Backup files are important, but not everyone needs them. Here’s how to delete backup files in Windows 10 as quickly as possible.
Windows 10 gives you File History. It’s a feature that can back up your files to another partition or drive and restore the files if the originals get damaged or accidentally deleted.
While Windows 10 doesn’t turn on File History by default, some people who turned it on don’t know how to turn it off or don’t know how to delete the backup files so they can save more storage space.
There are other ways to save more storage space, like removing System Restore points and Windows.old folder which will be discussed in this post.
Contents
How to delete System Restore points in Windows 10
You can delete System Restore points to save more storage space. But keep in mind, this leaves your PC vulnerable if it gets crashes or something, which is terrible.
To delete, open the Run dialog box by pressing Windows Logo+R. Type this line of address, and press Enter:
systempropertiesprotection
Open the System Protection tab. Click Configure.
You can either change the maximum usage of system protection or click Delete to remove the System Restore points.
You can also turn off the system protection feature by selecting Disable system protection, and then click OK.
How to delete backup files in Windows 10 (File History)
If you turned on File History, chances are you are duplicating too many files, costing you more storage space. To remove backup files from File History, open the Settings app.
Click Update & Security. Select Backup tab.
If you see File History is turned off like this, you don’t need to do anything.
If you have it turned on, simply click More options.
Change how often you want the backup files are created. On Keep my backup, change from Forever to Until space is needed so your backup files will be kept until space is running out and you need to store more files in there.
Don’t want to use File History? Select Stop using drive. It then deletes the entire backup files, so you can gain more storage space.
You can also delete File History backup files using PowerShell. Right-click the Start menu, and select PowerShell. Or, type it on the search bar, and run as administrator.
Here, copy and paste this line of code:
fhmanagew.exe -cleanup 0
This code will delete the backup files except for the recent ones. Press Enter to apply the command.
How to remove Windows.old in Windows 10, saving more space
This is not mandatory, but you can save a lot of storage space by deleting temporary files, like Windows.old folder. It might contain gigabytes of unnecessary data that doesn’t really affect the safety of your PC.
To do this, simply open the Run dialog, and type this then press Enter:
cleanmgr
The Disk Cleanup will open. It might take seconds to open.
Select Clean up system files.
Here, select any files you deem unnecessary. Don’t forget to check the Windows.old folder. Click OK to remove.
Windows 10 has a good feature that can do back up for you, like File History, but you might want to remove some of them to gain more storage space, which can be done easily using the methods above.