If you are troubled by Windows 11 system files too large, read through this article to learn five useful methods to free up space on Windows 11 easily.
I'm using Windows 11 on a Surface Pro and the C drive has a disk capacity of about 930 GB. But my current storage space is only about 1GB left. It seems that my Windows system files are too large and eating hard disk space. Why would this happen? How do I reduce system files in Windows 11?
System files are essential files that are required for processes, apps, and device drivers on Windows to run properly. In some scenarios, damaged or missing system files can lead to system/app crashes and hardware failures. Common system file extensions include SYS, DLL, CAB, MSI, ICO, LNK, INI, etc. A well-known location for system files is the System32 (for 32-bit systems) folder or SysWOW64 (for 64-bit systems) folder (This PC > Local Disk (C:) > Windows > System32 or SysWOW64).
However, Windows 11 system files too large may be a bothersome problem. This would be due to too many cached Windows updates, a lot of restore points or other backup images, plenty of preloaded apps, and so on.
If you are struggling with Windows system files huge on Windows 10/11, don’t worry. You can follow the content below to learn how do I reduce the size of systems files with ease.
π Way 1. Clean up System Files with Disk Cleanup π Way 2. Use Storage Sense to Manage Drive Spaceπ₯ π Way 3. Uninstall Useless Programs π Way 4. Change Storage Settings π Way 5. Reduce Disk Usage of System Restoreπ₯
Best free Windows backup software to create Windows backup to external devices.
Disk Cleanup, also known as Cleanmgr.exe, is a built-in cleaning tool in Windows developed by Microsoft. It can be used to free up space on Windows 11 by cleaning system files that are no longer needed. It can also be helpful to solve "system files too large on Windows 10."
Step 1. Type Disk Cleanup in the Windows search box and select the Disk Cleanup app to open it.
Step 2. Choose C drive on the fly-out Drive Selection window, and click OK.
Step 3. Hit the Clean up Systems files button to scan more files.
Step 4. Then, go to the More Options tab and click Clean up under the System Restore and Shadow Copies option. Click on Delete to confirm it.
Storage Sense is a Microsoft tool designed to automatically free up space on your device by removing unnecessary items, such as temporary files or items in the Recycle Bin. Here are step-by-step instructions for using Storage Sense to clean up your computer’s storage when Windows 11/10 system files are too large:
Step 1. Open Windows Settings, select System, and then Storage.
Step 2. Click on Storage Sense on the right.
Step 3. Check the box in the Cleanup of temporary files section, and toggle Automatic User content cleanup to On.
Step 4. You can also configure cleanup schedules and choose how often to delete files from your Recycle Bin or Downloads folder. Then, click Run Storage Sense.
You can uninstall unused or non-essential applications on your computer to fix System and Reserved storage huge on Windows 11/10. Please follow the steps below:
Step 1. Press Windows + I to open Settings and click on Apps -> Apps & features.
Step 2. Locate the App you wish to uninstall, click on the three-dot button, and select Uninstall > Uninstall.
You can also change storage settings on Windows, like changing which drive the new files will be saved on, to stop files taking up space on C drive, causing Windows 11 system files too large.
Step 1. Type and search Storage settings in the Windows search bar, then click Open.
Step 2. Scroll down to the Storage management section and tap on Cleanup recommendations.
Step 3. Click on Advanced storage settings, then select Where new content is saved.
Step 4. Specify another drive to save your new content.
Lots of users reported that the Windows 11 or Windows 10 system files huge issue can be caused by the huge disk usage allocated to system restore. To do this work, follow the detailed steps to reduce disk usage for system restore:
Step 1. Type System Protection in the Search box, then select Create a restore point from the result.
Step 2. Tap on Configure under the Protection Settings section.
Step 3. In the pop-up window, navigate to Disk Space Usage. Adjust the disk space usage allocated to System Restore by dragging the blue handle leftward. Alternatively, you can choose to disable system protection or delete all existing restore points.
Step 4. Click on Apply > OK to save the change.
As previously mentioned, system restore points and backups can contribute to the issue of Windows 11 system files being too large. While you can remove them or disable system restore to resolve this issue, it's generally not recommended. Regardless, it's crucial to maintain a system backup to ensure the security of your computer's data.
In this case, it is recommended to create Windows backup to external hard drive, instead of local drive, with the help of the professional Windows backup software - AOMEI Backupper Standard.
β In addition to backing up Windows to external drive, you can also use it to backup Windows 11 to NAS, network drive, cloud storage, etc. β It provides system backup, disk backup, partition backup, file/folder backup, and various backup options. β It allows you to use incremental or differential backup to save backup space and backup time. (differential backup is available in paid edition) β You are able to automate your backup tasks on a daily, weekly, monthly, etc. basis.
How to create Windows 11 system backup to external hard drive (this software also supports Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP):
Step 1. Free download AOMEI Backupper Standard, install and run it on your computer.
Step 2. Click on Backup from the left menu and select System Backup on the right.
Step 3. The program will automatically select the system and boot partitions as the source. Click on the destination bar and choose your connected external disk as the target location.
Step 4. Finally, click on Start Backup to begin the backup process.
If you encounter Windows 11 system files too large, don’t worry. Try the solutions listed above to remove temporary or useless system data to make room on Windows 11 easily. If most of system files are system backups or system restore points, you can use the free Windows backup tool, AOMEI Backupper, to create backup images to external hard drive, NAS, or other devices without taking up local space.
What’s more, this utility is also a powerful cloning tool, which can help you clone hard drive to SSD or Clone Windows OS to SSD without boot issues.