If the Windows folder is too big on your Windows 11/10 computer, use the suggestions provided in this article to decrease its size and free up disk space.

By default, the Windows operating system is installed on the C drive. If you open your C drive, you will see many folders there, including Windows, Program Files, Program Files (x86), etc. The Program Files and Program Files (x86) folders contain files required by the programs you install on your system. Hence, the size of these two folders depends on how many programs are installed on your system. In most cases, the Windows folder occupies the largest space on your disk. The size of the Windows folder can also increase with time.

The size of a folder depends on the files stored inside it. You can view the size of any folder by opening its Properties. An empty folder shows a size of 0 bytes because no files are inside it. As you start storing your files inside a folder, its size starts increasing.

The Windows folder is the folder that contains essential Windows operating system files. These files are required by the operating system to function properly. Deleting this folder is obviously not recommended – and even if you did try to delete it, it would not normally be possible.

But what if the Windows folder size is too big? On my computer, the size of the Windows folder is around 20 GB. Its size could vary depending on your Windows version, programs installed, etc.

If you open the Windows folder, you will see many different subfolders. All these subfolders have different sizes. In most cases, the WinSxS, System32, FileRepository, DriverStore, etc., folders occupy the most space on the C drive.

When a folder is huge, the simplest way to decrease its size is to delete the unnecessary files inside it. The same thing also applies to the Windows folder, but you cannot delete any random file inside the Windows folder. This is because it contains the most crucial files required by the Windows operating system to operate properly. Therefore, you should know which files are important in the Windows folder before you start deleting them. Moreover, if you do try and delete files here, you might not be able to as they are system-protected.

This article will guide you on what you can do if the Windows folder is too big in your Windows 11/10 computer. Before we begin, let’s see some essential subfolders in the Windows folder.

Use the following suggestions if the Windows folder is too big on your system.

Let’s see all these fixes in detail.

TreeSize is free software that analyzes the disk space on a computer system and shows the tree view of the files, folders, and subfolders along with their sizes. It will make it easier for you to know which files and folders inside the Windows folder are eating the most space on your C drive.

Once you know this, you can move to the next step which is to delete unnecessary files and folders inside the Windows folder.

SpaceSniffer is another portable disk analyzer software to help you.

The right thing to do is never delete anything directly from the Windows folder at all. If anything takes up a lot of disk space in that folder, the best way is to use Disk Cleanup Tool or Storage Sense. These built-in tools should do the job for you.

Though the Windows folder is a crucial folder that contains important system files, it also contains some files that you can delete. Deleting such files will not affect your system. Files inside the Temp folder, Downloaded Program Files folder, Prefetch folder, SoftwareDistribution folder, unwanted Fonts, Hibernate File, etc., are some files you can delete from the Windows folder.

CBS.log file contains logs about Windows system files, System File Checker, etc. Its size can also increase with time. Some users have found that the CBS.log file was consuming a huge space on their disk, around 20 GB. It is located inside the Logs folder. The complete path of the CBS.log file is:

Because the CBS.log file is located inside the Windows folder, its huge size also contributes to the size of the Windows folder. Check the size of the CBS.log file on your computer. If it is taking up a huge space, delete it. Deleting this file will not cause any adverse effect on your system.

WinSxS stands for Windows Side by Side. It is a folder that contains essential files required by the Windows operating system.

You cannot delete this directory or move it elsewhere. Nor is it advisable to delete anything here, as such a step could probably make your applications un-workable or even break your system.

Windows automatically keeps reducing the size of the WinSxS folder by using different techniques, such as uninstalling or deleting the packages with components that have been replaced by newer versions of components. Windows keeps previous versions of components for some period of time. After that, these components will be removed automatically.

WinSxS folder is the main contributor to an increased size of Windows folder. Hence, performing a WinSxS folder cleanup will result in a significant reduction in the Windows folder size.

The Driver Store is a trusted collection of third-party driver packages as well as native device drivers that ship with the system, which is maintained in a secure location on the local hard disk. Before a driver can be installed, it must first be injected into the driver store which is located under C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository. All files that are in the driver package are considered critical to the device installation.

Follow this post to safely clean up the DriverStore folder.

Use this command only if you know what you are doing. This command helps you reduce the overall storage space of Windows installation. Termed as Compact OS, once executed, the system will run from compressed files, similar to WIMBoot.

Read: Folder is empty but has files and shows size in Windows.

General tips to free up more disk space:

The size of the main folder is the combined size of files and subfolders stored inside it. If the Windows folder is showing a size of 20 GB, it may be considered as normal for a day-to-day Windows 11/10 PC. Most of these files are essential parts of the Windows operating system. Hence, these cannot be deleted. But some files can be deleted from the Windows folder, and this action does not cause any harm to your computer.

TIP: Go here to find out more ways to free up & increase hard disk space on Windows computers.

To reduce a folder size in Windows 11, delete the unnecessary files inside that folder. If the folder contains essential system files, you cannot delete these files to reduce the folder size. Doing so will make your system unstable.

Read next: AppData Packages folder huge in Windows.