How to set up automatic emptying of the recycle bin in Windows 11

Therefore, if you want to completely delete files that are no longer needed from the system, you will have to do one more operation, which is emptying the recycle bin.

If you find that task tedious, you can set the Recycle Bin to automatically be emptied after a certain period of time. This article will show you how to do that in Windows 11.

Schedule Recycle Bin in Windows 11

To automatically delete files in the Recycle Bin, you use Windows 11's Storage Sense feature. This feature will help set up the deletion of various files on your PC, including downloaded and trashed files.

To get started, first open the Settings Windows application by pressing the Windows + i key combination.

In the Settings interface that appears, click on the 'System' item.

On the 'System' page, scroll down and click 'Storage'.

On the 'Storage' screen, under 'Storage Management', click 'Storage Sense'.

On 'Storage Sense', there is an option called 'Automatic User Content Cleanup'. Enable this option to enable the Storage Sense feature.

Also on this page, click the 'Run Storage Sense' drop-down menu and select the timeline you want the feature to run for. Choose from available options including 'Every Day' 'Every Week' 'Every Month' or 'During Low Free Disk Space' option.

Then, choose how long a file will stay in the Recycle Bin before Storage Sense deletes it, click the 'Delete Files in My Recycle Bin if They Have Been There for Over' drop-down menu and select an option. Available options include 'Never' '1 Day' '14 Days' '30 Days' and '60 Days'.

(Note: Storage Sense affects other files on your PC, such as downloaded files. On the Storage Sense page, make sure you adjust how Storage Sense handles files accordingly.)

To activate Storage Sense immediately, scroll to the bottom of the 'Storage Sense' page and click 'Run Storage Sense Now'.

Accomplished! Storage Sense will automatically empty the trash at the interval you specify.

Kareem Winters

Update 16 November 2021