How to Delete “Windows.old” Folder after a Windows Update?

Delete Windows.old Folder

This article will show you how to remove or delete Windows.old folder from your C drive after a Windows update as it has occupied lots of space.

It is always good to keep your Windows up-to-date and when you update there should be a few new features that are added, bug fixes and improvements are done.

The procedures shown below are done in Windows 10 however, the same steps will work on Windows 11 as well.

[Read: What’s New in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update?]

New updates always include bug fixes, enhanced performance and other new features added to it. Updating your Windows will not harm your computer.

Still, if you have not updated your Windows, you may click here to update your Windows anytime to the latest version.

All of your Settings, files, data and images will be as they are and there will be no changes to it. Once updated, it will create a folder named Windows.old in your installation directory (C:\).

However, it will take some time to get your computer updated, depending on your system configuration and internet speed.

Where do I Find Windows.old Folder?

If you have already updated your Windows 10 to the latest version then you might have noticed, it has occupied a lot of space on your installation drive (C:\ drive) and created a new folder with the name of Windows.old.

Check out the image below:

windows.old folder

Keep on reading this article and you will know how to remove or delete Windows.old folder which has occupied a huge space in your installation drive or directory.

How do I Safely Remove Windows.old from Windows C Drive?

Follow the steps below to remove or delete Windows.old folder from C:\ drive:

Step 1. Press Win + X, it will open the options, select Search.

search

Step 2. Type Disk Cleanup in the Search box and you will see the results. Click on Disk Cleanup to open.

disk cleanup

Step 3. The above action will open the Disk Cleanup: Drive Selection window on your screen.

C:\ drive is selected by default. Click OK to continue. This will start calculating the disk space on it.delete windows.old folder affter windows 10 updateStep 4. Once it is finished, you will see Disk Cleanup Windows on your screen.

If you see Previous Windows installation(s) in this list, then check the box and click OK and if you do see it, follow Step 5 below

Step 5. If you do not see the Previous Windows installation(s) in the above step, then

  • Click on the Clean up system files option as shown in image 1 below:
  • It will again jump to Disk Cleanup: Drive Selection window on your screen (image 2).
  • C:\ drive is selected by default. Now this time it will check system files deeply. Click the OK button to continue.

remove windows.old folder

Step 6. Once again, it comes with Disk Cleanup Windows on your screen.

Look for Previous Windows installation(s) and check the box on it to select and click the OK button to start the cleanup process.

delete windows.old folder

It may take a while depending on= your system configuration. Once it is done, you just need to restart your computer and go back to Windows Explorer and check out the disk space.

Finally, you now have a huge space in your drive C. In my case, it has extended more than 25 GB of space in my C drive.

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