When hard drive storage (free space) ever falls below a certain percentage, Windows displays a warning message. If you see the message, act immediately to clean up your hard drive or install a second drive. How to see hard drive space. The term hard drive applies to the PC's primary storage device. It's known on most PCs as drive C, though it can be another drive. It will list all physical hard disks connected to your computer. You can check the hard drive type under MediaType column. Check Hard Drive Windows 10 with Disk Management Software. Many third-party disk partition management utilities in market can detect the properties of your hard drive and help you manage your hard drive. Right-click on the Windows icon and select 'Settings'. Click 'System', then click 'Storage' on the left-side panel.
How iOS and iPadOS optimize storage
If your device is low on storage, it automatically frees up space while installing an app, updating iOS or iPadOS, downloading music, recording videos, and more.
To make more storage available, your device can remove some of your items, like streamed music and videos, files in iCloud Drive, and parts of apps that aren't needed. It also removes temporary files and clears the cache on your device. But your device only removes items that can be downloaded again or that aren't needed anymore.
Use your device to check its storage
Go to Settings > General > [Device] Storage. You might see a list of recommendations for optimizing your device's storage, followed by a list of installed apps and the amount of storage each one uses. Tap an app's name for more information about its storage. Cached data and temporary data might not be counted as usage.
In the detailed view you can:
- Offload the app, which frees up storage used by the app, but keeps its documents and data.
- Delete the app, which removes the app and its related data.
- Depending on the app, you might be able to delete some of its documents and data.
If your device is almost full and can't free up space, you might get a Storage Almost Full alert. If you see this alert, you should check the storage recommendations or you need to offload some less-used content like videos and apps.
Content categories
The used content on your device is divided in these categories:
- Apps: Installed apps and their content, and content stored in 'On My iPhone/iPad/iPod touch' directory in the Files app, and Safari downloads
- Photos: Photos and videos stored in the Photos app
- Media: Music, videos, podcasts, ringtones, artwork, and Voice Memos
- Mail: Emails and their attachments
- Apple Books: Books and PDFs in the Books app
- Messages: Messages and their attachments
- iCloud Drive: iCloud Drive content that has been downloaded locally to your device. This content can't be automatically deleted.
- Other: Non-removable mobile assets, like Siri voices, fonts, dictionaries, non-removable logs and caches, Spotlight index, and system data, such as Keychain and CloudKit Database. Cached files can't be deleted by the system.
- System: Space taken by the operating system. This can vary based on your device and model.
Use recommendations to optimize storage
In the Storage section of Settings, your device might offer recommendations for optimizing your storage. Tap Show All to see all the recommendations for your device.
https://freeberry.mystrikingly.com/blog/hammerli-208-serial-numbers. Read the description of each recommendation, then tap Enable to turn it on or tap the recommendation to review the contents you can delete.
Use Finder or iTunes to check the storage on your iOS device
- On a Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15, open Finder. On a Mac with macOS Mojave 10.14 or earlier, or on a PC, open iTunes.
- Connect your device to your computer.
- Select your device in Finder or in iTunes. You'll see a bar that shows how much storage your content uses, divided by content type.
- Move your mouse over the bar to see how much storage each content type is using.
Here's a list of the types of content on your device, and what each type includes:
- Audio: Songs, audio podcasts, audiobooks, voice memos, and ringtones.
- Video: Movies, music videos, and TV shows.
- Photos: Content in your Photo Library, Camera Roll, and Photo Stream.
- Apps: Installed apps. The content of the apps is listed under Documents & Data.
- Books: iBooks books, audio books, and PDF files.
- Documents & Data: Safari Offline Reading List, files stored within installed apps, and app content like contacts, calendars, messages, and emails (and their attachments).
- Other: Settings, Siri voices, system data, and cached files.
About cached files in 'Other'
Finder and iTunes categorize cached music, videos, and photos as Other instead of actual songs, videos, or photos. Cached files are created when you stream or view content like music, videos, and photos. When you stream music or video, that content is stored as cached files on your device so you can quickly access it again.
Your device automatically removes cached files and temporary files when your device needs more space.
