How to Free Up SSD Space on Windows 10/8/7

Unlike HDDs, SSDs offer faster read and write speeds, better performance and reliability, and greater durability. But they tend to have less storage capacity. In 2018, while 100 TB SSDs were available, it was more common to find lower-priced models with capacities ranging from 120 GB to 512 GB.

[Top 6 Ways] How to Free Up Space on SSD in Windows 10/8/7

That is, the typical SSD size ranges from 120 GB to 512 GB. With such limited space, it's easy for an SSD to get full. Hence, most people are looking for ways to free up SSD space.

• Solution 1: Clean Up Junk Files
• Solution 2: Disable System Restore
• Solution 3: Empty the Recycle Bin
• Solution 4: Use Disk Cleanup
• Solution 5: Disable Hibernation
• Solution 6: Uninstall or Move Programs

Before you can free up space on your SSD, you need to find out what's taking up space on it.

Read More: Free Up Disk Space on Windows 8

What is taking up space on my SSD?

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There's nothing worse than running out of disk space. The steps below will help you figure out what's taking up room on your SSD in Windows 10.

Note: If you want to know more about your SSD space, you can use a professional disk space analyzer to analyze the disk space on Windows.

Step 1: Click Start > Settings > Storage.

Step 2: In the Storage window, you'll see the disk usage of all drives and partitions, as shown in the image below:

Step 3: Select the SSD, which usually contains the C drive. Click on it to see which partition is taking up the most space.

Read Next: How to Find Large Files on Windows 10

Now that you've identified what's taking up space on your SSD, it's time to free up space the classic way.

Solution 1: Clean Up SSD Junk Files in Windows 10/8/7

A quick and easy way to clean up junk files is by using third-party software. With a reliable junk file cleaner, you can effortlessly remove files that occupy space on your Windows 10/8/7 SSD. I recommend using "Tools" (replace "Tools" with the name of the specific software you're endorsing). This software allows you to free up your SSD from junk files effortlessly and for free. Apart from system cleaning, it also offers features like large file cleanup and hard disk repair.

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Follow these steps to clean up junk files and the system on your SSD:

Step 1: Download and install the Partition Master Suite tool.

Step 2: Click on “PC Cleanup,” install the CleanGenius tool, and click “Clean” and then “Scan” to begin the system cleanup and restore your computer to its former glory.

Step 3: The software will scan your computer and list the idle data files that are taking up a lot of disk space. You can choose to remove unwanted large files, system junk files, and invalid Windows entries, then click on “Clean” to initiate the system cleanup process.

4. After the scan is complete, click “Finish” to clean up system junk files.

Solution 2: Turn off System Restore to free up space

System Restore is a Windows feature that can help fix certain kinds of crashes and other computer problems. However, it can take up a lot of space, and it's not always effective. If you're having issues with your system, it's better to use a system cloning tool instead. Therefore, I recommend disabling System Restore.

Step 1. Right-click on “This PC,” and click “Properties.”

Step 2: Click “System Protection” on the left.

Step 3: Select the drive you want to turn System Protection off for, and click “Configure.”

4. Click “Disable system protection,” and then click “OK.”

Solution 3: Free up space by emptying the Recycle Bin

In fact, deleted files often go to the Recycle Bin. They stay there until you empty the Recycle Bin or restore the files. Obviously, these files take up space on your SSD and HDD. To empty the Recycle Bin:

Locate the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop, right-click it, and choose "Empty Recycle Bin." You can also set it to empty automatically so that the Recycle Bin clears out on a regular basis:

Step 1: Open the Start menu, search for “Task Scheduler,” and hit Enter.

Step 2: Right-click “Task Library” and select “New Folder.” Name the folder “My Tasks” or something descriptive. (This helps keep your tasks separate from system tasks and organized.) Right-click the new folder and select “Create Task.”

Step 3: On the General tab, type a name for the task, such as Empty Windows Recycle Bin.

Enter the task details on the General tab:

Step 4: On the Triggers tab, click New to create the action that will trigger this task.

Create a new action on the Triggers tab

Step 5: For the purposes of this guide, I'll select and configure “On a schedule,” but you can choose from several trigger actions, including “On login,” “On startup,” “When an event occurs,” and more.

