Why Is My Computer Running Slow? Free Up Disk Space to Speed Things Up

Is your computer taking forever to load programs, open files, or even just start up? A slow computer can be incredibly frustrating, impacting your productivity and overall experience. While there can be many reasons for a sluggish PC, one common culprit is low disk space. When your hard drive is nearly full, your computer struggles to operate efficiently. Fortunately, freeing up disk space is often a straightforward way to improve performance.

This guide will walk you through several effective methods to check your disk space and reclaim valuable storage, helping you get your computer running smoothly again.

Checking Your Disk Space

Before diving into solutions, it’s essential to see if low disk space is indeed the issue. Here’s how to quickly check your storage on Windows:

1. Click the Start button, usually located at the bottom left of your screen.
2. Select Settings. The Settings app icon looks like a gear.
3. Click on System.
4. Choose Storage from the left-hand menu.

In the Storage area, you’ll see a list of your drives. For each drive, note the Free space and Total size. If the free space is very low (e.g., less than 10% of the total size), it’s likely contributing to your computer’s slow performance.

If you have plenty of free disk space, then the issue might lie elsewhere, and further troubleshooting may be needed. However, if space is limited, continue with the following steps to free up space and potentially boost your computer’s speed.

Utilizing Storage Sense to Automatically Free Up Space

Windows has a built-in tool called Storage Sense that can automatically manage your disk space by deleting temporary files and managing your Recycle Bin. Here’s how to use it:

Deleting Temporary Files Manually with Storage Sense

Temporary files are often created by apps and the system but may not be needed long-term. Deleting them can free up space.

1. Navigate to Settings > System > Storage as described in the previous section.

2. Click on Temporary files.

   Note: If you don’t see Temporary files listed, click Show more categories.

3. Windows will calculate the space used by temporary files.

4. Select the types of files you want to delete (e.g., Temporary files, Recycle Bin, Downloads).

5. Click Remove files.

Before emptying the Recycle Bin, you might want to open it from your desktop to ensure you don’t accidentally delete files you still need. To find the Recycle Bin, type recycle bin in the taskbar search and select it from the results. Remember that emptying the Recycle Bin permanently deletes those files.

Turning On and Configuring Automatic Storage Sense

For ongoing maintenance, you can set up Storage Sense to run automatically.

1. Go to Settings > System > Storage.
2. Toggle Storage Sense to On.
3. Click Configure Storage Sense or run it now.
4. Choose how often you want Storage Sense to run automatically from the dropdown menu under Run Storage Sense. Options include “Every day,” “Every week,” “Every month,” or “When disk space is low.”
5. Under Temporary Files, check the box for Delete temporary files that my apps aren’t using.
6. Choose how often to delete files from your Recycle Bin and Downloads folder using the dropdown menus.
7. To run Storage Sense immediately with your chosen settings, scroll down and click Clean now.

Windows will then clean up files based on your configuration, and a message will appear indicating the space freed up.

Using Disk Cleanup to Remove System Files

If your system doesn’t have Storage Sense, or if you want to remove system files for more space, you can use the Disk Cleanup tool.

1. Type disk cleanup in the search box on the taskbar.
2. Select Disk Cleanup from the search results.
3. Select the drive you want to clean up (usually your system drive).
4. In the Disk Cleanup window, check the boxes next to the file types you want to delete. You can click on each file type to see a description. Common options include Temporary Internet Files, Downloaded Program Files, and Thumbnails.
5. To remove system files as well, click Clean up system files. This might require administrator permissions.
6. In the new Disk Cleanup window (for system files), select additional file types if desired, and click OK.
7. Click Delete files in the confirmation window to start the cleanup process.

Note: If you’ve recently upgraded Windows, Disk Cleanup might offer to remove the “Previous Windows installation(s)”. Deleting this will remove the Windows.old folder, preventing you from reverting to the previous version of Windows.

Uninstalling Unused Applications

Another significant way to free up disk space and potentially improve performance is to uninstall applications you no longer use.

1. Click the Start button and select Settings > Apps > Apps & features.
2. You’ll see a list of installed applications. You can sort them by size to easily identify large programs.
3. Select an application you want to remove.
4. Click Uninstall and follow the on-screen instructions.
5. Restart your computer after uninstalling apps.

Moving Large Files to an External Drive

If you have large files like photos, videos, or music that you don’t access frequently, consider moving them to an external hard drive or USB drive.

1. Connect your external drive to your computer.
2. Open File Explorer from the taskbar.
3. Navigate to the files you want to move.
4. Select the files, go to the Home tab in the File Explorer ribbon, and click Move to > Choose location.
5. Select your external drive from the list and click Move.

After moving files, restart your computer and check if the performance has improved.

Still Slow?

Freeing up disk space is a crucial first step in addressing a slow computer. If your PC is still running slowly after trying these steps, there might be other underlying issues, such as malware, outdated drivers, or hardware limitations. Explore other resources on websites like why.edu.vn for further troubleshooting tips and solutions to optimize your computer’s performance.