Does your PC or laptop have a slightly smaller hard disk or SSD? Then you will see that the storage space is often just too small at times when you really want to store files. To prevent that, let Windows 10 clean its disks itself from now on.
You are probably familiar with the Windows 10 Disk Cleanup tool. Handy, but you should always take the initiative to clean up yourself. Until recently, laptops were often shipped with – for Windows – small SSDs, 128 GB or even less. During use, Windows 10 generates quite a bit of 'junk' in the form of temporary files, among other things. These arise when using a lot of software. For example your browser, but also the monthly (nowadays even multi-monthly) update round. And while you won't be bothered by that clutter on a hard disk of 500 GB or more, it will be a different story on a smaller disk (or system partition!).
The disadvantage of an overfull disk is that it makes the system slower and possibly unstable. After all, really essential things can no longer be stored if this is absolutely necessary. To prevent this problem, you can turn on Windows 10's automatic disk cleanup. To do this, click on the Start menu Institutions(the gear) and then on System. In the left column click on Storage. And then to the right – before enthusiastically flipping the switch at the paragraph Smart save turn on the link first Configure smart save or run now.
At full disk or at interval
Put the switch down Storage Insight at. In principle, the default setting when there is insufficient free disk space is sufficient, but you can also prevent problems (much) earlier by setting a time interval for the automatic cleanup. If you need disk space immediately, click the button Clean up now and wait a minute. Those minutes are Microsoft minutes, so it remains to be seen how long the now started action will really take. You put the option Temporary files then – indeed – the temporary files are also included. And – if desired – files in the folder Downloads. The latter can come in handy if you're the forgetful type, but also bring tears to your eyes if you lose a large and important download.
In short: if you choose this option, ensure that your downloads are backed up regularly to an external drive or NAS. At least if you want to keep them. Apart from these things, turning on Storage Insight also ensures that your Recycle Bin is emptied fully automatically from time to time. Less suitable for anyone who uses this part as a kind of backup archive.
