My Storage space is basically full, about 148GB of my storage on my main drive is being taken up

Question

My Storage space is basically full, about 148GB of my storage on my main drive is being taken up

Marcy 0

I've installed Tree-Size alongside WINDIRSTAT, and I still can't seem to find the root of the problem, other than some bigger folders, that I cannot delete due to them being either Program Files (or x86) and Program Data folders

Marcy 0 Reputation points

2026-10-01T20:31:44.79+00:00

here's a photo of my storage on my pc's storage settings.
Marcy 0 Reputation points

2026-10-01T20:33:34.46+00:00
Marcy 0 Reputation points

2026-10-01T20:34:26.69+00:00

here's a screenshot from WINDIRSTAT of my currently folders taking up space!

2 answers

Your answer

Marcy 0 Reputation points

2026-10-01T20:31:44.79+00:00

here's a photo of my storage on my pc's storage settings.
Marcy 0 Reputation points

2026-10-01T20:34:26.69+00:00

here's a screenshot from WINDIRSTAT of my currently folders taking up space!

Answer 1

EmilyS726 272.9K Independent Advisor

Hello

On a 237 GB Windows drive, this is not unusual, especially if the computer has several large desktop apps.

Can you go to Settings > Apps > Installed Apps, sort it by size? And see if there's anything you don't need; you can uninstall it.

Then for the second screenshot, can you expand the Users folder so I can see the structure and data usage in that one please.

I would also like to find out - do you have paid OneDrive service, or another drive on the computer? 237 GB sounds like a lot, but for Windows these days it’s really more of a basic-use drive. After Windows, apps, updates, and system files, the usable space can disappear pretty quickly. Knowing whether you have paid OneDrive service or another drive on the computer will help me recommend some other options for you.

Marcy 0 Reputation points

2026-10-01T21:26:04.11+00:00

i don't pay for onedrive :)
EmilyS726 272.9K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-01T21:30:14.6366667+00:00

What about another drive/partition on this computer?

Did you find any apps to uninstall?

What about the Users folder expansion screenshot I asked for?
Marcy 0 Reputation points

2026-10-01T21:43:46.72+00:00

the only other drives i have are two HDD's.

regarding the apps to uninstall on my computer, it's showing games and apps from my other drives, even though i have my C drive selected. so there's nothing I can find currently

here's the photo you requested.
Marcy 0 Reputation points

2026-10-01T21:45:26.3533333+00:00
Marcy 0 Reputation points

2026-10-01T21:46:43.57+00:00
EmilyS726 272.9K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-01T21:52:55.79+00:00

The Installed Apps list is not very helpful here in this case. Windows can show apps and games installed on your other drives too, even while you are reviewing C: storage. I would not uninstall things just based on that list in this case.

However your TreeSize scan gives us a better lead. Your user AppData folder on C drive is using about 66 GB, which is fairly large. looks like a fairly heavily used PC with quite a few applications, games, launchers, tools, and related application data. The storage usage does not look mysterious from your screenshot. You are stretching your small drive.

Based on what you have installed and the amount of application data being stored on C drive, a 237 GB system drive is pretty limiting for your usage. You can probably free up some space by cleaning unused apps and caches, but you may keep running into the same issue. If the computer supports it, I think it is more practical to consider upgrading the C: drive to at least 500 GB, or preferably 1 TB if you use a lot of games, launchers, mods, or creative softwares.
Marcy 0 Reputation points

2026-10-01T21:54:22.1966667+00:00

I probably will end up buying a 1TB SSD quite soon, i appreciate the help nonetheless.
EmilyS726 272.9K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-01T21:58:41.9366667+00:00

You are welcome.

Yes, judging by the screenshot, you do have a lot installed/app data. A 1TB SSD will accommodate that type of usage much better.

Answer 2

Since TreeSize and WinDirStat already did not reveal an obvious deletable folder, focus on built-in Windows storage categories and cleanup paths first.

Open Settings > System > Storage.
- Review the category breakdown such as Installed apps, Temporary files, System & reserved, and others.
- If needed, select Show more categories to see more detail.
Run Cleanup recommendations.
- Go to Start > Settings > System > Storage > Cleanup recommendations.
- Review Temporary files, Large or unused files, Files synced to the cloud, and Unused apps.
- Remove only items that are no longer needed.
- If previous Windows installation(s) appears, deleting it frees space but cannot be undone and removes the ability to roll back to the previous Windows version.
Run Disk Cleanup.
- Search for disk cleanup from the taskbar.
- Select the system drive, then review the file types.
- For deeper cleanup, select Clean up system files.
- This can remove temporary files and older system files that may not be obvious in folder views.
- If Previous version of Windows appears, deleting it also removes rollback capability.
Check personal files in the largest user folders.
- In File Explorer, inspect Videos, Music, Pictures, and Downloads under This PC.
- Switch to View > Details, then Sort by > Size to surface the largest files.
- Delete unneeded files and then empty the Recycle Bin.
Move files off the main drive.
- Connect a USB drive or SD card.
- In File Explorer, select files to keep but not store locally.
- Use Home > Move to > Choose location and move them to the external device.
Change where new files are saved.
- Go to Start > Settings > System > Storage > Advanced storage settings > Where new content is saved.
- Set supported content types to another drive if one is available.
If OneDrive is used, turn on Files On-Demand.
- This keeps smaller placeholder files on the PC instead of full local copies, which can reduce disk usage.
If the missing space still appears unexplained, inspect for large hidden temporary files.
- On Windows Server guidance, Microsoft recommends checking for large hidden temporary files and identifying the application creating them before deleting anything.
- Back up important data first, determine which app is generating the files, then remove only temporary files that are no longer needed.

Important points:

Program Files, Program Files (x86), and ProgramData often contain application and system data. Do not manually delete contents from those folders unless the owning app is identified and the files are confirmed safe to remove.
If malware is suspected, run a scan with Windows Security.
Some storage is expected under System & reserved because Windows reserves space for updates and temporary system use.