Storage won't decrease after moving file to another drive

Question

Recently, I purchased an external hard drive to free up some space on my C drive, i transferred my documents and videos and whatever over, and it worked fine, then i tried to move microsoft flight simulator over which is a 193 gb file, it moved over but i noticed the storage on my c drive did not decrease, yes i checked the recycle bin but it was empty, can anyone help?

Answer 1

Hi, my name is Kelly, and I'm an independent consultant and I'm here to help.

It's possible that the 193 GB file was not fully moved to the external hard drive or that there is a delay in the update of the available storage space on your C drive. Here are some steps you can take to resolve the issue:

Check the file transfer: Verify that the file transfer was completed successfully and that the 193 GB file is located on the external hard drive. You can do this by navigating to the external hard drive in File Explorer and checking for the file.

Refresh the file explorer: Sometimes, the available storage space on your C drive may not update immediately after moving a file. Try refreshing File Explorer by pressing F5 or clicking the "Refresh" button in the toolbar.

Empty the recycle bin: If you haven't already, try emptying the recycle bin to ensure that the 193 GB file was fully removed from your C drive.

Check for hidden files: There may be hidden files or folders taking up space on your C drive. Try enabling the option to show hidden files and folders in File Explorer and check for any large files or folders that you may have missed.

Use a disk cleanup tool: Try using a disk cleanup tool, such as the built-in Disk Cleanup utility in Windows, to free up space on your C drive. This tool can help identify and delete unnecessary files and folders that may be taking up space.

If none of these steps work, it's possible that there may be an issue with your C drive or the file system. In this case, you may want to consider running a disk check or contacting a professional for further assistance.

Answer 2

Thank you Kelly, the issue was resolved, but i very much appreciate your recommendations and advice.

Answer 3

I did the same thing. Last night it showed that everything was good. I went from having 90gb free space to 115gb free space. I put my computer to sleep and when it woke up today it is showing that it's back down to 90gb free space... however ALL of those files are moved to my D drive. I cannot for the life of me figure out what happened and no amount of refreshing is fixing the issue. Nothing happened from then to now.