What files to delete to clean hard drive

Step 4. Delete temporary files. Access Disk Cleanup in Windows 10 by searching it on the taskbar. Then select the drive you want to clean up. After scanning, you can see what files you can clean, how large are them. Choose the file types you want to delete, and then click OK to perform disk cleanup.

Step 5. Defragment the disk. Fragmentation makes your hard disk do extra work that can slow down your computer. Therefore, you can optimize drives by defragment. Then select a drive to Optimize , or enable a schedule optimization. There are several approaches to clean a hard drive in Windows 10 for permanent data wiping.

If you simply want to clean up a hard drive to free up disk space in Windows 10, this software also helps you transfer large files to other storage devices.

Home Windows 10 Backup How to Securely Wipe or Cleanup a Hard Drive in Windows 10 How to Securely Wipe or Cleanup a Hard Drive in Windows 10 If you want to clean a hard drive in Windows 10, try following methods to delete everything and write zeros to hard drive; or if you want perform disk cleanup to free up space, there are also some common solutions. How to completely wipe a hard drive in Windows 10 If you are trying to clean a hard drive completely and make the data unrecoverable, manual deletion is not a secure way.

You can backup files to external hard drive for better safety and portability. Method 1. Format a non-system drive or USB drive Method 2. Reset PC to wipe everything off a hard drive Method 3. Use DiskPart command to clean a hard drive completely Method 4. Another option? Physically dismantle it with a screwdriver.

A rare earth magnet, like the neodymium magnet, can be used to deform the metal plates in the hard disk. This makes it unusable. One warning: The magnets are powerful and can cause physical harm if used incorrectly. A safer method might be using a screwdriver to dismantle the pieces of the hard drive to make it useless.

But when you discard your device without properly wiping the hard drive, you run the risk of losing your data. They could sell the information on the dark web.

Cybercriminals can buy the information and launch cyberattacks to commit other kinds of crimes like identity theft and extortion. They could open bank accounts in your name, purchase items with your credit card information, or take out loans and default on them, leaving you with the consequences. Thieves also look for private and confidential information. This may include non-disclosure agreements, personal photographs, private chat conversations, and other details you may not want to expose.

No matter what kind of data you had on your computer before you decided to donate or recycle it, it pays to play it safe.

It only means its location is available. Data recovery software can easily find those files in your hard drive. Here are a few ways to wipe your hard drive like the pros and avoid the risk of someone accessing your old data. Every file that has been deleted now has the new number assigned to it. This makes it impossible for data recovery tools to access it. This tool is useful if you plan to sell, donate, or recycle your computer or laptop. A sure way to completely destroy the hard drive is to make it physically impossible to access the disks.

This can be done by dismantling the pieces of the hard disk with a screwdriver and using a hammer to scratch and mangle the disk. The goal is to make sure the disk will not work when it is loaded into another hard drive. A powerful rare earth magnet can also be used to destroy the platter in the hard drive.

Your PC is likely packed with personal files. Temporary files are created automatically when you do, and again, will hang around uninvited. Ask yourself honestly — how many of the apps on your computer do you actually use?

Probably not all of them, right? Especially the ones that come preloaded. These programs and applications can consume valuable hard drive space that you might need elsewhere, or want to free up for improved performance. Fortunately, it's possible to see which apps are taking up the most space and delete them manually.

You can filter these apps by size, and click Uninstall on any you think are superfluous. Mac users are able to delete junk apps from Finder or Launchpad. To do so via Launchpad, you'll first need to open it from the Applications folder. From this folder, you can drag apps to the Bin — though you might be asked to confirm your choice by providing an administrator's permission.

You might be the sort of person who knows exactly where all their files should go. You might not leave a single Word doc, photo, or app in the Downloads folder for a moment longer than necessary! Or, you might use it as a sort of dumping ground. It's worth combing through your device to see just what's inside the various folders. Is your Downloads folder full? Could you delete anything in your Documents folder? Are there duplicate holiday snaps in with your Pictures?

There's no better time than now to establish an organizational method for the things you download and create in order to prevent junk from accruing again.

Delivery Optimization files are previously-downloaded files used for installing updates and are safe to delete. Recycle Bin is a folder that contains the files you've deleted. You should only select this option if you are sure you won't need to restore files from your Recycle Bin later. Temporary files are simply temporary files created by various apps on your computer. They are not meant to be permanent, so don't worry about losing anything by deleting them.

Thumbnails are cached images of pictures and videos on your computer that appear when you browse for files. Deleting them is fine and they'll just be automatically created again when necessary.

A confirmation message will appear, asking if you are sure you want to permanently delete the selected files. Click Delete Files to confirm. This erases all of the selected files. Disk Cleanup will close automatically once the selected files are deleted. Re-open Disk Cleanup if you want to delete more files.

If you're an administrator on your PC and want to delete even more files, you can use Disk Cleanup again to delete system files. Click Clean up system files. It's the button in the lower-left area of the window. This scans your drive and calculates how much space you may be able to save by deleting additional files.

You may be prompted to select the drive again after clicking this button. Delete old system restore points optional. Windows automatically creates images of your computer it can restore in the event of an emergency. If you're running low on space, you can free some up by deleting old restore points that have been replaced by newer ones.

To do this: Click the More Options tab at the top. Click Delete to delete all but the most recent system restore point. Return to the Disk Cleanup tab when you're done to continue. Select files to delete. In addition to the same sorts of files you were able to select earlier, you have some more options: Windows Update Cleanup files can take up a significant amount of space and are only used to install Windows Updates.

Windows will automatically download the latest update files in the future, so you probably won't need to keep these older ones unless instructed by an admin. Microsoft Defender Antivirus are non-critical files used by your antivirus program that can safely be deleted. Device driver packages, Language Resource Files , and Temporary Windows installation files are all meant to be temporary and can be deleted without issue.

A confirmation message will appear. Once the files are deleted, Disk Cleanup will close automatically. Method 2. Open your Windows Storage settings. Windows keeps track of the types of files consuming space on your hard drive and makes it simple to delete the ones you no longer need.

The Windows Storage tool makes it easy to find personal files and apps that you no longer need. Type storage into the search bar. Click Storage settings in the search results. Find the files consuming the most space on your hard drive. Once your storage settings load, you'll see the name of your hard drive e. Each category is a type of file, and each has its own bar indicator telling you how much space is being used by that file type.

To view all categories, click Show more categories below the list. Click a category to view its details. This shows you how much space is occupied by files in this category, and gives you options depending on the type of files you chose. For example, if you selected Temporary files , you'll see a list of all files meant to be temporary on your computer. If you choose Music , Pictures , or Desktop , you'll see how much space is consumed by the files in those specific folders.

You can click the View button inside to see the actual files.