How to delete the Windows.old folder in Windows 11

Windows takes up a large amount of storage space on the C drive. After pushing more bloatware updates and a few big pieces of software, your C drive can run out of space very quickly. You may have noticed a folder named 'Windows.old' in the system drive. If you check its size, it can easily eat up 8GB or more of storage space.

It is not possible to simply delete a folder and you must grant ownership of the folder to do so. But you can delete folders using many methods that we will discuss in the article below.

What is the Windows.old folder and should you delete it?

Whenever you upgrade to a new version of Windows (via Windows update) or perform an in-place Windows upgrade, the operating system creates a Windows.old folder. It contains all your old personal and system files and you can use it to revert back to an old version of Windows if you want. But this folder takes up a lot of space on the C drive, which can be inconvenient for users who have just upgraded their PCs.

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Windows will automatically delete Windows.old 30 days after its creation. But if you need that storage right now, you can try any of these methods to remove the folder from your PC.

How to delete the Windows.old folder in Windows 11

1. Using Storage Settings

Microsoft introduced the Storage Sense feature with Windows 10 and the feature still exists in Windows 11. It can help you delete temporary files from your PC and also manage OneDrive files. But if you want to clean it manually, you need to go to Storage Settings and delete the Windows.old folder from there.

Follow these steps:

1. Right-click the Start button to open the Quick Link menu . Click the Settings option .
2. In the System settings section, scroll down and click on the Storage option .
3. Wait for the Storage feature to analyze disk and file space. Then click on the Temporary Files option .
4. Here, you will see a list of all the items that are taking up space on the C drive and are no longer needed. Click the Previous Windows Installation(s) checkbox to select it.
5. Then click the Remove Files button at the top.

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It will take a while to delete the Windows.old folder and other temporary files on the C drive.

2. Use Disk Cleanup

While Storage Sense and the improved settings section are a new concept, the trusty old Disk Cleanup still works. You can use it to find and delete temporary files on Windows 11 and earlier operating systems. It doesn't have a modern user interface but can help you locate and delete the Windows.old folder and other space-hungry folders like Temporary Windows Update files.

Follow these steps to delete the Window.old folder using the Disk Cleanup tool:

1. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog box. Type cleanmgr and press the Enter key to launch the tool.

2. Find the button Cleanup system files and click it. Wait for the utility to scan and locate all temporary files.

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3. Scroll the Files to delete list and find the Previous Windows Installation(s) check box . Click on it to select it. You can also select other temporary files.

4. Click the OK button.

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5. Confirm your action and click the Delete Files button to delete the Windows.old folder.

3. Using CMD

Follow these steps to delete the Window.old folder using the Command Prompt tool:

1. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog box. Type cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open Command Prompt with admin rights.

2. Type the following command and press Enter :

takeown /F "C:Windows.old" /A /R /D Y

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3. It will take a while to take ownership of all the folders and files. Then type and execute the following command:

icacls "C:Windows.old" /grant *S-1-5-32-544:F /T /C /Q

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4. Finally, execute the following command to delete the directory:

RD /S /Q "C:Windows.old"

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5. Close the Command Prompt window.

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Kareem Winters

Update 24 July 2023