How to delete Windows.old folder on Windows 11

Some users have recently made requests to remove Windows.old from Windows 11 to save space on their PC. Windows automatically deletes the Windows.old folder after a month, but if you can't wait until then, we've provided some methods to delete the Windows.old folder.

Need the Windows.old folder on your PC?

The Windows.old folder takes up some space on your Windows 11 PC, but here are some arguments on whether you should delete it:

• Windows Recovery Option - If the installation process fails while installing a new version of Windows 11 on your PC, you can easily revert to a previous version of Windows using the Windows.old folder.
• Insufficient Disk Space - If you desperately need more available storage space, deleting the Windows.old folder will free up a few gigabytes of disk space for you.

Based on the reasons provided above, you should be able to decide whether to delete or keep the Windows.old folder on your Windows 11 PC.

How to delete Windows.old folder on Windows 11?

1. Use the File Explorer

1. Press the key to open the File Explorer. WindowsE
2. Click "This PC" and navigate to the C: drive.
3. Next, scroll down to the Windows.old folder and right-click on it. Click the recycle bin icon to delete.
4. When prompted, click "Continue" to provide administrator rights to delete the folder.
5. Alternatively, you can hold down the key and press the button to permanently delete the folder and all its contents. ShiftDelete

If the Windows.old folder is used by another user, you will need to take ownership of the folder before you can delete it.

2. Use Disk Cleanup

1. Press the key to open the "Run" dialog box. Type cleanmgr in the text field and press . WindowsREnter
2. Select "This PC" from the left pane. Right-click the C: drive in the right pane and select Properties.
3. Click the "Disk Cleanup" button under the "General" tab.
4. Select Clean System at the bottom of the page. Wait for Disk Cleanup to scan your PC for unused files.
5. Once the process is complete, scroll down and select the "Previous Windows Installation" option, which is also the Windows.old folder.
6. Check the checkboxes to select what you want to delete and click OK.
7. Next, select Delete Files from the pop-up window to confirm the deletion.
8. If you receive other prompts, click "Yes".

Deleting the Windows.old folder will not affect your PC anyway. If you can live with your current version of Windows, you have to make sure you're ready to let it go.

3. With Storage Sense

1. Press the button, type Storage Sense in the search bar, and launch it. Windows
2. Find Storage Management and switch on Storage Sense and the option below it.
Next, click the right arrow next to
3. Storage Sense to access more options. Then click the "Run Storage Sense Now" button.
Storage Sense will begin the cleaning process.

Storage Sense can delete unnecessary files such as thumbnails, error reports, cache files and previous installation files, and even empty the Recycle Bin.

This is how to delete Windows.old folder on Windows 11 PC. Hopefully one or all of these steps are easy for you to navigate.

Alternatively, if the only purpose of deleting the Windows.old folder is to clear storage space, you can also look here for other ways to free up disk space.

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