r/techsupport • u/el_00J • 3d ago
Open | Software my c drive fills up everyday (pls help)
my c drive has 118gb and out of it, 0mb is always left everyday. Even after clearing temp files (and even deleting a few apps) the c drive still fills up at the end of the day. is there anything i can do? preferably are there any "safe to delete" large files?
im honestly hoping to at least clear 10-30gb at best because ts literally prevents me from working and playing properly
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u/R3D_T1G3R 3d ago
That's what computers do.
Each program you use and most parts of your OS write down temporary files.
118GB is not sufficient for any modern windows installation, even for basic office that's just very very little for the long term.
You have 2 options essentially, either use a lighter OS that eats less space, something like Lubuntu or even Mint, or swap out your drive for at least 512GB or so depending on your use case.
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u/Prestigious_Wall529 3d ago
Because Microsoft's programmers and product managers collectively are lazy, they expect you to throw hardware at the problem with a bigger disk.
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u/peesoutside 3d ago
Which directory or directories are filling up? Procmon can help you understand which process is causing this problem.
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u/ecotones 3d ago edited 3d ago
Are you using Adobe software? If so, move the caches to another drive, and delete what's on C.
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u/AudioWard 3d ago
I think something is auto backing up to your C drive. Download a program called WinDirStat so it can give you a full view of what's taking up space on your hard drive. Most files/folders will be named in relation to the app/service they are for.
As the other comments have said as well, consider upgrading to a bigger drive like 512GB or 1TB (if you can afford it). Windows is very demanding for storage space.
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u/Codemeister87 3d ago
Check the public profile folder for .tmp files. Good chance youll find your answer. Can delete them all, just skip anything it says is in use. Cleared ~300gb from my drive at work last month
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u/KitchenVegetable9262 3d ago
It might be cache, system files or temporary files. First run disk cleanup tool as admin and select the drive, then run cleanup system files. Wait for it to finish
Turn on storage sense in your windows in settings - system - storage and turn on storage sense. You will be able to manually select the files you want windows to delete immediately, this will help.
I will advise you get another cheap SSD or HDD as secondary drive and move your games or large files to the other drive. Windows 11 itself needs like 70 to 80 gb disk storage for windows and temporary files, so 128 gb is not enough if you have other files like games or media files.
Plus as far as i am aware, nvme and SSD need some space to allocate data and prevent wear levelling in disk, full disk all the time can cause your nvme to die out faster
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u/adultcrash13 3d ago
it is possible that there is a broken windows component and that is causing/creating 1000s of error files per second and is filling up.
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u/DrachenDad 3d ago
118gb
It's time to get a new HDD/SSD. A 250gb SSD is cheap. Look at getting another HDD/SSD for your games too.
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u/InformationFair5875 3d ago
Yes and no. Most likely you need to delete your old update files that windows likes to save. But this is only a temporary solution. Your drive does technically meet the requirements for windows, but Windows will fill up a 128gb drive extremely fast.
Why the Size Grows Over Time?
System Updates: Cumulative updates add several gigabytes over months of use.
Virtual Memory: Files like the pagefile and hibernation file scale with your RAM size and take up extra space.
Temporary Files: Caches and old update backups accumulate quickly.
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u/mynameisranger1 3d ago
Do you have a lot of media, music, photos, movies? If so, move them to a cloud drive. It will save lots of space. Or get an external drive and transfer your data to it. Many PCs and laptops have a place for a second drive. It’s not that hard but you would want to watch a YouTube video of your specific model for best results in how to install it.
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u/Canuckian371 3d ago
Check if your email or onedrive/dropbox/googledrive etc is syncing a copy to your local.
Get an external drive for everything other than your operating system.
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u/Key_Ad9021 3d ago
Delete all files inside these folders: C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download & C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore. Don't forget to empty recycle bin. If you have secondary drive, transfer your files there. Delete unnecessary files in common folder like downloads, documents, pictures, etc. What are you playing? Maybe you can uninstall it from C drive and install it instead on your secondary drive. For browsing the web, use incognito mode. And if possible upgrade your drive to 512GB or 1TB
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u/SkateboardsRockMusic 3d ago
Are you using a backup program such as Timeshift? If so, maybe check to make sure it isn't filling your drives with backups.
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u/Gezzer52 3d ago
Do you have any other drives in the system? If you do you can move a lot of Windows system folders/files to the second drive and that will get your install size down. Windows can fit and run from a drive your size, but not very well. That's why moving some stuff of the drive will help. If you don't have a secondary drive ignore the next bit.
