3+ Solutions: Solve C Drive Full and Out of Space Issue in Windows 11/10/8/7

Is your Windows computer displaying a message that says "You're running out of space on Local Disk (C:)..."? If that's the case, it indicates that your C drive is filled to capacity. But what causes this issue, or why is the C drive full? What is consuming space on the C drive? And how can you free up space on the C drive?

Follow the content guide here to get the most effective solutions for the C drive full issue and make your computer run quickly again:

Please note that the provided solutions can be applied to fix the "C drive is full" issue on all Windows operating systems, regardless of whether you are using older versions like Windows 8.1/8/7 or even older. All issues will be adequately addressed with the solutions on this page. In addition to these methods, you can fully rely on the Partition Master Professional tool, as shown in Method 1, to seamlessly extend the C drive on all Windows computers.

Newer Windows 11 users can refer to this page for assistance: Extend C Drive in Windows 11.

Overview of C Drive Full Issue

What is C Drive? It is the default volume that contains the operating system and data. In this section, you will learn everything about "Local Disk C is full," including:

Here are the translations:
1. 1. What is the C drive full error?
2. 2. Why is the C drive full, or what is occupying space on the C drive?
3. 3. What happens when the C drive becomes full?

"What Is C Drive Full Error"

通常，"C盘已满"是一个错误信息，当C盘空间不足时，Windows会在您的计算机上显示此错误消息：“磁盘空间不足。您的本地磁盘(C:)的磁盘空间不足。单击此处查看是否可以释放此驱动器上的空间。"

Different Windows operating systems will exhibit different symptoms when the C drive is full.

If the C drive becomes full in Windows 11/10 or Windows 7, it will appear in red as shown below:

If the C drive gets full in Windows XP, it will display a similar Low Disk Space warning message as shown here:

The "C drive is out of space" issue on Windows XP

?Read More: How to Find Large Files on Windows 11

Why Is My C Drive Full

Check the list here, which will explain what is occupying space on the C drive in Windows 11/10/8/7 and help you identify why your system partition is almost full:

1. Windows operating system, system files, and settings 2. Installed applications, built-in Windows programs, and downloaded software 3. User data such as Documents, Photos, etc., and personal data saved on the Desktop or in the C drive

What will happen if the Local Disk C drive is full?

If your computer reports that the C drive is out of space, you're probably encountering one or more of the issues listed below:

1. Windows OS slows down or becomes extremely slow 2. Low storage space for storing more data and files 3. Not big enough to install Windows update 4. Unavailable for program installation

Next, we will provide 3 solutions for C drive being full. If you want to shrink the C drive, you can click the link:

How to Shrink C Drive without Losing Data [2023 Full Guide]

How to shrink the C drive on Windows 10? If you're searching for a detailed guide on shrinking your C drive, you've come to the right place. On this page, you'll find three free tools to safely shrink the C drive without compromising your data.

3 Solutions to "C Drive Full" Issue in Windows 11/10/8/7/XP

If you're encountering the issue of a full C drive or low disk space, don't worry. Choose one of the provided solutions here, and you'll be able to efficiently expand the C drive and boost your PC's performance:

Translate the following text into English:
1. #1. Extend the Full C Drive
2. #2. Free Up Space on the C Drive
3. #3. Upgrade the System Disk or Add Another Disk

Method 1: Extend C Drive with Partition Manager Software

When your PC's C drive is out of space, an efficient solution is to extend it using a professional partition management tool. tools Partition Master can help you expand the C drive without data loss.

Now, follow the steps below to extend your C drive to fix the low disk space issue with just a few clicks:

Step 1. Click "Adjust with 1-Click" to extend C drive.

When your C drive is out of space, hover your mouse over the C drive, and you'll see the Low Disk Space alert on the Partition Master tool. Click "Adjust with 1-Click" to extend it.

Step 2. Click "OK" to extend C drive automatically.

By clicking “OK”, Partition Master will automatically allocate space to your C drive to solve the low space issue.

Optional: You can also click "Manual Adjustment" to extend the C drive manually.

When switching to Manual Adjustment, select the C drive and drag the dots to the right to add more space to the C drive. Click “OK” to confirm.

