Storage Sense: Manage Storage Drives on Windows

Storage Sense automatically frees up drive space by getting rid of items that you don’t need. Some examples of this are the “temporary files” and “items in your Recycle Bin”. In this article, we will discuss steps to “Storage Sense: Manage Storage Drives on Windows. These steps are applicable to Windows 10 as well. Here is an article on how to check what files are taking up space on Windows 11. Here are some interesting articles: Azure Storage: How to create Blob Storage and upload files, and PC Health Check: How to Use Windows 11 App.

How does Windows Storage Sense Work?

If Storage Sense is enabled with the right settings. It will run when your device is low on disk space and will clean up unnecessary temporary files. Please see How to restrict access to removable Storage Drives.

Content from the Recycle Bin will be deleted by default after some time. Items in your Downloads folder and OneDrive (or any other cloud provider) will be left untouched unless you set up Storage Sense to do so.

Enable Storage Sense on Windows 11

To manage drive space with Storage Sense on Windows 11, you will navigate through Windows Start,  Settings, System and Storage.

As you can see below. Storage Sense is off.

All you have to do is toggle the button On. This will set Storage Sense to On.

Free up space on other drives

Note: Storage Sense works on your system drive only. This is the drive that contains the Windows operating system and is often referred to as C: (C Drive).

To free up space on other drives, go to Start > Settings > System > Storage > Advanced storage settings > Storage used on other drives. Follow the steps to free up the disk space!

Here are some interesting articles. How to Change the default Save and Download Location in Windows, and How to Add and Format a New Virtual Disk to an EC2 Instance.

Storage Sense Settings on Windows 11

The image below shows the available settings instructing Storage Sense how often to run, what to clean up etc.

Note: The settings you choose will apply only to you. Other users on your device can manage their own settings.

Under Run Storage Sense, you can select how frequently you want Storage Sense to run. Please see Azure CLI: How To Upload Batch Files to Azure Storage Account.

Run Storage Sense on Demand

To run this tool on demand, click on “Run Storage Sense Now”.  You can only run this tool when you’re online and signed in. 

Note: To run Storage Sense, you must ensure that Storage Sense is turned is enabled. 

FAQ on Windows Storage Sense

I hope you found this blog post on “Storage Sense: Manage Storage Devices on Windows” Interesting and helpful. In case you have any questions do not hesitate to ask in the comment section