How to Solve Windows 11 Update Not Enough Space (5 Ways)

Are you excited about the Windows 11 free upgrade from Windows 10? But, unfortunately, you end up getting the following error messages every time you try to update your device on Windows 11. All those errors are related to one issue - Windows 11 update not enough disk space.

• "Windows needs more space." 
• "Can't install due to low disk space."
• "Get more space with external storage."
• "There is not enough free space on the partition (C:)" and so on.

Do you know why you are getting all these error messages? That's because, for Windows 11 update installation, your device must have 64 GB or higher free space. It is a mandatory requirement mentioned in Windows 11 hardware and system requirements list. 

Since Windows 10 and Windows 11 are programmed to coexist, your device requires sufficient free space to support both operating systems' tools and processes. 

Now, it doesn't mean you have to buy a new computer to experience Windows 11. There you have two simple solutions — free up space on your device or get more space to the C drive from other drives. 

So, let's now check out 5 easy ways to implement both these solutions and become an early Windows 11 user. 

Solution 1. Delete the Windows.old folder

The easiest way to free up space on your device for Windows 11 update is deleting Windows.old folder. This folder is automatically created when you upgrade from one Microsoft OS version to another, starting with Windows Vista. 

Windows.old folder contains all the data from your previous Windows version that you can use to restore your old versions or files. You can find the Windows.old folder in the C: drive of your system storage. However, it is a great feature, but this folder can easily consume 20 GB or more space on your hard disk, depending on your previous Windows installation size. 

Here if your Windows.old folder contains data from your Windows older versions or you no longer require old files, it's better to delete the Windows.old folder and free up space for  Windows 11 update. 

To delete the Windows.old folder, follow the below steps:

Step 1. Go to the Startup menu search box > Type Cleanup > Click Disk Cleanup.

Step 2. Next, select drive C: and click "OK." You have to wait while your drive gets scanned.and then click Clean up system files. 

Step 3. Select C: drive again when prompted and press OK. 

Step 4. Now, just select the "Previous Windows installation" checkbox from the files to delete the list and click "OK." 

However, if you delete the Windows.old folder from File Explorer, it can produce an error message. You can easily avoid this error message by using the PC cleanup tool to scan and remove the Windows.old folder (discussed in solution 2). 

Solution 2. Remove junk and useless large files 

Your computer produces numerous junk files daily to perform different tasks like opening a document or an image. Of course, these files are useless once the task is done. But junk files remain on your device, clogging it up and consuming a large space. 

So, it's pretty safe to delete junk files to free up space on your disk. To do so, you need a PC clean tool because manually finding and removing junk and useless large files is a highly tedious task. 

Using the PC cleaner tool like Qiling CleanGenius, you can easily detect and delete junk files, useless files, and rarely used files. The tool can also remove browser plugins, free up RAM, startup optimization, and so much more. 

• Free Download
• Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

Step 1. Download and install Qiling Partition Master Suite on your PC. Click to download PC Cleaner on panel.

Step 2. Install Qiling CleanGenius on your PC. To begin with, navigate to "Cleanup" and click "Scan."

Step 3. Qiling CleanGenius will start immediately to scan all the useless files, select system junk files and invalid entries, and click "Clean" over all your PC.

Step 4. Once completed, you can see clearly how many MBs or GBs of data are cleaned. Click "Done" to finish the process.

Moving forward, the next three solutions revolve around the disk and partition space management. So, once again, you require a tool to manage your drivers' space. There you can use another member of the Qiling family — Qiling Partition Master. 

• Free Download
• Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

Qiling Partition Master is an easy-to-use disk partitioning software used by over 60,000,000 global users. This tool can increase C drive space on your device so you can seamlessly get Windows 11 updates. Additionally, it can resize, format, delete, wipe, or convert disk, migrate OS without reinstalling OS, etc.

So, let's manage your disk space better as the coming three solutions!

Solution 3. Transfer Free Space to C Drive

If you have more free space on your D, E, F, or G drivers on your hard disk, you can easily reallocate their space to C: drive. For this, you simply have to use the "Allocate Space" feature on Qiling Partition Master. 

Using this feature, you can free up unallocated and allocated space for C drive and install your Windows 11 setup. 

Step 1. Click on the D: partition with enough free space and select "Resize/Move".

Step 2. Drag D: the partition panel leftward to shrink it for the free space from D: drive to C: drive. Then click "Proceed" to confirm.

Step 3. Select the target partition - C: drive and select "Resize/Move".

Step 4. Drag the partition panel rightward to add the free space from D: drive to C: drive. Then click "Proceed" to start the process of moving free space from D: drive to C: drive.

Solution 4. Resize C Drive Space 

If your system disk has no unallocated space, you can use it in your favor to expand your C drive space. To do so, you have the Qiling Partition Master "Resize/move" feature at your disposal. 

• Free Download
• Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

You just have to right-click on a partition excluding the C: drive and click on the "Resize/move" feature. Then, by simply dragging the left panel of the partition to shrink and leaving unallocated space for the C: drive, you can get enough space for Windows 11. 

Option 1. Extend System C drive with unallocated space

• 1. Click on the System C: drive and select "Resize/Move".
• 2. Drag the system partition end into the unallocated space so to add it to the C: drive.
• 3. Click "Proceed" to execute the operations and extend the C drive.

Option 2. Extend System C drive without unallocated space

• 1. Click a big partition with enough free space on the system disk, select "Resize/Move".
• 2. Drag the end of big partition to shrink it for the unallocated space. Click "Proceed" to confirm.
• 3. Select the system drive at the "Disk Management" page, and select "Resize/Move".
• 4. Drag the end of System C drive into the unallocated space. Click "Proceed" to save the changes and extend the C drive.

Solution 5. Merge C Drive with Any Other Drive 

If you have several partitions on your hard drive and many of your drivers have adequate free space while the C: drive barely has any space left. In this case, you can merge the drives with large free space to the C drive and create a bigger C drive to absorb all Windows 11 updates. 

This drive merger process might look massive right now. But once you install the Qiling Partition Manager, this process will automatically become simpler. 

• Free Download
• Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

Step 1: Select the target partition

Click on the partition which you want to add space to and keep, and select "Merge".

Step 2: Select a neighbor partition to merge

Select one partition next to the former selected partition and click "Proceed" to merge space and add files from the second partition to the first partition.

Parting Thoughts 

So, here you go, Microsoft users, you are all set to install Windows 11 on your device. It's just a matter of getting the sufficient free space on your hard disk that you can easily get by—

• Deleting the Windows.old folder 
• Removing junk files
• Transferring free space to C drive 
• Resizing C drive
• Merging C drive with other drivers 

To perform all these partition solutions, you can install the Qiling Partition Master today and manage partition resizing, shrinking, merging, transferring like many other features with ease. Once you have tried Windows 11, don't forget to share your experience here.

• Free Download
• Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

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