What if the computer has become too cluttered with hundreds of PDFs and thousands of installers of different games? Every one of us faced the situation where a spinning wheel pops up precisely when a history essay needs to be sent. But there is no need to spend money on buying a new MacBook or purchasing another external drive. There is an incredibly powerful tool available in Windows and Mac OS. Its name is Disk Cleanup, and its function is to delete junk files without noticing them.
It is better to imagine the hard drive as a bedroom closet. In some time, people begin to store unnecessary stuff there, like old hoodies, chargers or papers. The computer operates similarly; it starts accumulating unnecessary files, such as temporary files, system logs and cache of visited long time ago websites.
This program is built-in into the Windows OS and does not require installing. One should not seek applications that offer to boost the performance by 300%. The majority of such tools is a scam. Microsoft understands which files are safe to delete and offers a convenient tool.
Finding this program is quite easy. One needs to press Start button, then type "Disk Cleanup" into the search bar. Then, pressing the icon of this program, there appears a window allowing to choose the drive to be cleaned. In most cases, one wants to clean the C: drive because this drive holds the OS and the majority of files.
The software scans the computer quickly and makes a list of the file types, allowing to delete certain ones. It is time for action because Disk Cleanup allows to gain gigabytes of space.
The first step is to click on "Temporary Internet Files" and "Thumbnails". Thumbnails are just preview pictures that the computer can regenerate instantly if needed. Temporary files are remnants of software installations that are completely useless after the installation.
But the most helpful feature that most people overlook is a "Clean up system files" button. To use it, one requires having admin privileges, which in most cases means clicking "Yes" on the message of the computer. This option provides a detailed scan revealing heavy file types.
One of the major file types that consume lots of space is the "Windows Update Cleanup" folder. The matter is that the computer holds all the updated files just in case someone wants to revert to the previous version. Over time, this folder can take over ten gigabytes.
For the Mac OS users, the process is similar although there are some small differences. First of all, one needs to click the Apple menu on the upper left corner, then System Settings, then General, and finally Storage. The company offers colorful bar graphs showing which files occupy the space.
But the "Recommendations" section of the Mac OS is really helpful and even smart. It can offer to move things to the iCloud or automatically empty the trash. Also, it has the feature of reviewing large files, which is really good for finding that enormous video project that one did in his sophomore year. It means that one can easily delete the old project without any doubts.
Now let us discuss the elephant in the room – the browser cache. Chrome, Firefox, and Safari store small fragments of web pages to load them faster next time. It sounds reasonable, but it leads to the accumulation of the data that tracks the history of web surfing.
Clearing the browser cache is the separate procedure from the Disk Cleanup but still worth doing. For example, in Chrome, it is necessary to click the Settings menu, Privacy and Security, and Clear Browsing Data. There one can click "Cached images and files" and leave passwords alone. As a result, it frees several gigabytes of space.
Now let us talk about why this procedure is required. The matter is that the performance depends on the disk usage. Once the hard drive occupies more than 85%, the computer faces difficulties managing the memory. It begins to look for the free sectors to store the files, which slows down the computer. That is why having 15-20% of free space on the disk is optimal.
Another possible problem that causes the slowing of the computer is the Recycle Bin. When one deletes the file, it does not mean that the file becomes immediately deleted. The file moves to the recycle bin on the desktop. It remains there until one goes to it, right-clicks, and clicks "Empty Recycle Bin."
The process of emptying the Recycle Bin is offered by Disk Cleanup as an option to choose. It saves some time and guarantees that the files are deleted forever.
However, some people are worried that deleting temporary files affects the system badly. This is a rational concern but mostly, it is not true in this case. The system is ready to regenerate the necessary files if it is needed. The ones that appear in the list of the files to delete are either stale, orphaned or redundant. One does not delete the engine but only changes the oil.
For gamers, this process is especially important. Games, such as Call of Duty or Fortnite, occupy a huge amount of space, usually over 100 gigabytes. One may use every byte of space for the game. Therefore, the procedure of the cleanup right before the game update prevents "Not enough space" error.
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