Best Ways to Delete the Windows.old Folder in Windows 11

After upgrading to the new version of Windows, a Windows.old folder may appear on your disk. This is a kind of archive of your previous system that Windows creates just in case. If everything is fine with the new version and you don't need to restore old files, this folder simply takes up valuable space — often tens of gigabytes.

Many people try to delete it in the standard way, but get an error message. This is because the system protects these files, considering them important. Do not delete the folder manually through Explorer, as this may cause malfunctions.

Fortunately, there are several simple and safe ways to get rid of Windows.old. In this article, we will look at the most effective ones, from the built-in disk cleanup utility to other proven methods that will help you free up space on your hard drive without harming your system.

The Windows.old folder appears after a system update and contains files from the old version of Windows. It takes up a lot of space, but you shouldn't delete it manually. It's better to use the built-in Disk Cleanup tool: it will safely delete Windows.old without damaging the system. If for some reason this method doesn't work, you can use the command prompt with administrator rights. The main thing is to make sure that everything is working stably and that you do not plan to roll back to the previous version, because once the folder is deleted, it will be impossible to recover these files.

How to delete the Windows.old folder using the “Settings” app in Windows 11

Step 1: Using the menu “Start” or open the application in any other convenient way “Windows Settings”.

Step 2: Go to the “System” → ‘Memory’ → “Temporary files”.

Step 3: On the page, you will find a list of temporary files. Since we need to delete the Windows.old folder, we are interested in the item “Previous installations” or “Update files” (depending on your version of Windows 11), check the box (see screenshot), among other things, here you can see the amount of space occupied.

Step 4: Click the button “Delete files” section at the top of the page to delete all contents and the Windows.old.

Step 5: Confirm your actions again by clicking the button “Continue.”

How to delete the Windows.old folder using “Cleanup recommendations”

Step 1: Open the app “Settings.”

Step 2: Go to the section “System” → “Memory” →“Cleanup recommendations.”

Step 3: Select “Previous installations” by checking the box next to the entry.

Step 4: Press the button “Clean up” and confirm the action by clicking ‘Continue’ in the pop-up window.

How to delete the Windows.old folder using Memory Check

This method is interesting because you can set it up once, and then the system will automatically delete temporary files and the Windows.old folder according to your chosen schedule.

Step 1:Open the application “Options.”

Step 2:Go to the section “System” → “Memory”.

Step 3:Find the subsection “Memory Control” and move the slider to the “On” position.

Step 4:Click on the subsection “Memory Control”, to access advanced settings.

Step 5:In the “Cleanup Schedule” under the heading “Start Memory Management” click on the drop-down menu and select the time interval after which the previous installation files will be deleted from your device.

Note: Below on the page, you will find an option that also automatically clears your recycle bin. Don't be lazy to set it up to avoid surprises.

How to delete the Windows.old folder using File Explorer

Windows.old is a protected system file. If you want to delete the folder manually, follow these steps.

Step 1:Open File Explorer using the icon on the taskbar or by pressing Win E.

Step 2:In the navigation pane, select “This computer.”

Step 3:Right-click on the drive “C:\” and select from the context menu “Properties”.

Step 4:In the disk properties tab “General” tab, click the button. “Disk Cleanup” or “Memory usage” (the rest of the process may vary depending on your OS version. If the “Settings” app opens, continue; if the Disk Cleanup utility opens, follow the steps in the next method starting with step 2).

Step 5:In the window that opens, click on the section “Temporary files”

Step 6:In the next window, check the box for “Previous installations” button and press the “Delete Files”.

Step 7:Confirm your actions again by pressing the “Continue”.

How to delete the Windows.old folder using Disk Cleanup

Step 1: Open the menu “Start” and start typing “Disk cleanup”.

Step 2:Open the search result by clicking “Open”.

Step 3:Select the disk C: and click the button “OK”.

Step 4:In the next window, click “Clean up system files.”

Step 5:Select the drive again C: and press the button “OK”.

Step 6:In the list of files, find and check the box “Previous Windows installations” and click “OK” to complete the deletion of the folder Windows.old.

How to delete the Windows.old folder using Terminal

PowerSell

If you prefer to use PowerSell to get rid of the Windows.old folder,

Step 1:Open the terminal as an administrator; the PowerSell profile is used by default.

Step 2:Execute the following three commands in sequence:

In the next command, replace “Username” under which you logged in.

On request “Are you sure?” press the Y key.

The Windows.old folder and its contents will be deleted.

Command prompt

Step 1:Open the terminal as an administrator

Step 2:In the terminal, use the profile Command line, enter the command and press Enter:

Step 3:In the following command, replace “Username” under which you logged in.

Step 4:On request “Are you sure?” press the Y key.

Step 5:The last command to delete the Windows.old folder in Windows 11

That's it!

So, as you can see, getting rid of the Windows.old folder is not that difficult. The main thing is to make sure that you are not going to return to the previous version of the system. If you feel comfortable with the new Windows and all the necessary files are saved, feel free to start cleaning.

The choice of method depends on your preferences. Disk cleanup is the easiest and safest option for most users. Manual removal via storage settings also works great. And if you like full control, the command line or Disk Cleanup utility will give you that option.

In any case, freeing up disk space is always a good thing. This operation will not only give you back valuable gigabytes, but also help keep your system tidy. Now you know how to solve this problem easily and safely.