Windows Disk Cleanup: Creating Shortcut & Perform Clean-up

Windows Disk Cleanup is a popular and useful tool for deleting unnecessary, unused files from your disks and freeing up more space on your hard drive so that your operating system can remain clean, smooth, and stable.

However, disk cleanup can occasionally become unresponsive, freeze, or fail to function properly. With Windows Disk Cleanup, you can improve the functionality of a computer by removing old and unnecessary files that slow down the computer’s processing. It typically deletes temporary files, files in the Downloads folder of a computer, and items in the trash or recycle bin. Windows Disk Cleanup.

See related posts; how to Clear Cache on Windows 10, how to Delete Windows.old folder in Windows 11, how to delete obsolete drivers from the Driver Store in Windows 10, Disk Drill: How to Recover Deleted Temp Files on Windows 10 and 11, and How to use Windows 11 PC Health Check App.

Disk cleanup tools can also compress older, untouched files so they take up less storage space. By reducing processing clutter, disk cleanup solutions help keep employee PCs running at peak performance. This reduces frustration while working on personal devices and aids in the reduction of unnecessary files that consume storage space.

The Disk Cleanup tool is intended to free up disk space on your hard drive by removing any unnecessary files. By default, this tool allows you to delete checked and unchecked items. When you open Disk Cleanup, you may prefer to have all of the items checked by default. A Disk Cleanup shortcut can assist you with this.

In this guide, we will look at how to create windows disk cleanup shortcuts and how to actually perform disk cleanup on Windows Operating System.

How to Create Disk Cleanup shortcut in Windows

Here we will look at a few steps to create a disk cleanup short. Why do you need to create a disk cleanup shortcut? The answer is simply that sometimes you may want to use the Disk Cleanup shortcuts on a regular basis to help your PC perform better. In this section, we will show you accessible ways to create a shortcut for Disk Cleanup. Let’s look at how to make a Disk Cleanup shortcut on Windows:

Method 1 – Manually Create Disk Cleanup Shortcut on Windows

This method is popular for creating a windows disk cleanup shortcut on the Windows 10 desktop. The detailed steps are provided below:

Step 1. Right-click any blank space on your desktop. Then select New in the menu and click Shortcut in its sub-menu.

Step 2. In the pop-up window, click Browse. Then select cleanmgr in C:/Windows/System32 folder and click OK in the Browse for Files or Folders window.

Step 3. Click Next to proceed to another step.

Step 4. In this step, you can choose to rename the shortcut you created or click on the Finish button to create a Disk Cleanup shortcut called cleanmgr on your desktop.

In addition to the above common method, there are two other simple ways to create a Disk Cleanup shortcut as discussed below. Let’s proceed:

Method 2 – Create Disk Cleanup on Windows 10 Desktop using the BAT File Extension

A batch file is a script file that stores commands that will be executed sequentially. It aids in the automation of routine tasks that do not require user input or intervention. Batch files are commonly used to load programs, run multiple processes, or perform repetitive actions in a sequence in the system.

With the BAT file, you can also create a Disk Cleanup shortcut. Below is a quick guide:

Step 1 – Launch a Notepad Text Editor through the search box. Then type cleanmgr.exe in it.

Step 2. Press Ctrl + S keys to open the Save as window, and then choose  Desktop as location, and then specify the name, Disk Cleanup.batand click on the Save button. Leave the "Save as type" field as is

Step 3 – Having completed all of the preceding steps, you will notice a Disk Cleanup shortcut on your desktop, which you can use on a regular basis to carry out your Disk Cleanup task

Method 3 – Send the Cleanmgr.exe Shortcut to your Windows Desktop

It is very simple to create a Disk Cleanup shortcut on Windows 10 or 11 desktops using this method. Below is how to do it:

Step 1 – Open your File Explorer by clicking on the folder icon that appears on the taskbar. If you can find any folder on the taskbar, simply type "This PC" in the search bar and click on it.

Step 2. In the search box located at the upper right corner of the Window, type cleanmgr.exe.

I believe you now have a general idea of how to create a Disk Cleanup shortcut on Windows 10 and the same method still applies to Windows 11. Let’s proceed to section two of this guide.

How To Optimizing Your Operating System

Method 1 – Using the Disk Cleanup BAT File

Now that you have created the Disk Cleanup shortcut, your task in this section should be very easy.

To carry out a Disk Cleanup task, you can simply click on the Disk Cleanup shortcut or the BAT File you created previously. Here, we will carry out the Disk Cleanup using the BAT file we created earlier. To do so:

Step 1 – Double-click on the BAT File located on your PC Desktop location.

Step 2 – After you open the BAT file, Command Prompt Window will pop up prompting you to select the location to cleanup as shown on the screenshot above. As shown below, here we’re cleaning up the C: Drive.

Step 3 – Select the Files you want to clean up and click Ok. Here, we’re selecting Downloaded Program Files, Temp Files, Thumbnail files, Device Driver Packages and files from the Recycle Bin.

Method 2 – Using CCleaner Software

CCleaner Software helps automate your PC & browser cleaning up tasks while ensuring privacy protection of your PC.

Step 1 – Click here to download and install CCleaner on your PC. You choose the free, pro or pro plus depending on your needs. After the installation, launch the program.

Step 2 – Select Custom Clean from the left-hand side of the CCleaner screen. Make sure the Windows tab is selected at the top left corner of the screen. Check the files you wish to clean off from your PC. and click on “Run Cleaner”

Please note that the selected files will be deleted from your computer. Apply caution while doing it!

Step 3 – View the CCleaner Advanced Report. After the windows disk cleanup is completed 100%, you will have the ability to view the advanced report as shown below

That’s all you need to know about creating a Disk Cleanup Shortcut and performing disk cleanup. Happy reading!!