Disk Clean-up (
cleanmgr.exe) is a computer maintenance utility included in
Microsoft Windows designed to free up disk space on a computer's hard drive. It has now been deprecated and replaced with a modern version in the Settings app, although it still exists as a legacy tool in Windows.
About
The utility searches files that are no longer of any use, and then removes the selected unnecessary files. There are a number of different file categories that Disk Clean-up targets when performing the initial disk analysis:
* Compression of old files
* Temporary Internet files
* Temporary Windows files
* Downloaded program files
* Recycle Bin
* Removal of unused applications or optional Windows components
* Setup log files
* Offline web pages (cached)
*
WinSxS
Side-by-side assembly (SxS, or WinSxS on Microsoft Windows) technology is a standard for executable files in Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows 2000, and later versions of Windows that attempts to alleviate problems (collectively known as "DLL He ...
(Windows component store)
The above list, however, is not exhaustive. For instance, 'Temporary Remote Desktop files' and 'Temporary Sync Files' may appear only under certain computer configurations, differences such as Windows Operating System and use of additional programs such as
Remote Desktop
In computing, the term remote desktop refers to a software- or operating system feature that allows a personal computer's desktop environment to be run remotely off of one system (usually a PC, but the concept applies equally to a server or a ...
. The option of removing hibernation data may not be ideal for some users as this may remove the hibernate option.
In Windows 10 and 11 you can also choose an option “Clean up system files”. You will have more files to delete. One of new categories is “Windows Update Cleanup”. It allows to free up a few gigabytes of space. But notice, that if you clean this category it would be impossible to uninstall current Windows update version.
Aside from removing unnecessary files, users also have the option of compressing files that have not been accessed over a set period of time. This option provides a systematic compression scheme. Infrequently accessed files are compressed to free up disk space while leaving the frequently used files uncompressed for faster read/write access times. If after file compression, a user wishes to access a compressed file, the access times may be increased and vary from system to system.
In addition to the categories that appear on the Disk Clean-up tab, the More Options tab offers additional options for freeing up hard drive space through removal of optional Windows components, installed programs, and all but the most recent
System Restore
System Restore is a feature in Microsoft Windows that allows the user to revert their computer's state (including system files, installed applications, Windows Registry, and system settings) to that of a previous point in time, which can be used ...
point or Shadow Copy data in some versions of Microsoft Windows.
Deprecation
Starting with Windows 10 version 1803 (RS4), the capabilities of Disk Clean-up are incorporated into Windows 10's Settings app.
The standalone Disk Cleanup tool is still included, but deprecated in favor of the new interface.
See also
*
Desktop Cleanup Wizard
*
Disk Space Analyzers
References
External links
Microsoft Help and Support - Description of the Disk Cleanup Tool in Windows XPCreating a Disk Cleanup Handler
{{Windows Components
Windows components
Windows-only software
Utilities for Windows