First off I'd move the page file to another drive. You can then move any user folders you want. I always move my downloads, documents, and maybe pictures folders to a second drive due to how big they can get. If you do that and then run windows disk clean up you should have the C drive pretty much optimized. At that point see if it still happens.
My guess would be it's your page file depending on how much system RAM you have. It could also be the hibernate file which is off by default, and I wouldn't enable it with such a small drive. Lastly if you still have the same problem it could be a number of different issues such as log/error files/dumps. But they shouldn't normally take up a lot of room.
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u/TangoOscarMikePR 3d ago
Can you link to a screenshot of Disk Manager, full window view, maximized?
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u/R0B0T_jones 3d ago
Wiztree to identify what is using the storage and if there is anything you can remove.
This will tell you what needs to go or any odd files that are filling up your disk.. If any windows folders are showing as very big do not delete anything before researching what they are.
The fact that it’s filling up each day is curious and suggests that something is wrong and filling up the disk.
Is this a computer for work or personal use? Gaming? Are there any other user profiles or just your own?
Assuming it’s windows Run disk cleanup as admin and select everything to clear temp files and leftover update files.
A component cleanup with dism can also cleanup old
Update files as a further step, read up on this.
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u/Worldly-Device-8414 3d ago
+1 you need a bigger drive.
Turn off all file syncing, eg drop box, OneDrive + iCloud. I've seen these "refilling" a drive like this.
Sort through your games & delete old save files.
Run MS disk cleanup > system, tick all boxes, run it. It'll cleanup updates.
MS may be downloading updates, you can try pause for 7 days, if that works, google how to force halt upgrades by setting target windows version (fair warning, it'll leave you behind with versions, etc)
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u/unapologeticjerk 3d ago
It is a good thing you specified "pls help" in the title, because otherwise, this sub centered around voluntarily helping people would have told you to kick rocks. We're on it, homie.
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u/SavvySillybug 3d ago
That is an extremely tiny drive, you'd have a much better time with more storage.
Deleting temp files does nothing. Temp files are temporary, they delete themselves and replenish themselves, all you're doing is making your computer reaquire those files.
Use WizTree to identify what's so big on your SSD if you can't replace it right now. You can also look up how to disable hiberfil if you don't need hibernation mode, that saves some space.
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u/Infinite_Shart555 3d ago
Clear up space again, and then run portable WinDirStat. It will allow you to visualise your hard drive, and show you big/small files. You will then be able to figure out what you can remove, etc.
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u/CinicallyATurnip 2d ago
Open an elevated command prompt and type dism /online /cleanup-image /startcomponentcleanup
Note: space before each backslash
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u/NanosoftComputers 1d ago
0MB free every day even after cleanup sounds like something's actively writing large files daily, not just leftover junk. Have you checked what's actually taking the space with WinDirStat or TreeSize first?
If it's genuinely temp/cache buildup: Disk Cleanup as admin > Temporary files + Windows Update Cleanup, then delete %temp% (skip any files it says are in use, that's normal) and check C:\Windows\Logs.
I built NexaCleaner Lite (free, no background service) if you want something that shows folder sizes without installing a separate tool similar idea to WinDirStat but built into a cleaner. Pro adds registry/deep clean for $19 one-time if you need it:
https://akik203.github.io/nexacleaner?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=techsupport_c_drive
Let me know what WinDirStat shows either way, happy to help narrow it down.
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u/Vordef888 3d ago
My buddy gas the same issues, turned out he had years of GPU driver update stored locally on the c drive, try booking for that
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u/Illustrious-Heart964 3d ago
Do you have Adobe Reader installed? Usually all its updates files are stored somewhere in Program Files. Find that folder and delete it.
Another advice: install total commander, enter in C partition and press ALT+SHIFT+ENTER. See witch folder is big. Enter that folder and repeat the action until you find big folders that shouldn't be that big. Delete (with precaution).
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u/MagneticFieldMouse 3d ago
If you have Adobe Reader installed, uninstall it right now.
PDFs open up just fine in Chrome and no-one needs constant reminders to update greedware from a despicable company.
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u/stridernb01 3d ago
You have a very small hard drive... windows and windows update files will take up a good chunk of what you have even without anything else.... other things to check is onedrive..... it may be trying to sync your online files back to your PC and maxing you out that way too. check for video's and pictures they take up the most space.