Disk Cleanup is a free utility that comes with all Windows systems and is meant for cleaning temporary files, system files, caches, old Windows updates, and so on. This utility is helpful for cleaning up disks without downloading some external applications. Nevertheless, sometimes it might happen that the Disk Cleanup utility doesn\u2019t work correctly and freezes while scanning files or fails to delete selected files.<\/p>\n
The reason for this problem may be corrupted temporary files, damaged system components, leftovers from Windows Update process, and so on. Fortunately, there are some ways to fix this issue.<\/p>\n
It is helpful to know what the possible reasons are for the utility’s malfunction before taking any steps to fix it. Some of them are:<\/p>\n
In case you face Disk Cleanup not working, follow these instructions.<\/p>\n
Some cleaning options need administrative access. Executing the tool in normal mode might thus cause the utility not to have access to some system files.<\/p>\n
Steps to run the Disk Cleanup utility with Admin rights<\/b>:<\/p>\n An abundance of temporary files sometimes causes problems with cleaning. It is helpful to clean them manually if you experience problems with the disk cleanup.<\/p>\n To delete the temporary files:<\/p>\n Additionally, you can use Settings<\/b> \u2192 System<\/b> \u2192 Storage<\/b> \u2192 Temporary files<\/b> menu and choose unnecessary categories to be deleted.<\/p>\n Windows comes with Storage Sense as an additional and more recent option for automated management of unnecessary files. In case Disk Cleanup does not work, then Storage Sense may help you with several typical cleanup operations.<\/p>\n Open Settings<\/b> \u2192 System<\/b> \u2192 Storage<\/b> and choose Temporary files<\/b>. Windows will determine what categories of files are available. Select the files that you do not require anymore and press Remove files.<\/p>\n In addition, it is possible to configure Storage Sense to delete the necessary files automatically depending on your settings.<\/p>\n The described procedure is especially helpful if Disk Cleanup does not work.<\/p>\n A corrupted Windows system file will affect the functionality of the in-built Windows tools. The System File Checker tool will scan the Windows protected system files and replace any of the corrupt components with the existing copies that have been stored on cache.<\/p>\n How to do this<\/b>:<\/p>\n Type in:<\/p>\n If the SFC tool is unable to fix particular files, then go for the DISM tool. This tool helps repair the Windows Component Store that is dependent upon SFC.<\/p>\n Open the Elevated Command Prompt window and type:<\/p>\n Wait till the task gets completed. The time taken by this process depends on the state of the Windows installation as well as the performance of the computer system.<\/p>\n Once DISM completes its work, restart the computer and execute the following command:<\/p>\n File system errors will prevent Windows tools from reading and making changes to certain files. Check Disk command can detect logical errors in the disk and fix them.<\/p>\n Open Command Prompt as Administrator and execute the following command:<\/p>\n If the Windows indicates that the drive is being used by the system, it may ask whether you want to schedule a scan at the next reboot. Type Y<\/b>, hit Enter<\/b> key and reboot the computer.<\/p>\n After the scan process finishes, try whether Disk Cleanup runs properly.<\/p>\n Windows Update keeps all the update files that it downloaded for installation purposes. Corruption of these components might make cleanup process involving update files impossible.<\/p>\n A typical troubleshooting procedure involves stopping the Windows Update related services, clearing the update cache and starting the services.<\/p>\n Open Command Prompt as Administrator and execute the following commands:<\/p>\n net stop wuauserv<\/p>\n net stop bits<\/p>\n Then go to:<\/p>\n Delete everything from this directory, and then start the services:<\/p>\n Restart Windows and run Disk Cleanup tool again. Do not delete any system directories except the ones listed above.<\/p>\n In case there is any problem with the graphical interface of Disk Cleanup, one can run the cleanup configuration of this tool from Command Prompt.<\/p>\n Hit the combination Windows + R<\/b>, then type:<\/p>\n Click OK<\/b> and select the cleanup categories to let Windows perform the cleanup task on them and hit OK<\/b>.<\/p>\n Next, run Command Prompt as an administrator and execute the following command:<\/p>\n Windows will perform the cleanup task on the selected categories in the previous step.<\/p>\n The Disk Cleanup tool is designed for deleting temporary and system-generated files. It is not intended to detect duplicate documents, images, videos, archives, etc. Therefore, even after a successful cleanup, a lot of disk space will still be occupied by the duplicate files.<\/p>\n In case duplicates are occupying significant disk space, it is recommended to use PCVITA Duplicate Photo Remover<\/u><\/span><\/a> Software in order to find duplicates on the selected folders or disks, analyze the findings and delete them.<\/p>\n\n
#2: Delete Temporary Files Manually<\/span><\/h3>\n
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#3: Use Storage Sense<\/span><\/h3>\n
#4: Run System File Checker<\/span><\/h3>\n
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sfc \/scannow<\/pre>\n
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#5: Run DISM to Repair Windows Components<\/span><\/h3>\n
DISM \/Online \/Cleanup-Image \/RestoreHealth<\/pre>\n
sfc \/scannow<\/pre>\n
#6: Check the Drive for Errors<\/span><\/h3>\n
chkdsk C: \/f<\/pre>\n
#7: Reset Windows Update Components<\/span><\/h3>\n
C:\\Windows\\SoftwareDistribution<\/pre>\n
net start wuauserv<\/pre>\n
net start bits<\/pre>\n
#8: Use the Disk Cleanup Command<\/span><\/h3>\n
cleanmgr \/sageset:1<\/pre>\n
cleanmgr \/sagerun:1<\/pre>\n
#9: Find and Remove Duplicate Files<\/h4>\n