How to Clean Up your Windows Computer

Owned by Cameron Bolourchi
Nov 19, 2015
2 min read

If your computer is running slowly, you can clean up unnecessary files.

Step-by-step guide

Windows 7

  1. Open Disk Cleanup by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button. In the search box, type Disk Cleanup, and then, in the list of results, click Disk Cleanup.
  2. In the Drives list, click the hard disk drive that you want to clean up, and then click OK.
  3. 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 click OK.
  4. In the message that appears, click Delete files.

 

Windows 8

  1. To open Disk Cleanup from the desktop, swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings (or if you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, and then click Settings), tap or click Control Panel, type Admin in the Search box, tap or click Administrative Tools, and then double-tap or double-click Disk Cleanup.
  2. In the Drives list, tap or click the drive that you want to clean up, and then tap or click OK.
  3. In the Disk Cleanup dialog box, tap or click Clean up system files. Administrator permission required You might be asked for an admin password or to confirm your choice.
  4. In the Drives list, choose the drive you want to clean, and then tap or click OK.
  5. In the Disk Cleanup dialog box, select the checkboxes for the file types you want to delete, tap or click OK, and then tap or click Delete files.

  6. If you want to free up even more space on your PC, tap or click More Options and choose from the options:

    • Programs and Features. Uninstall programs you no longer use. The Size column shows how much space each program uses.

    • System Restore and Shadow Copies. Delete all but the most recent restore point on the drive. System Restore uses restore points to return your system files to an earlier point in time. If your PC is running normally, you can save space by deleting the earlier restore points. In some editions of Windows, restore points can include previous versions of files, known as shadow copies, and backup images. These files and images will also be deleted.

 

Windows 10

  1. Search for Disk cleanup from the taskbar and select it from the list of results.
  2. Under Files to delete, select the file types to get rid of. To get a description of the file type, select it.
  3. Select OK.
  4. To get rid of more files, in Disk cleanup, select Clean up system files.
  5. Select the file types to get rid of. To get a description of the file type, select it.
  6. Select OK.