If storage on your device differs from what you see in Finder or iTunes
Since Finder and iTunes categorize cached files as Other, reported usage for Music or Videos might differ. To view usage on your device, go to Settings > General > [Device] Storage.
If you want to delete the cached files from your device
Your device automatically deletes cached files and temporary files when it needs more space. You don't need to delete them yourself.
Learn more
- To reduce the size of your Photo library, turn on iCloud Photo Library and optimize your device storage.
- Optimize your music and videos storage in Settings > Music > Optimize Storage.
- Learn how iOS, iPadOS, and macOS report storage capacity.
Is your Windows computer warning that 'You are running out of space on Local Disk (C:).'? If it's so, it means that your C drive is full. So what causes or why is C drive full? What is taking up space on C drive? And how can you free up space on the C drive?
Follow the content guide here get the most effective fixes for the C drive full issue and make your computer running fast again:
- Method 1: Extend C Drive with Partition Manager Software
- Method 2: Free Up C Drive Disk Space (5 ways)
- Method 3: Upgrade or Add A Larger Hard Disk
- Bonus Tips: Make Full Use of Hard Drive Space
Note that the presented fixes are appliable to fix C drive is full issue on all Windows OS, even if you are using old Windows 8.1/8/7 or older versions. All problems will be addressed properly with solutions on this page.
Overview of C Drive Full Issue
In this part, you'll learn everything about 'local disk C is full', including:
- 1. What is C drive full error
- 2. Why is C drive full or what is taking up space on C drive
- 3. What happens if C drive gets full
What Is C Drive Full Error
Generally, C drive full is an error message that when the C: drive is running out of space, Windows will prompt this error message on your computer: 'Low Disk Space. You are running out of disk space on Local Disk (C:). Click here to see if you can free space o this drive.'
Different Windows OS will show different symptoms when the C drive is full.
- If C drive gets full in Windows 10 or Windows 7, the C drive will be shown in red as below:
- If C drive gets full in Windows XP, it will display a similar Low Disk Space warning message as shown here:
Why Is C Drive Full
Check the list here and it will explain what is taking up space in C drive in Windows 10/8/7 and make your system partition merely full:
- #1. Windows OS, system-related files and settings
- #2. Installed applications, Windows built-in programs, and the downloaded software
- #3. User data, like Documents, Photos, etc., and personal data saved on Desktop or in C drive
If C Drive Is Full, What Will Happen
If your computer reports that the C drive is out of space, you're likely encountering one or more of the situations listed below:
- Windows OS slows down or becomes extremely slow
- Low storage space for storing more data and files
- Not big enough to install Windows update
- Unavailable for program installation
3 Solutions for 'C Drive Is full' in Windows 10/8/7/XP
Call of duty multiplayer online. If you are facing the C drive full or low disk space issue, don't worry. Pick up one of the presented solutions here, you'll be able to effectively extend C drive and speed up PC:
- Tip
- To avoid unnecessary data loss issue, we'd like to suggest you back up important data in advance.
- EaseUS Todo Backup Free can help you effectively back up valuable files, disk partition, and even the OS in 3 simple steps.
Different Windows OS will show different symptoms when the C drive is full.
- If C drive gets full in Windows 10 or Windows 7, the C drive will be shown in red as below:
- If C drive gets full in Windows XP, it will display a similar Low Disk Space warning message as shown here:
Why Is C Drive Full
Check the list here and it will explain what is taking up space in C drive in Windows 10/8/7 and make your system partition merely full:
- #1. Windows OS, system-related files and settings
- #2. Installed applications, Windows built-in programs, and the downloaded software
- #3. User data, like Documents, Photos, etc., and personal data saved on Desktop or in C drive
If C Drive Is Full, What Will Happen
If your computer reports that the C drive is out of space, you're likely encountering one or more of the situations listed below:
- Windows OS slows down or becomes extremely slow
- Low storage space for storing more data and files
- Not big enough to install Windows update
- Unavailable for program installation
3 Solutions for 'C Drive Is full' in Windows 10/8/7/XP
Call of duty multiplayer online. If you are facing the C drive full or low disk space issue, don't worry. Pick up one of the presented solutions here, you'll be able to effectively extend C drive and speed up PC:
- Tip
- To avoid unnecessary data loss issue, we'd like to suggest you back up important data in advance.
