How to Increase Space in C Drive on Windows 10 Without Losing Data

The Windows system comes with a single drive partition, i.e., C: by default. Generally, the C drive in Windows 10 stores all the system files and program installation files. But if you keep storing data to only a single drive, you may soon encounter a ‘Low disk space’ error. Those who play heavy games on their system or store large-sized videos and other data may encounter low space disk warning on their system. Hence, they seek multiple ways to increase the storage on their system.

Here, we’re sharing some common workarounds to increase space in the C drive. Before that, you need to know what’s eating up your drive space. Let’s get started!

Primary Reasons for Drive Running Out of Space 

Windows over time collects copies of data, including Windows Updates, temporary internet files, memory dump files used for diagnosing and troubleshooting error messages, and Windows upgrade files, which help install updates for Windows. Such residual data is often not required when the purpose is served. You can remove this data to increase space in your C: drive and boost the system performance. 

Methods to increase space in C: drive

• Free up space with Disk Cleanup
• Delete personal files
• Extend C drive space on Windows 10

Method 1: Free up space with Disk Cleanup

If you receive a low disk space warning on your C: drive, you may use the Disk Cleanup utility to remove temporary and unwanted downloaded files. To do so, follow the given steps:

a. Open Windows Explorer by pressing Windows + E.

b. Go to This PC and right-click on C: drive in Windows 10.

c. Select Properties > General > Disk Cleanup. (See Image 1)

Image 1: Go to drive’s properties and select Disk Cleanup

d. To make more space in C: drive, select Clean up system files > Yes. (See Image 2)

Image 2: Choose to clean up your system files

e. Select the type of data you want to delete and click OK to complete the process. 

f. Once the Disk Cleanup process is completed, you can restart your system to calculate the available free space. 

Method 2: Delete personal files

Video games, personal photos, videos, music files, documents, and other types of data can consume a lot of space on your drive. You can remove the files that are no longer required and increase the space in the C drive. To do so, follow the given steps:

a. Open File Explorer and go to This PC. 

b. Open C: Drive and select the folder to see all the data stored on it. Usually, videos, music, and photos consume the most space in the drive. 

c. You can check out the files by selecting View > Details in the folder. (See Image 3)

Image 3: Go to View > Details

d. After this, right-click in the open space and follow Sort by > Size to display the most extensive files at the top. (See Image 4)

Image 4: Select Sort By > Size to list the most extensive file at the top of the list

e. If you find any large-sized files that you don’t need any longer, you delete them permanently by using the Shift + Del key or move them to an external storage drive, such as HDD, SSD, USB drive, or SD card. 

I mistakenly deleted some important files, is there any way to recover them?

You can restore deleted or lost data using a powerful professional data recovery software, such as Stellar Data Recovery for Windows. The DIY tool can efficiently retrieve all kinds of data lost due to deletion, formatting, or even corruption from Windows systems and external storage drives. You can download the software and successfully perform data recovery. 

Method 3: Extend C Drive Space on Windows 10 Natively

Other than deleting unwanted files, caches, temp files, etc., you can also try extending the C drive to increase the space without losing data. However, you can only extend the partition C drive in Windows 10 if only the nearest drive partition is empty and unallocated (no drive letter or file system assigned to it). To do so, follow the given instructions:

Note: The C: drive volume should also contain the NTFS or ReFS file system.

a. Press Windows + X and open Disk Management.

b. Right-click on the C: drive and select ‘Extend Volume...’ (See Image 5)

Image 5: Choose to extend the drive volume

c. Click Next. On the following wizard, enter the disk size, use the default size, and click Next. (See Image 6)

Image 6: specify the volume size to extend the volume and proceed

d. Complete the process by clicking Finish. Once done, close the wizard and restart your system. 

EndNote:

You can use these tips to quickly increase space in your C: drive in Windows 10. Among the three methods mentioned in this post, including free up disk space using Disk Cleanup, deleting unwanted files, and extending the C drive, you can choose to perform any following the given instructions. Other than this, if you accidentally lose any of your essential file, you may restore it using powerful free data recovery software. The software can retrieve data lost due to deletion, formatting, corruption, etc., from Windows PC and external storage drives.