HP Recovery Drive Full: How to Free Up Space and Fix It

If your HP recovery drive is full, it can trigger storage alerts and affect system performance. Learn how to free up space to fix the issue and get a better way to protect your HP computer from this page.

By @Lily Last Updated February 9, 2025

User case: HP recovery drive almost full

“My recovery disk is almost full. How do I remove unwanted files, or increase the size of the drive partition?”

– HP Community

If you find HP recovery drive full on Windows 10/11, consider the following causes:

🎯Accidental File Storage: Some users mistakenly save personal files, downloads, or software installations to HP recovery partition, quickly filling up the partition.

🎯Windows Updates Consuming Space: Windows updates may mistakenly use the recovery partition due to misconfigured update settings, causing space issues.

🎯Restore Points Consuming Space: If system protection is enabled for the recovery drive, restore points may be stored in the small partition, quickly leading to a full drive.

🎯Recovery Partition Size Limitations: The HP recovery partition is very small, typically ranging from 10GB to 20GB. Any additional data can easily exceed its limit.

AOMEI Backupper

Instead of relying solely on the built-in recovery partition, which has limited space and functionality, you can use a dedicated backup tool for better protection.

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How to fix the "HP recovery drive full" error

In this part, you’ll get 4 effective methods to fix recovery drive full on Windows 10/11 HP. Check them one by one.

Method 1: Remove unnecessary files

1. Press Win + E to open File Explorer. Locate the recovery drive (D: or E:) and double-click it.

Note: If you see a warning stating, “This drive is for recovery purposes and should not be modified,” click Cancel to avoid making changes.

2. When the drive opens, check for non-system files such as personal documents, images, videos, or installed programs.

3. Select all unnecessary files, click the Move to option in the ribbon bar and choose a new location for the files.

Move To

Note: If you are running Windows 11, there’s no Move to option in the ribbon bar. You can use the Cut and Paste options to move files.

Method 2: Clean up Windows updates

1. Press Win + R, type cleanmgr, and hit Enter.

2. In the Drive Selection window, choose the recovery drive, then click OK.

3. Disk Cleanup will scan the selected drive for unnecessary files. Once the scan is complete, click Clean up system files.

4. Disk Cleanup will scan for unnecessary files again. After scanning, select Windows Update Cleanup or Temporary Windows installation files and click OK.

Note: You can also check other files to be deleted, such as Downloaded Program Files, Temporary Internet Files, etc.

5. Click Delete Files on the pop-up to proceed.

Method 3: Disable system protection for recovery drive

1. Press Win + R, type sysdm.cpl, and hit Enter.

2. Go to the System Protection tab. In the Protection Settings section, locate the recovery drive and check the Protection status.

3. If the Protection status is On, select the recovery drive and click Configure.

4. Choose Disable system protection and click Apply.

Method 4: Expand the recovery partition

1. Press Win + X and select Disk Management.

2. Locate the recovery partition and check for unallocated space next to it.

3. (Optional) If there’s no unallocated space, shrink an existing partition to free up room:

  • Right-click the partition next to the recovery partition (here is C:) and choose Shrink Volume.
  • Enter the amount of space to shrink (e.g., 500MB – 1GB for recovery purposes) and click Shrink.

  • This will create unallocated space next to the recovery partition.

4. Right-click on the recovery partition and select Extend Volume.

5. Click Next, select the available unallocated space, then click Next again.

6. Click Finish to apply the changes.

Better way to protect OS and files on HP computer

In addition to the HP recovery drive full issue, you may also encounter the HP F11 system recovery not working issue. Therefore, you need a more reliable backup and restore solution for your HP computer. The best free backup software - AOMEI Backupper Standard provides better protection and flexibility.

AOMEI Backupper
Best Free PC Backup Software

  • Full System Backup: Protects your entire OS, including installed applications and settings.

  • File and Folder Backup: Keeps important documents, photos, and videos safe from accidental loss.

  • Scheduled Backups: Automates the backup process, so you never forget to protect your data.

  • Easy Recovery Options: Restore your system or files quickly in case of failure or data loss.

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Download AOMEI Backuppernow to have a try! To create a system image backup for your HP computer, follow these steps:

Step 1. Open AOMEI Backupper and select Backup > System Backup.

Step 2. It will choose the source data for you, and you only need to choose another location as the destination path.

Step 3. (Optional) Click Schedule Backup and select a frequency (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Event triggers or USB plug in) to ensure ongoing protection.

Step 4. Confirm your settings and click Start Backup to run the process.

The end

If you're constantly seeing the "HP recovery drive full" warning, it's essential to take the right steps to free up space and prevent future issues. You can effectively resolve the issue using one of the methods mentioned above.

For a better long-term solution, consider using AOMEI Backupper Standard to create full system and file backups. Besides, as professional disk clone software, AOMEI Backupper enables you to clone HDD to SSD easily. Why not give it a shot?