In today’s article we are going to see how to delete the Windows.old folder in Windows 10 by CMD in a fairly simple way and above all in a few steps.The Windows.old folder contains an “old” version of the operating system. It is present in case any update or anything else within the operating system fails.
Looking to free up space on your Windows 10 computer? Learn how to delete the Windows.old folder with this step-by-step guide. Regain valuable disk space today!
To delete the Windows.old folder in Windows 10, follow these steps in a tabular guide:
| Step | Action | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open Disk Cleanup | Search for ‘Disk Cleanup’ in the start menu and open it. |
| 2 | Select Drive | Select the drive where your Windows is installed (usually C:). |
| 3 | Click ‘OK’ | Let Disk Cleanup calculate the amount of space you can free. |
| 4 | Open ‘Clean up system files’ | Click the ‘Clean up system files’ button. |
| 5 | Select Drive Again | Choose the same drive as before when prompted. |
| 6 | Check ‘Previous Windows Installation(s)’ | In the list, check the box next to ‘Previous Windows Installation(s)’. |
| 7 | Choose Additional Files (Optional) | Optionally, select other files to delete, like temporary files. |
| 8 | Click ‘OK’ | Confirm your choices to delete the files. |
| 9 | Confirm Deletion | Click ‘Delete Files’ in the confirmation dialog box. |
| 10 | Wait for the Process to Complete | The process might take some time, depending on the size of the files. |
Note: Deleting the Windows.old folder will remove the option to revert to the previous version of Windows. Ensure you have backed up any important data from this folder before proceeding.
How to delete Windows.old folder in Windows 10 by CMD
We are going to delete the Windows.old folder using the command prompt. This is a very simple process to carry out that we can do by following the steps that I will leave you a little below.
- For this the first thing you should do is open ” Command Prompt ” press ” start ” and then type ” cmd “.
- Now you will have to right click on ” Command Prompt ” and select ” Run as administrator “.
- A dark window will open. In it we will have to add the following lines, you can copy and paste them. After pasting each of them you must press ” Enter ” remember that you must paste each of these commands separately: takeown / F c: \ Windows.old \ * / R / A, cacls c: \ Windows.old \ *. * / T / grant administrators: F, rmdir / S / Q c: \ Windows.old
If after entering any of these commands it asks you Are you sure? So we will have to press the letter S and then enter to confirm. In this way you will be able to eliminate all traces of the Windows.old folder without any kind of problems.
What are these commands for? The one we add first is to collect information on the property of the folder and all the content that it has to the device manager.
The second of these is to gain ownership of the folder in question and everything in it. And the last of these commands serves precisely to delete the entire folder, including the content it has inside.
It is essential to go step by step, since without the previous commands we will not be able to delete the folder because it is used by the same operating system . If we tried to eliminate it with the last command without executing the previous two, we would simply be denied access to it.
How to delete Windows.old folder in Windows 10
If you don’t want to use the command prompt and prefer to delete Windows.old from a graphical interface, then we can do it by following these steps:
- First click on ” start ” and then on the gear icon on the left side.
- Next, we enter the Windows configuration menu where you will have to enter the ” System ” section.
- After this we will have to click where it says ” Storage ” in the left sidebar of the screen.
- Here you will have to press on the hard drive that has Windows installed, generally it is C.
- Then press where it says ” Temporary files .”
- All the files that you see in this section can be eliminated and will not generate any kind of problem on your computer.
- Check the option ” Previous version of Windows ” and in this way we make sure that we will delete Windows.old.
- To finish you just have to click on ” Remove files ” and the process will start, it may take a while depending on the size of all the files you are going to delete.
After carrying out this process, it is best to restart the computer so that the changes are applied and notice the space that you now have available to use as you like.
Remember that if you have any kind of doubt about how to delete the Windows folder from the command prompt or CMD, you can leave it in the comment box that you can find a little further down and we will be happy to help you.
In conclusion, deleting the Windows.old folder in Windows 10 is a simple and effective way to free up valuable disk space. By following the step-by-step instructions provided in this article, you can safely remove unnecessary system files and improve the overall performance of your computer. Remember to exercise caution and always back up important files before performing any system cleanup. Now, go ahead and regain that much-needed disk space!
