C drive is running out of space on Windows 10

The same with previous Windows Operating System, the most common issue in Windows 10 is C drive running out of space. To improve computer performance, many Windows 10 laptop and desktop are equipped with Solid State Drive (SSD) by DIY or from manufacturers. The read and write speed of SSD is much faster than traditional mechanical disk, so it is used for Operating System and applications. However, SSD is still very expensive, so it is much smaller. That means, C drive has higher probability of out of free space.

It is easy to understand, Windows Updates, services, applications and many other kinds of files generated in C drive every day, sooner or later C drive runs out of space. When C drive becomes full, it will be shown as red instead of blue in File Explorer.

Then what to do in this situation? In this article I’ll introduce 3 steps to fix C drive out of space in Windows 10 (32 and 64 bit).

Step 1: Reclaim disk space with Windows Disk Cleanup

Windows 10 has built-in Disk Cleanup utility which can delete many types of unnecessary files. By clearing up these files, you can reclaim disk space.

Press Windows and R key on keyboard, type cleanmgr, and then click OK.
Select C: drive and click OK.
Click the check-box in front of the files that you want to cleanup and click OK.
Confirm this operation by clicking Delete Files.
Disk Cleanup will back to the files selection window when it complete. Click Clean up system files and then select the files to free up again.

If you did not do this before, Windows 10 Disk Cleanup utility may reclaim several gigs of disk space. (More about free up disk space in Windows 10).

Step 2: Turn on Storage Sense

Storage Sense is a relatively new feature in Windows 10 that can free up disk space automatically. It can delete files in 3 locations right now:

Temporary files that are not used anymore.
Files in the Recycle Bin
Files in the Downloads folder.

How to enable Storage Sense on Windows 10:

Open Settings
Go to System > Storage
Switch Off to On under Storage Sense on the right side.

To free up more disk space, you may run Disk Cleanup as monthly maintenance utility.

Step 3: Increase size of C drive

You can reclaim disk space with Windows 10 native Disk Cleanup or third party optimization software, but not all computers can regain plenty of free space. Even if you can get several GBs of free space, it will be eaten up quickly by new files. That means, C drive runs out of space again and again. So you’d better increase C drive to larger size.

Download NIUBI Partition Editor and follow the steps in the video:

Pay attention to data safety

There is data loss and system damage risk if you change partition size of existing drives with some unreliable partition tool. Better than other utilities, NIUBI Partition Editor is integrated unique 1 Second Roll-Back protection technology to ensure 100% system and data intact. If any software internal error or hardware issue occur during this process, NIUBI can roll back the computer to original status in a flash. Furthermore, its unique file-moving algorithm helps resize partition 30% – 300% faster than any other tools. Download to try

In Summary

When system C drive is running out of space in Windows 10, the right strategy is: free up disk space with Disk Cleanup to get some precious free space. Then expand C drive as large as possible. Finally, turn on Storage Sense to free up disk space automatically, or runs Disk Cleanup manually every month. To complete solve C drive out of space problem in Windows 10, every step is indispensable.