Step 3. Confirm to fix low disk space on the C drive

点击右上角的“Execute Task”按钮，然后通过点击“Apply”开始所有待处理的操作。

"Video Tutorial on How to Extend System C Drive with or without Unallocated Space using Partition Master Tool:"

Here is the translation of the provided text into English:

Expanding the system drive is just one of its powerful features. AOMEI Partition Assistant also allows you to safely and efficiently manage your disks or partitions with more robust functions, such as merging partitions and converting MBR to GPT. Don't hesitate to give it a try.

Method 2: How to Free Up Space on the C Drive

Mostly, useless large junk files, big files, huge installed programs, and temporary files are taking up the most space in your system C drive after using your PC for a long time. So the other effective method you can try is to free up hard disk space. And you can also free up disk space on Windows 8.

Here are 5 methods you can use to free up space on the C drive and even the hard disk space:

#1. Disk Cleanup
#2. Delete Temporary Files
#3. Empty Recycle Bin
#4. Clear Unnecessary Large Files
#5. Transfer Large Files and Programs to Another Drive

If you find these methods of freeing up disk space effective, you can share them with more people in need.

#1. How to Free Up Space on Local Disk C with Disk Cleanup

"Disk Cleanup" is a built-in utility in Windows that allows you to delete certain files to free up disk space through the Windows File Explorer. Follow these steps to free up disk space on your C drive:

Step 1. Press Windows + R to open Windows File Explorer.

Step 2. Click "This PC", right-click on the C: drive and select "Properties".

Step 3. In Disk Cleanup, select the files you want to delete and click "OK".

If you see Windows installation files (Windows.old folder), check and delete them. This will help free up a significant amount of space on the C: drive.

#2. How to Free Up Space on C Drive by Deleting Temporary Files

As you're aware, temporary files created by the Windows operating system can also occupy significant space on the system C: drive. You can attempt to delete these temporary files to resolve the issue of the C drive being full. The steps to delete Temp files may vary across different Windows operating systems:

Delete Temporary Files in Windows 11/10/8:

Step 1: Press "Windows + I" to open Windows Settings, then click on "System" and "Storage".

Step 2: Under "Storage," select "This PC (C:)" to analyze.

Step 3: Click on "Temporary files".

Windows 11/10/8 will display "Temporary files," "Downloads folder," "Recycle bin," and more in this section.

Step 4: Check the box of the content you want to remove and click on the Remove files button.

Delete temporary files on C drive

Step 5: Go back to Storage usage and now click "Other".

Select its contents, then right-click on any unwanted files that are taking up the most space and choose “Delete” to remove them and their folders.

Delete Temporary Files in Windows 7:

Step 1: Open My Computer, right-click on the C drive, and select "Properties".

Step 2: Click the "Disk Cleanup" button in the disk properties window.

Step 3: Select temporary files, log files, Recycle Bin, and other useless files that you want to delete, then click “OK”.

Delete temporary files and useless files on Windows 7.

#3. Regularly Empty the Recycling Bin to Free Up Space on the C Drive

Another method that you can try is to empty the Recycle Bin promptly. Windows saves the deleted files in the Recycle Bin for a period (30 days or even longer by default).

If you never empty the Recycle Bin, it will take up some space on your system C drive, causing it to fill up.

So we suggest you empty the recycle bin regularly. Note that before you start, check the recycle bin and make sure you have restored some important deleted files back to its original location. Everything left in the Recycle Bin is not essential.

There are two ways to empty the recycle bin:

1. Select "Empty Recycle Bin" from Temporary Files

You can refer to the forward method as a guide to empty Recycle Bin files from Temporary Files.

2. Empty the Recycle Bin Manually

Step 1. Open Recycle Bin from the desktop.

Step 2. Select all recycled files in the Recycle Bin, right-click them, and choose "Delete".

Empty Recycle Bin to Free Up Disk Space on C Drive

If you lost essential files after emptying the Recycle Bin, refer to: Recycle Bin Recovery for assistance.

#4. How to Free Up C Drive Space by Removing Unnecessary Large Files

When using applications, software, and the Windows system, a significant number of unnecessary large files are generated on the C drive. You can efficiently scan and delete large files from the system C: drive.

Step 1. Download and install the free tool Partition Master, then launch it on your Windows PC.

On the suite, hover your mouse on "PC Cleaner", click the Download icon to install and launch the CleanGenius tool.

Here's the translation of the text in Chinese to English: This is an image tag, and the alt text seems to be referring to launching a tool called "Clean Genius." The actual translation might slightly vary depending on the context, but the direct translation would be: "Launch tool Clean Genius"

Step 2. On CleanGenius, select "Cleanup" on the main screen, and click "Scan" to start scanning.

