Thumbnails: Thumbnails are the small preview images for files and folders that appear in Windows File Explorer.If the computer has problems, you’ll need these to reverse any Windows updates. If the computer operates fine, delete these files. Windows Update Cleanup files: These files are left over after a Windows update.Windows Defender Antivirus files: These are temporary files and deleting them doesn't affect the applications installed on the computer.

However, if the computer is having problems, you’ll need these files to uninstall updates and troubleshoot Windows problems.

System created Windows error reporting files: In most cases, it’s safe to delete these files.

These files may contain important troubleshooting information.

Windows upgrade log files: If the PC is having problems after an upgrade, don't delete the Windows upgrade log files.

Step 1: Browse Disk Cleanup in the Start menu's search results, then choose Disk Cleanup. The steps that must be taken while utilizing a disk cleanup to clean Windows 10/11 are listed below.

However, you can inspect the files to ensure they are not critical before deleting them, and we'll provide you with some guidance on how to do that. The utility often only provides options for deleting files that have no impact on your system. Users can remove unnecessary files and clear up storage space using the Disk Cleanup tool in Windows 10. How To Use Disk Cleanup To Clean Windows 10/11? Running Disk Cleanup can restore at least 2GB of space if your computer has ever encountered a blue screen error and you have 2GB of RAM. Compressing files increases the amount of free space on your hard drive without deleting any files.ĭisk Cleanup frequently recovers hundreds or even thousands of megabytes of storage capacity. While you can locate and remove each of these files individually, Disk Cleanup does this much faster.ĭisk Cleanup can search your computer for files you have not used for a while and compress them. Disk Cleanup removes files from a wide range of locations, including log files, saved data dumps from computer breaks, cached interactive content, temporary files stored by Internet Explorer, previous system restoration points, and the entries of the Recycle Bin.

Disc cleanup