- EaseUS Todo Backup Free can help you effectively back up valuable files, disk partition, and even the OS in 3 simple steps.
Method 1. Extend C Drive with Partition Manager Software
When c drive is out of space on your PC, an efficient way is to extend C drive with professional partition manager software. EaseUS Partition Master can extend C drive as you wish without losing data.
Enlarging the system drive is only one of its powerful features. With EaseUS Partition Master, you can manage your disks or partitions safely and effectively, such as merging partitions and converting MBR to GPT. Don't hesitate to give it a try.
Now, follow the steps below to extend your C drive so to fix low disk issue with simple clicks:
Step 1. Launch EaseUS Partition Master and click 'Adjust with 1-Click.'
When your C drive is out of space, you will see the Low Disk Space alert on our product.
Step 2. Click 'Proceed' to adjust space automatically.
EaseUS Partition Master will automatically adjust your C drive to solve the low space issue. Click 'Proceed' to continue.
You can also click 'Manual Adjustment' to extend the C drive manually if the Smart Space Adjustment cannot meet your needs.
When turning to Manual Adjustment, the result of smart adjustment will be retained as the starting point for manual adjustment. Select the C drive, and drag dots to add more space to C drive. Then click 'Proceed' to continue.
Step 3. Execute operations.
Click the 'Execute Operation' button at the top corner and start all pending operations by clicking 'Apply'.
Method 2. Free Up C Drive Disk Space - 4 Tricks
Mostly, useless large junk files, big files, huge installed programs, and temporary files are taking up the most space in your system C drive after using your PC for a long time. So the other effective method you can try is to free up hard disk space.
Here are 3 ways that you can apply to free up space in the C drive and eve the hard disk space:
#1. Run Disk Cleanup
Disk Cleanup is a Windows built-in tool that you can apply it to delete some files so as to free up disk space via Windows File Explorer. Follow the steps below to free up disk space on your C drive:
Step 1. Press Windows + R to bring up Windows File Explorer.
Step 2. Click 'This PC', right-click on C: drive and select 'Properties'.
Step 3. In Disk Cleanup, select the fils you want to delete and click 'OK'.
If Windows installation files (Windows.old folder) shows up, check and delete it. This will help to free up a huge space in C: drive.
# 2. Delete Temporary Files on C Drive
As you know that temporary files generated by Windows OS may also take up huge space on the system C: drive. You can also try to delete the temporary files so as to resolve the C drive full issue. Some steps to delete the Temp files on different Windows OS may differ:
Delete Temporary Files in Windows 10/8:
Step 1: Press 'Windows + I' to open Windows Settings, click on 'System' and ' Storage'.
Step 2: Under 'Storage', select 'This PC (C:)' to analyze.
Step 3: Click on 'Temporary files'.
Windows 10/8 will list 'Temporary files', 'Downloads folder', 'Recycle bin', and more in this section.
Nzbvortex 3 3 3. Step 4: Check the box of content you want to remove and click on the Remove files button.
Step 5: Go back to Storage usage and now click 'Other'.
Select its content, right-click unwanted files that are taking most storage space and select 'Delete' to remove the files and folders.
Delete Temporary Files in Windows 7:
Step 1: Open My Computer, right-click the C drive and select 'Properties'.
Step 2: Click the 'Disk Cleanup' button in the disk properties window.
Step 3: Select temporary files, log files, Recycle Bin, and other useless files that you want to delete and click 'OK'.
#3. Empty Recycle Bin Regularly
Another method that you can try is to empty the Recycle Bin timely. Windows to save the deleted files in the Recycle Bin for a period (30 days or even longer by default).
If you never cleared the recycle bin, it will take up a certain space on your system C drive, which as a result, your C drive is getting full.
So we suggest you empty the recycle bin regularly. Note that before you start, check the recycle bin and make sure you have restored some important deleted files back to its original location. Everything left in the Recycle Bin is not essential.
To empty the recycle bin, you have two ways to go: Invaders from the planet moolah slot machine.