Step 3. When the scan is over, select the useless large files and click "Clean" to remove large files.

Step 4. When CleanGenius finishes cleaning the files you selected, click “Done” to complete the process.

You can also refer to the following page for more free disk cleaners.

Top 5 Best Free Disk Cleaner Recommendations

If you're searching for a free disk cleaner for your full hard drive, this page is your solution. Keep reading to gain comprehensive insights into the top 5 best free disk cleaner tools. Read more >>

#5. Transfer Large Files and Programs from C Drive to Another Drive

The other way to free up C drive space is to transfer the saved large files and installed large programs to another drive. You can manually copy large files from the C drive to other non-system drives on your PC.

To migrate programs installed on the C drive, you can use professional PC transfer software like Todo PCTrans Pro. Its Local App Migration feature is designed to handle this task for you:

Also read: Transfer Programs from C Drive to Another Drive without Reinstalling

Method 3: Upgrade the System Disk to a Larger Disk or Add a New One

If you find that your C drive is frequently running out of space or the methods above don't completely resolve your issue, you might consider upgrading your system disk to a larger one or adding another hard drive to your computer.

#1. Upgrade the System Drive to a Larger Hard Drive

If the entire system hard drive is out of space, or the hard drive is too small, you can consider upgrading to a larger one.

The “Disk Copy” feature of tools Partition Master has the ability to help you upgrade to a larger disk. You don't need to reinstall the operating system and applications.

Step 1. Select the source disk.

1. Click "Clone" from the left-hand menu. Select "Clone OS Disk" or "Clone Data Disk" and click "Next". 2. Choose the source disk and click "Next".

Step 2. Select the target disk.

• Select the desired HDD/SSD as your destination and click "Next" to proceed.
• Read the warning message and confirm by clicking the "Yes" button.

Step 3. View the disk layout and edit the target disk partition size.

When the program warns you that it will erase all data on the target disk, click “Continue” (If you have valuable data on the target disk, back it up in advance).

Here, you can choose to "Autofit the disk," "Clone as the source," or "Edit disk layout" to customize your disk configuration. (Select the last option if you want to allocate more space to the C drive.)

Step 4. Click "Start" to begin the disk cloning process.

IMPORTANT: It is generally recommended that the system C drive have 120GB or even more space for optimal computer performance. Therefore, after replacing the old system disk, it is advised to follow Method 1 to add or allocate more free space to the system C drive.

#2. Add Another New Hard Drive

If you have a decent-sized hard drive that's running out of space, adding a new hard disk will give you additional storage without having to erase the existing hard drive. It could be either an internal or external hard disk.

< strong >Also Read: How to Install a New HDD/SSD in Windows.

Later, you can follow the 2nd way in Method 2 to manually copy large files and transfer installed programs to the other hard drive with ease.

Tip: Prevent C Drive from Filling Up and Utilize Hard Drive Space Efficiently

To prevent your C drive from filling up again, here are some tips to help you make the most of your hard drive storage space:

Here are the translations for the given languages into English: 1. Allocate or leave 120GB or more space for the system C: drive. 2. Install large programs and software on non-system partitions, such as D: or E:. 3. Save and back up large files to non-system partitions or external storage devices. 4. Regularly clean temporary files and junk files. 5. Empty the Recycle Bin promptly.

The End Line

On this page, we discussed the "C drive full" error, what primarily occupies space on the C drive, and how to resolve the issue with three primary methods.

Please note that to prevent unintended data loss, we always advise backing up important files from the C drive to another device beforehand. For the most efficient solution, expanding the C drive using tools like Partition Master is always the best choice. It's user-friendly and free.

"Frequently Asked Questions about Local Disk C Drive Being Full"

< strong > 1. My C drive is full, and there's nothing on it I can delete? < /strong >

If there's no space you can delete on the local disk C, you can allocate space from another drive to the C drive using a partition manager tool.

**2. How can I create more space on my C drive?**

Creating more space on the local disk C drive can be accomplished using a tool like Partition Master. There's an easy method to extend the C drive space with its intelligent C drive adjustment feature. If your hard drive is completely full and you're unable to free up space, another viable solution is to replace the current drive with a larger one.

3. What is consuming space on my C drive?

Go to Settings, click on System, then Storage, and examine the storage usage of the local disk.