Disk Cleanup is a very useful tool in Windows to help users clear unnecessary data and junk files within easy steps. Though Disk Cleanup is replaced with a modern version in the Settings app of Windows 11, you can still use it in the new system to clean up disk space. The question is Windows 11 Disk Cleanup may not work sometimes.

What Is Disk Cleanup

Disk Cleanup is a computer maintenance utility designed by Microsoft to help Windows users free up disk space on a computer’s hard drive easily. In every Microsoft Windows system, more and more unnecessary files and junk data (for example, temporary internet files) will be accumulated over time. It’s important to run Disk Cleanup once in a while to get rid of these useless data and get more free space on your drive. Cleaning up your disk also helps to speed up your computer and improve the performance.

Microsoft decided to replace Disk Cleanup with a modern version in the Settings app in Windows 11. However, it doesn’t mean you can’t use Disk Cleanup anymore for deleting unnecessary disk files. On the contrary, Disk Cleanup still exists as a legacy tool in Windows 11 and it’s available for all users. In the content below, I’ll show you how to use Disk Cleanup Windows 11 briefly and how to troubleshoot Windows 11 Disk Cleanup not working.

Disk Cleanup Cleans Downloads Folder In Windows 10 After Update.

Tip: If you find your needed data are also deleted after performing Disk Cleanup, you should get a recovery tool immediately to get back the missing data. MiniTool Solution provides you with a good choice.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Fix Windows 11 Disk Cleanup Not Working

Windows 11 Disk Cleanup Missing

Windows 11 users noticed that Disk Cleanup is missing from the new system, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use it anymore. Here’s how to use Disk Cleanup on Windows 11:

  1. Press Windows + S to open Windows Search.
  2. Type Disk Cleanup into the search box.
  3. Press Enter and the Disk Cleanup window will appear.
  4. Select Drive (C:) or another drive you want to clean.
  5. Click on the OK button and wait.
  6. Select the files you want to delete and click OK.

You can also click Clean up system files to delete more data.

Windows 11 Disk Cleanup

If you find your Disk Cleanup stopping working suddenly or Disk Cleanup not deleting files, please try the following methods to fix the problem.

Use These Windows Built-in Cleanup Tools to Free up Disk Space
Use These Windows Built-in Cleanup Tools to Free up Disk Space

This post introduces some Windows built-in cleanup tools to help free up disk space on your Windows computer.

Read More

Remove Temporary Files Manually

  1. Open Run by pressing Windows + R.
  2. Type %temp% and press Enter.
  3. Select all files in the opening Temp folder.
  4. Press Delete.

Open Temp folder

Use Storage Sense Instead

  1. Open Settings by pressing Windows + I.
  2. Select System -> Storage.
  3. Click Temporary files.
  4. Click on the Remove files button and wait.

Besides, you can try to use a third-party clean tool.

Run SFC or DISM

How to run SFC:

  1. Press Windows + S.
  2. Type cmd.
  3. Right click on Command Prompt.
  4. Select Run as administrator.
  5. Type sfc /scannow and press Enter.
  6. Wait.

How to run DISM:

  1. Run Command Prompt as administrator.
  2. Type DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth and press Enter.
  3. Wait.

Get Free Space by Formatting Your Disk

You have a better choice to get more free space if all files on a disk are not needed anymore: formatting the disk.

What Is Disk Formatting

What is disk formatting? Generally speaking, disk formatting refers to the process of preparing a storage device (such as hard disk, USB drive, SD card, and SSD) for initial use. Disk formatting can be divided into two types: low-level formatting and high-level formatting.

  • Low-level formatting: low-level formatting, also known as physical formatting, is performed for initializing and preparing a disk for data storage. It creates sectors, tracks, and more.
  • High-level formatting: high-level formatting, also known as logical formatting, refers to setting up an empty file system on a disk/partition. It writes specific data into a specific area of the disk according to the file system people selected.
Tip: If there is no special instruction, the hard drive formatting usually refers to a high-level formatting process. As for floppy disk formatting, it often contains both formatting types. Please read Part 3 – Classification of Hard Drive Formatting on this page if you’d like to know more about low-level and high-level formatting.

What Does Reformatting Mean

Well, the word reformatting means to format a drive again. What does reformatting do? Reformatting a drive mainly does 2 things: give the drive a new file system and delete all the data stored on that drive.

Both formatting and reformatting works well in preparing the disk for use and clearing the disk data.

How To Restore Document After System Clean – Safer Is Better.

  • linkedin
  • reddit

About The Author

Sarah

Position: Columnist

Sarah has been working as an editor at MiniTool since she graduated from university. Sarah aims at helping users with their computer problems such as disk errors and data loss. She feels a sense of accomplishment to see that users get their issues fixed relying on her articles. Besides, she likes to make friends and listen to music after work.