scan tool will show where the space is.

System & reserved is huge

It includes Windows, reserved storage, the hibernation file, the paging file, and restore points. You can’t delete Windows itself, but turning off hibernation or lowering restore point usage (above) can shrink it.

The drive fills up again right after cleaning

Microsoft says the Temp folder can fill quickly with Microsoft Store app files. Its fix: run the Windows Store Apps troubleshooter in Settings > System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters, then press Windows key + R, type wsreset.exe, and select OK, then run the Windows Update troubleshooter and restart.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it safe to delete temporary files?

Yes, for the items Windows lists. Just check what’s selected before removing, especially Downloads and the Recycle Bin.

Why is my PC slow when the drive is nearly full?

Microsoft says low storage can slow performance and cause trouble installing Windows updates. See how to fix a slow computer in Windows 11 for other causes.

How much free space should I keep?

Microsoft doesn’t give a single number. As a rule of thumb, keep 10 to 20 percent of the drive free so Windows has room for updates and temporary files.

Can I see what’s taking up space on an external drive?

Yes. Connect it, then use Storage used on other drives or open it in File Explorer and search with size:gigantic.