5 Ways to Delete Windows.Old Folder on Windows 10, 8

Delete the Windows.old folder using Disk Cleanup

First, the most intuitive way is to use the built-in Disk Cleanup program of Windows. You just need to click on the following simple steps:

Step 1: Go to This PC ( or My computer) right click on drive C and select Properties .

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Step 2: In the new window, on the General tab, click Disk Cleanup .

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Step 3: The disk space calculator takes about 1 minute. Once completed, select Clean up system files :

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Windows will automatically scan for folders that are deemed unnecessary and suggest that they can be deleted.

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Step 3: Here, we need to delete the Windows.old folder , so tick the box Previous Windows installation(s) and uncheck the remaining items as follows:

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Select OK . Select Continue Delete Files to perform the deletion.

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A confirmation prompt will appear, select Yes . It will take about 2-5 minutes for the deletion process to complete. The Disk Cleanup window will automatically close.

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Step 4: Go to drive C and check to see that this folder has been successfully deleted.

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Similar to the above steps, you can type ' cleanup ' in the Search Box to delete the Windows.Old folder . You use Disk Cleanup for all Windows operating systems to delete Windows.old.

In addition, when Windows is updated after about 30 days, this old data will also be automatically deleted.

Delete windows.old folder on windows 10, 8 using cmd

Step 1:  From Start, type CMD > right-click and select Run as Administrator to run under the highest Admin rights as shown below:

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Step 2:  Here, you enter the command or copy it to use the following command line:

RD /S /Q %SystemDrive%windows.old

Press Enter to perform the windows.old deletion process.

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Delete Windows.old folder using CCleaner

By using CCleaner tool to help you make sure to delete successfully, please follow these 3 specific steps:

Step 1: You should install the latest updated version of CCleaner software by downloading it from Google.

Step 2: Launch CCleaner, click the Advanced heading in the left sidebar and uncheck all options except Old Windows Installation located on the right side in the Windows and Applications section if you only want to delete the Windows.old folder.

Step 3: Click Analyze to analyze. Once done, you will see the name Old Windows Installation . Finally, to delete, click the Run cleaner button .

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Using Command Prompt

For Windows 7 operating system, we will delete it faster and more neatly by using cmd. Windows 8, 10 operating systems will not work this way. Therefore, you need to use Command Prompt according to the steps we present below!

Step 1: Type cmd in the search bar in Start, right-click and select Run as administrator to run as administrator.

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Step 2: Type or copy and paste each command line below and press Enter after each command line.

takeown /F c:Windows.old* /R /A /DY

- Continue to paste the command line below and Enter .

cacls c:Windows.old*.* /T /grant administrators:F

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- Then press Y and Enter

- Delete the Windows.old folder using the following command:

rmdir /S /Q c:Windows.old

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Note:

Step 3: After completing to exit the Command Prompt window , type Exit .

Delete windows.old folder on windows 10, 8 using Temporary files settings

Step 1: First open the settings menu. By typing settings in the search bar and clicking on it. Or you press the shortcut Windows + I (for Windows 10).

Step 2: Select System > Storage > This PC and look at the bottom of the list, select Temporary files .

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Step 3: In the Temporary files window , tick Previous Windows Installation . Finally, click Remove files to delete.

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Lesley Montoya

Update 17 January 2025