How to Delete the Windows.old Folder in Windows 10
The Windows.old folder can take up quite a bit of space. In a best case scenario, it might be 12 GB or so of hard disk space. But it could easily consume 20 GB, or a lot more — it depends on your previous Windows installation and how large it was.
Try to delete the Windows.old folder from File Explorer like you would any other folder and you’ll receive an error message. You could potentially bypass this error message by modifying with the Windows.old folder’s permissions. However, you shouldn’t bother with that — that’s not the correct way to remove this folder.
To delete this folder, use the Windows Disk Cleanup tool. On Windows 10, click the Start button, search for “Disk cleanup” in the Start menu, and launch the Disk cleanup application. You can also right-click the C:\ drive in File Explorer, select Properties, and click the “Disk Clean-up” button under the General tab.
Click the “Clean up system files” button. You’ll see “Previous Windows installation(s)” appear in the list, and Disk Cleanup will tell you how much space those files are taking up. Check that option and use Disk Cleanup to wipe the previous Windows system files away. You can also use this tool to wipe other unnecessary files taking up space on your system drive.
There’s no downside to removing the Windows.old directory. As long as you’re happy with your current Windows system and don’t want to downgrade — and as long as you’re sure you have all your important files and don’t need to grab a straggler from the Windows.old folder — you can go ahead and remove it.
Windows will automatically remove the Windows.old folder a month after you upgrade, anyway. All those PCs that upgrade to Windows 10 will eventually have the space used by the Windows.old folder freed up, even if their users never noticed the Windows.old folder and don’t know to use the Disk Cleanup tool.
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