Windows 11's disk cleaning tool can effectively free up hard disk space and improve system efficiency. When using it, you should first confirm the cleaning project, such as the Recycle Bin, Temporary Files, Download Folders, and Thumbnail Cache. It is not recommended to select all of them in the default options, especially for content that is uncertain for purposes. Click "Clean System Files" to further delete Windows update old files, system restore points, installation logs, and legacy Windows versions, etc., but be careful that if you need to roll back the system, update files should not be cleaned. It is recommended to perform a comprehensive cleaning every 1 to 2 months, especially for situations where C disk space is tight, but there is no need to be too frequent to avoid repeated cleaning being meaningless and may affect the life of the SSD. Regular and reasonable use of Disk Cleanup can significantly save space and is worth operating when the system disk is close to full load.

The disk cleaning tool (Disk Cleanup) that comes with Windows 11 can help you free up hard disk space and delete useless content in the system cache, temporary files and recycling bin. If used properly, the system operation efficiency can be effectively improved.

Confirm what to delete before cleaning

After opening Disk Cleanup, it scans for cleanable content on the current disk. Default options include "Download Folder", "Temporary Internet Files", "Recycle Bin", etc. You can check the items that need to be cleaned, but it is not recommended to select all , especially for projects that are uncertain for use, such as "Windows Update Cleanup" or "System Error Memory Dump File", which may contain useful information or repair data.

Common recommended cleaning items:

• Recycling bin
• Temporary documents
• Download old files in folder
• Thumbnail cache

Use the "Clean System Files" function to be more thorough

After clicking the "Clean System Files" button, Disk Cleanup will rescan and list more cleanable content related to the system, such as:

• Windows updates installed old files (take up a lot of space)
• System restore snapshot
• Installer log
• Previous versions of Windows (such as upgraded from Windows 10)

This step is suitable when you are sure you do not need to rollback the system. If you have just updated the system, it is recommended not to clean up the update file immediately , otherwise you will not be able to fall back to the old version.

Regular cleaning is good, but don't be too frequent

It is recommended to perform a comprehensive cleanup every 1 to 2 months, especially when the space in the C disk is tight. However, it is actually unnecessary to clean it too frequently, because many files are caches automatically generated by the system and will appear again after cleaning.

In addition, if you use an SSD, you don’t have to worry about frequent reading and writing affecting your life. Modern SSDs are durable enough that daily cleaning will not cause significant losses.

Basically that's it. Although Disk Cleanup is simple, it can save a lot of space if you use it correctly, especially when the system disk is almost full, it is worth spending a few minutes running.

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