5 Useful Tips in Clearing Up Disk Space

Are you running out of storage space? Has your computer been showing notifications telling you that you need to clear up some valuable space from its memory so it can continue working as it is supposed to? No matter how much space your machine’s hard drive contains, you will still come to the point of filling it to its limit. Data from almost all the tasks that you do in your Windows machine accumulates and if you are not fond of deleting unused items and uninstalling those programs and applications that are sitting in idle, you surely are going to consume all the available space in your computer’s hard drive in just a very short period of time.

It is therefore important that you know some tips and tricks that will help you maintain enough space in your machine’s storage so it can handle some important tasks and even accommodate more important stuff to be saved in it. In this tutorial, we will be looking into some ways in how you can clear up storage space and maintain a good amount of it in your computer’s valuable memory. We will also be learning how to use another free utility that is bundled with your Windows computer called “Disk Cleanup” so be sure to get your machine ready and follow the steps that we will be showing below.

Tip # 1 Install Only the Apps and Programs That You Need

One of the most effective  ways in saving disk space in your Windows machine is to have a conservative attitude when installing apps and programs to it. If you want to have more than enough space in your machine’s hard drive for storing more important stuff such as photos and documents pertaining to your work or business then you need to be more involved in monitoring the apps and programs that are getting installed to your computer.

If possible, only install the ones that you really use and avoid clicking on any advertisement that are offering free programs and tools or even those that promise to get you more productive by installing add-ons into your browser. Most of these are actually spyware and adware that will just annoy you by displaying ads on your screen every now and then especially when you are surfing the Internet. You also run the risk of having all you online activities monitored by a hacker so remember to be cautious and avoid installing useless programs. By doing so, you are not only protecting yourself from the danger of having your information stolen but you are also saving precious hard drive space.

Tip # 2 Go Incognito When You Are Browsing

If you are using Google Chrome and has set it as your default browser then you can easily avoid consuming too much hard drive space because of the browsing history and other temporary files that keep piling up whenever you surf the Internet. Yes! If it is your first time to hear about it then you need to remember that this really happens and the way to avoid these useless files from piling up is to use the “Incognito Browsing” feature. To enable this tab while browsing on your computer. All you need to do is open Google Chrome browser first then once a tab opens on the screen, simply press the CTRL + Shift + N keys and an incognito tab will open automatically ready for a new session that will never be monitored and will leave no trace on your browsing history.

WindowsTechies_915

Tip # 3 Make a Habit of Uninstalling Unused Programs

Take a quick look on the list of programs that are installed on your computer and check for some that you are not really using. You surely have installed a number of apps and programs on your computer and if it is already a year or older, you might have forgotten about them and they are just sitting in idle in your machine’s hard drive waiting to be uninstalled. These unused programs may also come in the form of free trial versions which have already expired therefore, you are not using them anymore so the best thing to do is to uninstall all of them. Doing this will help free a significant amount of storage space which will then be usable for more important stuff.

Tip # 4 Delete Unused Files Right Away

When you download a software that you need from the Internet and after it gets installed into your machine, it leaves an installer file in the “Downloads” library which also takes some space especially if it is a bigger program or app that you have downloaded. To make sure that your computer always has enough space for the more important stuff, you will need to delete any installation file that automatically gets saved in the “Downloads” library of your machine it might as well be very good if you make it as a habit. Checking for any useless files and deleting them right away is one good way of maintaining enough space in your computer’s memory.

Tip # 5 Clean Useless Files Automatically with Disk Cleanup

Your Windows computer, whether it’s Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 has a free tool called “Disk Cleanup” and you can use it in clearing up space in your machine’s hard drive. Accessing this tool in Vista and Windows 7 takes the same set of steps. To start, simply click on the Start Button or press the Windows key to access the Start Menu and once it appears at the bottom-left portion of the screen, you will need to enter the words “disk cleanup” into the search input box.

WindowsTechies_916

After entering the words, simply wait a few seconds and you should be able to see the search results that would start appearing at the top portion of the search input box. From these results, you will need to click on the shortcut that is labeled as “Disk Cleanup” which is located under the “Programs” search result category.

Now, the Disk Cleanup Window will open and it will look like the one shown on the screenshot below. From here, all you need to do is select the drive that you want to wipe all useless files from simply by clicking on the arrow-down button that is located at the extreme-right end of the drive selection box. After selecting the drive that you wish to clean up, simply hit the “OK” button. The drive that has a Windows logo overlay is the one that bears your operating system.

WindowsTechies_917

Right after you select the drive and hit the “OK” button, Disk Cleanup will then calculate the amount of space that can be cleaned up during the process. The screenshot below shows that there is a total of 338 MB space that is available for cleaning up. From here, just check the items that you want to wipe away from your computer’s hard drive and hit the “OK” button.

WindowsTechies_026

After hitting the “OK” button, there will be a confirmation message that you will see asking you if you really want to delete the files that you have selected. From here, just click on the “Delete files” button and the process will automatically start. Just wait for a few seconds and the deleting process should be done in a few seconds.