1. Select to Empty Recycle Bin from Temporary Files
You may revert to the forward method as a guide so as to empty Recycle Bin files from Temporary Files.
2. Manually Empty the Recycle Bin
Step 1. Open Recycle Bin from the desktop.
Step 2. Select all recycled files in the Recycle Bin, right-click them, and select 'delete'.
If you lost vital files after emptying Recycle Bin, refer to: Recycle Bin Recovery for help.
# 4. Clear Useless Large Files
A huge number of useless large files will be generated in the C drive while using applications, software, and Windows system. You can effectively scan and delete the large files on the system C: drive and other drives by using the Large File Cleanup feature in EaseUS Tool M:
Step 1. DOWNLOAD EaseUS Tools M for free and install it on your computer.
Step 2. Launch EaseUS Tools M in Windows PC. Select 'Large File Cleanup' on the main screen.
Step 3. Select the drive and click 'Scan' to let the program locate, find all large files on your disk.
Step 4. Identify and select useless large files and click 'Delete' to remove those files from your PC or laptop. A message pops up and tells you this process will permanently delete the files. Click 'Yes' to start the process.
# 5. Transfer Big Files and Programs from C to Another Drive
The other way to free up C drive space is to transfer the saved big files and installed big programs to another drive. You can manually copy big files from C drive to other non-system drives on your PC.
To migrate the C drive installed program, you can apply professional PC transfer software like EaseUS Todo PCTrans for help. It's Local App Migration feature will do the job for you:
Read Also: Transfer Programs from C Drive to Other Drive without Reinstallation
Method 3. Upgrade System Disk to A Larger Disk or Add A New One
If you find your C drive is out of space frequently or the methods above cannot thoroughly resolve your issue, you may try to upgrade your system disk to a larger one or add another hard disk to your computer.
# 1. Upgrade System Drive to A Larger Hard Drive
If the whole system hard disk is out of space, or the hard drive is too small, you can consider upgrading the current hard disk to a larger one.
'Disk Copy' feature of EaseUS Partition Master has the ability to help you upgrade to a larger disk. You don't need to reinstall the operating system and applications.
Step 1: Select the source disk.
Open EaseUS Partition Master. Right-click the disk that you want to copy or clone. Then, select 'Clone'.
Step 2: Select the target disk.
Choose the wanted HDD/SSD as your destination and click 'Next' to continue.
Step 3: View the disk layout and edit the target disk partition size.
Then click 'Continue' when the program warns it will wipe out all data on the target disk. (If you have valuable data on the target disk, back up it in advance.)
You can select 'Autofit the disk', 'Clone as the source' or 'Edit disk layout' to customize your disk layout. (Select the last one if you want to leave more space for C drive.)
Step 4: Execute the operation.
Click the 'Execute the operation' option and click 'Apply' to start the disk cloning process.
IMPORTANT: Mostly, the system C drive space is suggested to be 120GB or even bigger for excellent computer performance. So after replacing the old system disk, it's recommended that you add or allocate more free space to the system C drive by following Method 1.
# 2. Add Another New Hard Disk
If you have a decent-sized hard drive that is running out of space, adding a new hard disk will give you additional storage without having to erase the existing hard drive. It could be either an internal or external hard disk.
Also Read: How to Install a New HDD/SSD in Windows.
How to put autotune on audacity. Later, you can follow the 2nd way in Method 2 to manually copy big files and transfer installed programs to the other hard drive with ease.
Bonus Tips: Make Full Use of Hard Drive Space
To prevent your C drive gets full again, here are some tips that you can follow to make full use of hard drive storage space:
- #1. Allocate or leave 120GB or more space to system C: drive.
- #2. Install big programs and software to non-system partition, like D: or E:.
- #3. Save and backup large files to non-system partition or external storage devices.
- #4. Clear temporary files, junk files regularly.
- #5. Empty recycle bin timely
The End Line
On this page, we explained that is C drive full error, what takes the most space on C drive, and how to fix C drive full issue with 3 major methods.
How To Check Disk Space Windows
Note that, to avoid unnecessary data loss, we always suggest you backup important files from C drive to another device in advance. For the most efficient solution, extending C drive with EaseUS Partition Master is always the best option. It's easy and free.