WinSxS directory exceeds 50GB – tried various solutions including Disk Cleanup and DISM, but still no luck

Question

I'm experiencing an issue where the WinSxS folder on my Windows system has grown to over 50GB and none of the standard cleanup methods are having any effect. I've followed the steps outlined in this Microsoft guide: Clean up the WinSxS folder.

Specifically, I've tried:

• Running Disk Cleanup with "Windows Update Cleanup" selected
• Using DISM commands:
• DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
  • DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase
  • Manually triggering the StartComponentCleanup task via Task Scheduler

Despite trying all these methods multiple times, the WinSxS folder size remains unchanged. There's no error output from the commands, but they also don't produce the expected results.

C:\Windows\System32>Dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /AnalyzeComponentStore

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.22621.2792

Image Version: 10.0.22631.5335

[==========================100.0%==========================]

Component Store (WinSxS) information:

Windows Explorer Reported Size of Component Store : 57.61 GB

Actual Size of Component Store : 50.79 GB

    Shared with Windows : 7.44 GB
    Backups and Disabled Features : 43.35 GB
    Cache and Temporary Data :  0 bytes

Date of Last Cleanup : 2025-05-21 15:46:11

Number of Reclaimable Packages : 8
Component Store Cleanup Recommended : Yes

The operation completed successfully.

C:\Windows\System32>Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.22621.2792

Image Version: 10.0.22631.5335

[==========================100.0%==========================]
The operation completed successfully.

C:\Windows\System32>Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.22621.2792

Image Version: 10.0.22631.5335

[=====                      9.8%                           ]
[==========================100.0%==========================]
The operation completed successfully.

(The above operation remains unchanged)
Has anyone encountered a similar issue or know of alternative methods that could help reduce the WinSxS folder size on a system where these built-in tools aren't working?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!