Many people don’t know how much space Windows 10 takes from their computers. For most, it may not be a problem, as some huge HD and other powerful SSD have plenty of free space to store the operating system and all the other files. But, it is also true that a low-end PC with limited free storage space may struggle to support Windows 10, especially after some huge and traditional security updates.

For those who don’t know, Windows is an operating system for computers, tablets, and mobile devices. They are released by Microsoft as a part of the Windows NT family of Operating Systems. Nowadays, it is the most complete and used OS you will find in the market.

How Much Space Does Windows 10 Take Up From a Computer to Another

On its first release, Windows 10 came with a great surprise: it didn’t take that much disk space from the PCs it was installed on. 32-bit PCs needed 16GB of free space. For 64-bit PCs, it used to take 20GB of our disk space. These values were smaller than necessary for previous Windows 8, for instance.

To determine which is yours and how much space you need for the installation process on your disk, go to “My Computer”, right-click it, and go to properties. There, among some general information about your system, you will find your Windows architecture.

But the walk in the park ended with its update in May of 2019. From that moment on, Windows 10 would take 32 GB of free space, no matter the architecture. This Windows update made the operating system take some GB of free space to ensure future updates would have disk space.

Besides that, Windows 10 will generate a lot of archives, such as temporary files, update files, log files, and lots of other unnecessary files, which only increases the doubts. After all, how much space does Windows 10 take up?

These values are twice as big as the storage space necessary for Windows 7, released some years before. Even though Microsoft doesn’t seem to care, it became a big problem for some people with older computers. That’s why we are here to teach you some advanced system settings and changes to make your personal computer operating system leave enough space on your physical memory.

However, If your PC meets the space requirement and you're considering switching to Windows 10, go ahead. It's a much more advanced operating system than its predecessors, which have already lost Microsoft support. With Windows 10, you’ll get sophisticated, built-in, and ongoing security measures to help keep you and your family safe. What’s more, it offers better game performance and FPS than the previous Windows versions. As a cherry on top, RoyalCDKeys offers fully working, legitimate Windows 10 keys for less than 4$.

What Happens if You Don’t Have Enough Storage Space for Windows 10 on Your System Disk

If you don’t have enough space for a new operating system and its files, you will receive the message “Windows Needs More Space.” If your computer doesn’t have enough space for Windows is very likely that you practically don’t have space on your HD or SSD. This may cause a lot of problems, such as system lags, system freezing, programs, and games crashing, and, in the worst case, it can corrupt your Windows.

 You will need to use an external drive for the Windows installation, mainly if you don’t have space on your HD. Things like a USB stick, an external hard drive, and a MicroSD card can be used to complete the installation of Windows 10. The good thing is that you will know how much space is missing, so you know exactly what external drive to use to share the load with your hard disk space.

How to Free Some of My System Disk Space

Fortunately, you are still able to save some GB of space only by making changes to your Windows 10. With some things, you must be careful, as you may end up “breaking” your operating system in the search for more space, so double-check the system files you are about to delete.

Disk Cleanup

This is a rather simple process that can help your system restore a part of your hard drive space in case you don’t have enough physical memory. First, open your File Explorer, right-click in C: Drive, and click Properties. After that, select Disk Clean-Up. With that, Windows will look for temporary files, error-related data, and recycle bin files. These are the types of things you can discard.

Delete Programs and Unnecessary Microsoft Apps

Everybody has at least a program or an app lost on the computer. Windows users surely have lots of them, as Microsoft bundles many applications we generally never use. Some of the things we can find inside our system disk are

• Groove Music
• Candy Crush Saga
• Xbox Games
• Microsoft 3D Builder
• Money
• Weather
• Music 
• Sport

To uninstall some of these apps, you must go to your C: Drive, click on app and games and select the apps you want to delete from your list. It is simple and won’t take that much time, but it will also not give you that much additional space.

Going Beyond Microsoft’s Apps: Uninstall Programs You Don’t Use

This tip generally goes for gamers, as some titles take much space from computers. However, it is also true that if you have a small-sized hard drive, you don’t use it to play games. Anyway, some work-related or basic programs can be heavy, and often we lose track of how much space they are taking. So, you can open your list of programs and start deleting those you don’t use any longer. This will give you several gigabytes of extra space.

Turn Off Hibernation

At first sight, it may seem not helpful. After all, how could the hibernation system play a major part in your disk space usage? Well, it may not cause a miracle, but it certainly helps. To turn off hibernation, you must open the command prompt window as an administrator.

• Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open Command Prompt with admin privileges. Select Yes if the User Account Control prompt appears. 
• Type powercfg.exe /hibernate off into the Command Prompt window and press Enter.

With that, the hiberfil.sys file of your system will be deleted. The hiberfil.sys file allows your computer to enter hibernation mode. It is helpful because, that way, when your computer saves its actual state to turn on from that point when you come back, the information doesn’t go to the HD of your device.

Compressing Windows 10

And since we are talking about the command prompt, you can also use it to compress Windows 10. A compact version of the operating system will give you some extra GB that on the contrary, would be used for more system files. Press Windows and type “command” to open the command prompter on the start menu. 

There, type compact.exe/ compactos:query. If the system is not completely compressed, type compact.exe/compactos:always. It will bring some performance impact over your Windows 10 version, but it will be helpful for those needing extra gigabytes. Alternatively, you can use a third-party tool to compress Windows 10 on your system.

Change Virtual Memory Size in Windows 10

Another possibility is to work on virtual memory. This happens when your computer needs more RAM than it actually has to run a program. It takes some application files and information and put them as temporary files. These temporary files are stuffed into your hard drive space, which is not cool. This process exists to help your RAM to hold all the applications and programs you’re using, even though it will never be as fast as the RAM installed on the PC.

That way, it creates a paging file and increases performance at the cost of space, so you can change the paging file size to protect your hard disk or even disable it. For that, you must go to the control panel, and click System and Security>System>Advanced System Settings on the left menu. Next, go to the Advanced tab, and click Settings under the Performance section.

After all that, go to the new Advanced tab that opened, click on Change on the Virtual Memory section, and unmark the box “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.” That way, you will be able to manage exactly how much of your memory the system will take to help your RAM, devoting a custom size of your hard drive space for important data.

Deleting Windows 10 Old Versions

One of Windows 10 features is to keep backup files on your system with the previous versions installed in case you decide to turn back to them for any reason. This works when you move from a Windows version to another and when a major update is released. If the latest version doesn’t work properly, you can go back.

That way, the old system settings or the previous version of Windows 10 will be there. They are useful, but they will also take your hard drive space. So, if you’re sure you will stay with the new Windows 10 version, you can delete these.

Conclusions

After all, how much space does Windows 10 take up? Well, now you know how hard it is to establish it properly since the numbers can increase after each new version of Windows 10. A sure thing is that even Windows 10 can be a problem in terms of hard drive space. 

The good thing is that you already know how to free some space and even make Windows 10 lighter than it is. Remember that, no matter what you do, the possibilities listed can only help you save a little of your hard drive space. Depending on your situation, a reasonable idea would be to go for an external hard drive or purchase a new one if the current version of Windows 10 takes your disk to the limit.

If the article was helpful, hit RoyalCDKeys for more tips, guides, lists, and lots of content about software and Operating Systems. Besides all that, RoyalCDKeys also offers working and safe keys for Windows 10 and 11, alongside other software and some of the best games. All of that with the best prices available on the market.