How do you automate disk space cleanup on Windows 10?

1 Check your disk space

The first step is to check how much disk space you have and how much you are using. You can do this by opening File Explorer and selecting This PC from the left pane. You will see a list of your drives and their capacity, used space, and free space. You can also right-click on any drive and select Properties to see more details, such as the disk type, file system, and compression status. You should aim to have at least 10% of free space on your system drive (usually C:) and 20% on your other drives.

2 Use Storage Sense

Storage Sense is a feature that automatically deletes temporary files, recycle bin items, and downloads that you don't need anymore. You can enable and configure Storage Sense by going to Settings > System > Storage and toggling on the Storage Sense switch. You can also click on Configure Storage Sense or run it now to customize how often and what types of files Storage Sense will remove. For example, you can set Storage Sense to delete files in your Downloads folder after 30 days, or delete files in your Recycle Bin after 60 days.

3 Use Disk Cleanup

Disk Cleanup is another tool that can help you free up disk space by removing unnecessary files, such as system files, Windows update files, thumbnails, and error reports. You can access Disk Cleanup by typing disk cleanup in the search box and selecting the app from the results. You can then choose the drive you want to clean and click OK. Disk Cleanup will scan the drive and show you how much space you can save by deleting different categories of files. You can select the ones you want to delete and click OK. You can also click on Clean up system files to see more options, such as previous Windows installations and Windows Defender files.

5 Schedule regular maintenance

The final step is to schedule regular maintenance for your disk space cleanup. You can do this by using the Task Scheduler, which is a built-in tool that can run tasks automatically based on certain triggers and conditions. You can access the Task Scheduler by typing task scheduler in the search box and selecting the app from the results. You can then click on Create Basic Task to create a new task. You can name your task, choose the frequency (such as daily, weekly, or monthly), and select the action (such as start a program or send an email). You can then browse and select the program or script that you want to run, such as Disk Cleanup or Storage Sense. You can also click on Finish to save your task, or click on Next to see more options, such as setting a start date, time, and duration.