You are the proud owner of a new computer, phone or tablet and everything works like a spear. Smooth apps, a tidy desktop and organized file folders. But over time, the device gets dirty and loses its shine. So roll up your sleeves now: it’s high time for tips with which you can clean up your Windows PC.
Remove unused programs
Why leave unused programs on your hard drive? They only take up space and thus ensure a full working environment. Therefore, open the settings window (Windows key+I) and choose apps. Do you use a app not from this list? Click on it and choose remove. The apps are sorted by name by default, but you can also sort the apps by size by clicking on Sort by for Size to choose.
When you’ve deleted what you no longer use, click Optional parts. This is another overview. It lists the apps that are considered a Windows component. See an app you don’t use – for example Windows Fax and Scan or Windows Media Player? Then click on it and choose remove.
Now that we’ve got the hang of it, let’s also immediately check which apps are loaded by Windows by default when the computer starts. In the search box of the Windows taskbar, type Startup apps. In the right column you can read how much influence the app has on startup. Turn on the slider Out at the apps that you no longer want to load at the start.
Save smarter
Windows 10 has a relatively unknown feature, which is not enabled by default: Smart save. This allows Windows to automatically free up space by deleting files you don’t use or need. Think of temporary files or the contents of the recycle bin. To activate this function, choose in the settings window for System. Click on that Storage and put the slider on On. Then choose Configure smart save or run now.
Switch right away Storage Insight (if not done automatically). This function sweeps through the hard drive when there is not enough space. Choose at Run Storage Insight when the audit should take place. Default is there In case of insufficient disk space.
In the section Temporary files activate the option Remove temporary files not used by my apps. Specify the time after which the files in the recycle bin and the files in the download folder can be deleted, for example 14 days, 60 days or Never. Finally click Clean up now.
Storage Insight also helps free up space taken up by files stored in the cloud. This prevents double space being taken (locally and online).
Choose at Locally available cloud content after how much time cloud files are allowed to be deleted from the local computer, for example 14 days. The files will not be downloaded again automatically until you want to open them on the local computer. This saves disk space.
Smart save is an unknown feature that automatically deletes files
Big Clearance
The well-known part Disk Cleanup already comes with countless Windows versions. Likewise in Windows 10. Search in the Windows search bar Disk Cleanup. Choose the drive you want to clean (for example C) and click OK. Ignore the list of results for a while, because we are not satisfied with the result yet. First click on Clean up system files. The analysis is done again and Disk Cleanup now finds even more locations that can be cleaned.
Check out the list of locations that Disk Cleanup can clean. Are you unsure whether a certain location needs to be cleaned up? Then click on the button View files. Disk Cleanup opens the location so you can see what content it contains and make your decision based on that. Place check marks next to the items you want to clean and click OK.
Automate
Interesting is the option to have Disk Cleanup run automatically at set times. That way you don’t have to worry about it anymore. First you let Windows remember which parts you want to clean. Open the start menu and type Cleanmgr.exe /sageset:1 and press Enter. Specify the items to be cleaned and run Disk Cleanup once. Close the program afterwards.
We then use the task scheduler to automate the cleanup. Open the start menu again and type task scheduler. click on Create basic task and name the task. Choose Next one. Bee trigger choose when to run Disk Cleanup, for example Monthly. click on Next one.
Bee Action choose you Start a program, followed by a click on Next one. Bee Program/script do you type C:WindowsSystem32Cleanmgr.exe /sagerun:1. click on Next one and click Complete. From now on, Disk Cleanup will run automatically.
Research locations
Be it the desktop, default folders like Documents and Downloads or network locations, they can all become polluted with unnecessary files and shortcuts over time. Make an overview of the locations and remove the parts you no longer need.
Are you unsure about the usefulness of a file? Then move it to a temporary location. If you don’t need it in the next 30 days, there’s probably no reason to keep it.
big boys
Certain files take up a lot of space in practice. Think of a paging file: a file in which Windows stores temporary data. Or to folders that contain both your original photos and edited photos. Some help with it mapping large files is therefore not an unnecessary luxury. TreeSize Free is a great program for that. That visually shows what the largest files are and where they are located.
In the main window, click scan, so that the program will look for the large files. These are shown in the box below. Via the percentage bar on the right you can see how much space is taken up and the Treemap Chart shows a visual representation of the distribution. You can now easily delete or archive large files that you no longer need.
Online only
Do you work with a cloud service like OneDrive, then you can choose to store certain files only online. When you need those files again, Windows will automatically download them and make them available. If a file has not been used for some time, it will be removed from the disk and will only be available online.
Right-click the OneDrive icon in the system tray and choose Settings. on the tab Settings activate the option Save space by downloading only the files you use. click on OK. Then open File Explorer (Windows key+E). Expand the OneDrive folders and right-click on the folder you want to keep online only. Choose Free up space.
The contents of the folder are deleted from the local disk and the space on the disk is freed up. Keep in mind that those files are only accessible via an internet connection, so you can’t access them when you’re on the road. If you always want a folder or file to be offline, right click on it and choose Always keep on this device.
rigorous
Are you willing to start with a really clean slate? then put Windows back to factory settings. A manual reinstallation, as you had to do with previous versions, is no longer necessary with Windows 10.
Open the settings window and choose Update & Security / System Restore. click on To work Bee Reset this PC. Windows will be restored to factory settings, but will ask in advance whether you want to keep your personal files or delete them as well. For this purpose, you choose to keep your personal files. Windows is now reinstalled and that ensures a tidy environment.
Outside help
Although it has thankfully decreased a bit in recent years, Windows still contains parts that you may not be using. This unnecessary software (bloatware) is not always easy to remove. Perhaps some outside help can help, in the form of Windows10Debloater.
The program is as simple as it is effective. Extract the zip file and right click on the file Windows10DebloaterGUI. Choose Run with PowerShell. In the main window, choose under Debloat options which parts need to be cleaned. The software uses a blacklist, which keeps track of which bloatware is in circulation. click on Remove all bloatware.
You can also go through the section Other changes fixes add additional features: for example, you can block Windows from sharing user statistics with Microsoft or disable OneDrive. Do you regret a clean-up? With the button Revert registry changes you can undo the settings you made.
