How to Free Up Hard Disk Space on Windows 10

Windows 10 provides a few dedicated tools for freeing up disk space. Most notably there's Storage Sense, which automatically puts the

kibosh on temporary files, Recycle Bin items, and other content you don't need. The Windows 10 April 2018 Update beefs up this feature with a few new tricks.

First, make sure you're running the Windows 10 April 2018 Update. Open Settings > System > About. Scroll down and if the Windows version says 1803, you have the April update. If not, go to the Update & security category in Settings. Install the item called "Feature Update to Windows 10, version 1803." If you don't see it, browse to Microsoft's Windows 10 Download page to manually install the April 2018 Update.

With that out of the way, here's how to free up some space.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.

1Check Your Storage

In Settings, move to System > Storage. Windows shows you the total, free, and used amount of space on your disk drive, including your main hard drive or drives and any external drives.

2Choose a Drive

Click on a particular drive to see how much space is taken up by different files and content.

3Select a Category

Select a particular category to view its specific content or reveal more details.

4Enable Storage Sense

Return to the main Storage screen. Toggle Storage Sense to on so Windows will automatically free up space when necessary. To customize this, click on the link to "Change how we free up space automatically."

5Configure Schedule

With the April 2018 Update, you can now tell Windows to run Storage Sense every day, every week, every month, or when Windows itself decides.

6Delete Unused Temporary Files

Next, you can control if and how often Windows deletes unused temporary files and items in your Downloads folder. You can set the interval to Never, 1 day, 14 days, 30 days, or 60 days.

7Free Up Space

Return to the Storage screen. From here, you can now tap into Storage Sense to free up space immediately. Click "Free up space now."

8Delete Previous Windows Installations

Windows scans the various temporary files and other content that can be deleted. Check the items you want Windows to remove. Check the option for Previous Windows Installations after you've upgraded to the April 2018 Update as that move will free up a hefty amount of space.

9Remove Files

At the top of the screen, Windows tells you much space you'll recover. Click on the button to Remove files. Windows deletes the content you selected. Return to the Storage screen to see how much space you recovered.

10Change Where New Content Is Saved

Here's one more trick Windows 10 offers if your PC is home to more than one disk drive. Click on the link to Change where new content is saved.

11Choose a New Storage Location

You can now change the location for apps, documents, music, photos and videos, movies and TV shows, and offline maps. You can choose another fixed hard drive or an external drive.

12Hidden Tricks Inside Windows 10

There are a whole lot more hidden features inside Windows 10 to help trick out your PC experience. Check 'em out here.