3+ Solutions: Solve C Drive Is Full and Out of Space in Windows 11/10/8/7

Is your Windows computer warning that "You are running out of space on Local Disk (C:)..."? If it's so, it means that your C drive is full. So what causes or why is C drive full? What is taking up space on C drive? And how can you free up space on the C drive? 

Follow the content guide here get the most effective fixes for the C drive full issue and make your computer running fast again:

Note that the presented fixes are appliable to fix C drive is a full issue on all Windows OS, even if you are using old Windows 8.1/8/7 or older versions. All problems will be addressed properly with solutions on this page. Alongside these methods, you can fully trust Qiling partition manager software as shown in Method 1 to seamlessly extend C drive on all Windows computers.

Overview of C Drive Full Issue

In this part, you'll learn everything about "local disk C is full", including:

• 1. What is C drive full error
• 2. Why is C drive full or what is taking up space on C drive
• 3. What happens if C drive gets full

What Is C Drive Full Error

Generally, C drive full is an error message that when the C: drive is running out of space, Windows will prompt this error message on your computer: "Low Disk Space. You are running out of disk space on Local Disk (C:). Click here to see if you can free space o this drive."

Different Windows OS will show different symptoms when the C drive is full.

• If C drive gets full in Windows 11/10 or Windows 7, the C drive will be shown in red as below:

• If C drive gets full in Windows XP, it will display a similar Low Disk Space warning message as shown here:

Why Is C Drive Full

Check the list here and it will explain what is taking up space in C drive in Windows 11/10/8/7 and make your system partition merely full:

• #1. Windows OS, system-related files and settings
• #2. Installed applications, Windows built-in programs, and the downloaded software
• #3. User data, like Documents, Photos, etc., and personal data saved on Desktop or in C drive

If C Drive Is Full, What Will Happen

If your computer reports that the C drive is out of space, you're likely encountering one or more of the situations listed below:

• Windows OS slows down or becomes extremely slow
• Low storage space for storing more data and files
• Not big enough to install Windows update
• Unavailable for program installation

3 Solutions for "C Drive Is full" in Windows 11/10/8/7/XP

If you are facing the C drive full or low disk space issue, don't worry. Pick up one of the presented solutions here, you'll be able to effectively extend C drive and speed up PC:

• #1. Extend C Drive Which Is Full
• #2. Free Up C Drive Space
• #3. Upgrade System Disk or Add Another Disk

Method 1. Extend C Drive with Partition Manager Software

When the C drive is out of space on your PC, an efficient way is to extend C drive with professional partition manager software. Qiling Partition Master can extend C drive as you wish without losing data.

Enlarging the system drive is only one of its powerful features. With Qiling Partition Master, you can manage your disks or partitions safely and effectively, such as merging partitions and converting MBR to GPT. Don't hesitate to give it a try.

Now, follow the steps below to extend your C drive so to fix low disk issue with simple clicks:

Step 1.Click "Move/resize" to extend C drive.

When your C drive is out of space, you will see the Low Disk Space alert on Qiling Partition Master. Click the "Move/resize" button to extend it.

Step 2.Drag the system partition end into the unallocated space.

Simply Drag the system partition end into the unallocated space so to add it to the C: drive and click "Proceed" to start resize the partition.

Method 2. Free Up C Drive Disk Space - 4 Tricks

Mostly, useless large junk files, big files, huge installed programs, and temporary files are taking up the most space in your system C drive after using your PC for a long time. So the other effective method you can try is to free up hard disk space. 

Here are 3 ways that you can apply to free up space in the C drive and even the hard disk space:

#1. Run Disk Cleanup

Disk Cleanup is a Windows built-in tool that you can apply to delete some files so as to free up disk space via Windows File Explorer. Follow the steps below to free up disk space on your C drive:

Step 1. Press Windows + R to bring up Windows File Explorer.

Step 2. Click "This PC", right-click on C: drive and select "Properties".

Step 3. In Disk Cleanup, select the files you want to delete and click "OK".

If Windows installation files (Windows.old folder) show up, check and delete them. This will help to free up a huge space in C: drive.

# 2. Delete Temporary Files on C Drive

As you know that temporary files generated by Windows OS may also take up huge space on the system C: drive. You can also try to delete the temporary files so as to resolve the C drive full issue. Some steps to delete the Temp files on different Windows OS may differ:

Delete Temporary Files in Windows 11/10/8:

Step 1: Press "Windows + I" to open Windows Settings, click on "System" and " Storage".