If you're using a scheduling option as your trigger, consider using the weekly or monthly choice, so you have time to recover deleted files.

Step 6: On the Actions tab, click New. Then do the following:

Under "Settings," set "Program/script" to `cmd.exe`. Under "Settings," add the following argument and click "OK": `/c "echo Y|PowerShell.exe -NoProfile -Command Clear-RecycleBin"` Then click "OK" to complete the task.

Click OK to finish the task settings.

Upon completion of the steps, the task will run automatically under the trigger conditions you configured.

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Solution 4: Delete temporary files with Disk Cleanup

Temporary files can also take up a lot of space on an SSD. Running Disk Cleanup to get rid of various temporary files you no longer need is a good idea.

Step 1: Open Start, search for “Disk Cleanup,” and select the top result to open the experience.

Step 2. Select the files you want to delete from the C drive or other disk and click “OK”.

Solution 5: Disable Hibernate in Windows 7

Windows 7 also has a hibernation file called Hiberfil.sys. This is a hidden system file found in the root directory of your Windows drive. It's created by the Windows kernel power manager when you install Windows, but it takes up a lot of space. Since installing Windows 7 on an SSD means that it will boot in seconds, you don't really need the hibernation feature. To disable it, do the following:

Step 1: Search for “cmd” in the Start menu. Right-click Command Prompt and select “Run as administrator.”

2. At the command prompt, type powercfg.exe /hibernate off, and then press Enter.

Step 3: Type exit, and press the “Enter” key to close the Command Prompt window.

Solution 6: Uninstall or Move the Program to Another Disk

If some apps or games are taking up too much space, you can free up more room on your device by deleting the ones you don't need. You can uninstall them by following these steps:

Go to Settings > Apps > Apps & features. Select the app or game you want to remove, then click the Uninstall button.

There's a better option – moving the app or game to another drive. This way, you can keep the program while freeing up space on your SSD. To transfer programs easily to another drive, download the Todo PCTrans tool, and follow the steps to move any applications you want to another hard drive or partition to save space:

Step 1: Run Todo PCTrans and choose the transfer mode

On the Todo PCTrans main screen, go to the App Migration section and click Start to proceed.

Select transfer mode

Step 2: Choose the apps and other drives to transfer

1. Select the source partition and check the apps, programs, and software you wish to migrate (labeled as "Yes").

2. Click the triangle icon to select another drive or disk as the target device, then click “Migrate” to start the migration.

Select the apps you want to migrate

Step 3: Complete the transition

When the transfer is over, click “OK” to finish.

You can restart your computer to keep all the changes, and you should then be able to run the migration assistant again from the other drive.

You can also solve the issue by moving disk space from one partition to another. You can add the space to the SSD no matter where these partitions are located. If they're on the same disk, you can easily add the space to the other drive. If they're not on the same disk, you'll need to convert the drive to a dynamic drive to add space to the SSD.

Bonus Tip – Extend Drive Lifetime with Partition Master Tool

Aside from cleaning up, you can also use professional tools to extend or add space to your hard drive or partition. I recommend using a partition manager. With it, you can easily adjust, create, or expand the space of your HDD or SSD. Follow these steps to extend your partition:

Step 1. Run AOMEI Partition Assistant, and check the free space of the disk in "Partition Management".

- If you have unallocated space on your hard drive, skip to Step 3 to create the partition. - If you have no unallocated space, proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: Shrink the partition to create unallocated space.

Right-click on the partition that has enough space and select “Resize/Move.”

Then you can adjust the partition's size by dragging its left or right endpoint to free up enough unallocated space. You can see how much space you've freed up in the Size area. Click OK.

Click “Perform XX Task,” and then click “Apply” to save all the changes.

Back at the “Disk Management” screen, you should see the unallocated space on the same disk. You can now proceed to create a new partition on your hard drive.

Step 3. Create a new partition on the target hard drive.

Right-click the unallocated space and select “New Partition”.

Create Partition Step 1

Customize the partition size, drive letter, volume label, file system (NTFS, FAT32, EXT2/3/4, exFAT), and so on in the "Advanced settings." Then click "OK."

Finally, click “Execute Task” and “Apply” to finish creating the partition with the unallocated space on the disk. Repeat these steps to partition hard drive for more partitions.

Create partition step 3