Solution - C Drive is Full in Windows Server 2022

by John, Published on: November 18, 2022

The same with all previous versions, C drive is getting full in Windows Server 2022. After running the server for a period of time, C drive is running out of space. This is very common issue. To fix Windows Server 2022 C drive full issue, there are many methods if you search by Google. Of course you may try them all, but it may cost a long time. This article introduces 3 most effective methods, you can fix C drive out of space in Windows Server 2022 fast and easily.

Why is C drive running out of space in Windows 2022 server

In most cases, Windows Server 2022 C drive full is because that it is filling up by many types of files. For example: Windows Updates, download, browser cache, logs, recycle bin, restore point, paging file. Part of files in C drive are Windows required, but many are junk and unnecessary.

Many temporary files are saved to C drive by Windows automatically. All programs are installed to C drive by default, too. If you do not change Windows default settings and install programs to separate partition, C drive will become full sooner or later.

When C drive is almost full in Server 2022, you'll suffer from server performance down. It may stuck, reboot unexpectedly or even crash. Therefore, you'd better fix this issue as fast as possible.

How to fix C drive full in Windows Server 2022 easily

As I said in the beginning, there are many methods in the internet, but few are effective. Follow the 3 methods below and then you can solve this problem in a short time easily.

Method 1: clean up C drive

The longer the server is running, the more junk files are saved in C drive. Removing these junk and unnecessary files, you'll get much more free space. To free up disk space in Windows Server 2022, there's a native "Disk Cleanup" tool. It runs fast and is able to delete most of junk files. 

How to clean up C drive when it's full in Windows 2022 server:

  1. Press Windows + R keys to open Run, type cleanmgr and press Enter.
  2. C: drive is selected by default, simply click OK.
  3. Click the check-box in front of the junk files that you want to remove.
  4. Confirm the deletion in next window.

If you did not clean up disk before, you may get several gigabytes of free space in C drive. However, it's not enough, these free space will be eaten up by new generated junk files. That means C drive will become full again in the near future. You'd better expand C drive as large as possible.

Method 2: extend C drive to be larger

Although disk partitions are already allocated, you can change partition size without losing programs and data. Safe partition software can shrink other partition on the same disk to get Unallocated space and then add this space to C drive. If there's no other partition on the same disk, you can clone this disk to a larger one and extend C drive with extra disk space.

Download NIUBI Partition Editor and follow the steps in the video to increase C drive space in Windows Server 2022.

Increase C drive

Better than other tools, NIUBI Partition Editor has Virtual Mode, Cancel-at-will, 1-Second Rollback and Hot-Clone technology to protect your server system and data. This is the most useful method to fix C drive full issue in Windows Server 2022.

Besides shrinking and extending volume, NIUBI Partition Editor helps you do many other disk partition management operation such as move, merge, convert, defrag, hide, wipe, scan bad sectors.

Method 3: change default setting

  1. Change default path of "Download" and some other services to another partition.
  2. Check if there are output folder of the programs you installed. If yes, change the path to other large partition, too.
  3. Run the native "Disk Cleanup" tool to free up disk space monthly to remove new generated junk files.