Step 2: Under "Storage", select "This PC (C:)" to analyze.

Step 3: Click on "Temporary files".

Windows 11/10/8 will list "Temporary files", "Downloads folder", "Recycle bin", and more in this section.

Step 4: Check the box of content you want to remove and click on the Remove files button.

Step 5: Go back to Storage usage and now click "Other".

Select its content, right-click unwanted files that are taking most storage space and select "Delete" to remove the files and folders.

Delete Temporary Files in Windows 7:

Step 1: Open My Computer, right-click the C drive, and select "Properties".

Step 2: Click the "Disk Cleanup" button in the disk properties window.

Step 3: Select temporary files, log files, Recycle Bin, and other useless files that you want to delete and click "OK".

#3. Empty Recycle Bin Regularly

Another method that you can try is to empty the Recycle Bin timely.  Windows to save the deleted files in the Recycle Bin for a period (30 days or even longer by default). 

If you never cleared the recycle bin, it will take up a certain space on your system C drive, which as a result, your C drive is getting full.

So we suggest you empty the recycle bin regularly. Note that before you start, check the recycle bin and make sure you have restored some important deleted files back to its original location. Everything left in the Recycle Bin is not essential.

To empty the recycle bin, you have two ways to go:

1. Select to Empty Recycle Bin from Temporary Files

You may revert to the forward method as a guide so as to empty Recycle Bin files from Temporary Files.

2. Manually Empty the Recycle Bin

Step 1. Open Recycle Bin from the desktop.

Step 2. Select all recycled files in the Recycle Bin, right-click them, and select "delete".

If you lost vital files after emptying Recycle Bin, refer to: Recycle Bin Recovery for help.

Read Also: Transfer Programs from C Drive to Other Drive without Reinstallation

Method 3. Upgrade System Disk to A Larger Disk or Add A New One

If you find your C drive is out of space frequently or the methods above cannot thoroughly resolve your issue, you may try to upgrade your system disk to a larger one or add another hard disk to your computer.

# 1. Upgrade System Drive to A Larger Hard Drive

If the whole system hard disk is out of space, or the hard drive is too small, you can consider upgrading the current hard disk to a larger one.

"Disk Clone" feature of Qiling Partition Master has the ability to help you upgrade to a larger disk. You don't need to reinstall the operating system and applications.

Step 1. Select the source disk.

Click the disk that you want to copy or clone. Then, select "Clone".

Step 2. Select the target disk.

Choose the wanted HDD/SSD as your destination and click "Next" to continue.

Step 3. View the disk layout and edit the target disk partition size. 

Then click "Continue" when the program warns it will wipe out all data on the target disk. (If you have valuable data on the target disk, back up it in advance.)

You can select "Autofit the disk", "Clone as the source" or "Edit disk layout" to customize your disk layout. (Select the last one if you want to leave more space for C drive.)

Step 4. Click "Proceed" to start the disk cloning process.

IMPORTANT: Mostly, the system C drive space is suggested to be 120GB or even bigger for excellent computer performance. So after replacing the old system disk, it's recommended that you add or allocate more free space to the system C drive by following Method 1.

# 2. Add Another New Hard Disk

If you have a decent-sized hard drive that is running out of space, adding a new hard disk will give you additional storage without having to erase the existing hard drive. It could be either an internal or external hard disk.

Also Read: How to Install a New HDD/SSD in Windows.

Later, you can follow the 2nd way in Method 2 to manually copy big files and transfer installed programs to the other hard drive with ease.

Bonus Tips: Make Full Use of Hard Drive Space

To prevent your C drive gets full again, here are some tips that you can follow to make full use of hard drive storage space:

• #1. Allocate or leave 120GB or more space to system C: drive.
• #2. Install big programs and software to non-system partition, like D: or E:.
• #3. Save and backup large files to non-system partition or external storage devices.
• #4. Clear temporary files, junk files regularly.
• #5. Empty recycle bin timely

The End Line

On this page, we explained that is C drive full error, what takes the most space on C drive, and how to fix C drive full issue with 3 major methods.

Note that, to avoid unnecessary data loss, we always suggest you backup important files from C drive to another device in advance. For the most efficient solution, extending C drive with Qiling Partition Master is always the best option. It's easy and free.

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