How Much Space Does Windows 10 Take On Your Disk

Before installing a new Windows 10 operating system, especially the commercial ones like the Windows OS, calculating the minimum and optimum storage space required to install it is essential.

If you don’t consider the optimum and minimum storage space requires for an operating system to get installed, you may face several storage-related issues in the future if your OS eats up too much space on your hard disk drive. So before choosing the best suitable operating system depending on your usage and available storage space, ensure that your device has sufficient storage for the Operating System to run smoothly and have enough space for storing personal data files and applications.

How much space does Windows 10 take?

So is Windows 10 too large in size? Let’s find out.

When Windows 10 was launched, its size was smaller than Windows 8, which was its predecessor. Windows 10 download size is about 20 GB for the 64-bit version and 16 GB for 32-bit systems. Even though Windows 10 was smaller in size than Windows 8, it has tons of advanced developed features than earlier Windows versions.

Windows 10 has been increasing in size:

With the update on the 10th May 2019, Windows 10 has increased in size significantly. The Windows 10 installation size after 10th May 2019 increased from 20 GB for 64-bit, and 16 GB for 32-bit, to 32 GB for both the architecture. That means all the Windows 10 users, including 32-bit and 64-bit users, need at least 32 GB of free space on their hard drive or storage devices to install the Windows 10 operating system.

The change in the Windows 10 update process leads to this drastic increment in Windows 10 installation size. Before the 10th May 2019 update,  a windows 10 update was only possible if the host device had enough storage space for the update to download and install.

The update of Windows 10 May 1903 reserves a permanent storage slot of 7 GB on the disk space to ensure future updates download and install without any issues. Although most modern desktops and laptops don’t have to worry about this 7 GB space because they already have disk space in some GigaBytes, many mobile devices and older PCs struggle to meet this storage requirement due to lack of support for upgrade or replacement to the Hardware.

Can I upgrade to Windows 10 on a device with smaller storage?

To get the May 1903 update of Windows 10, your device should at least have 32 GB of free storage space. But if your device has less than 32 GB of free storage space, then you will have to bear with Windows 10 version 1809 for the rest of the time.

Fortunately, Microsoft has extended the support and security updates of this version until 11th May 2021. You can also opt for long term servicing plans for Windows 10 1809 version, which will deliver security updates and bug fixes until January 2024, and then fixes for security only until January 2029.

Even with these Windows 10 security updates and bug fixes, there won’t be more space for storing your personal files like documents, photos, videos, music, etc., and installing more applications. If you face the same issue, we will explain how Windows 10 saves storage space and what you can do to make the Installation size smaller.

Explaining Windows 10 space-saving mechanism:

At the release time of Windows 10, Microsoft stated that it had used an efficient compression algorithm that compresses the system files significantly. The compression of windows 10 saved approximately 2.6 GB of storage for the 64-bit and 1.5 GB of storage for the 32-bit.

Windows 10 system of Microsoft decides the compression amount according to your hardware specifications like the amount of installed RAM, the CPU speed, etc.

You can move your Windows 10 from HDD to SSD with this guide. It will save your storage and increase system performance.

How to reduce the Windows 10 installation size and save some disk space?

You can reduce the size of Windows 10 installation and save your disk space by following these simple steps.

1. Remove the “Windows.old” folder:

Windows 10 creates a “windows.old” folder after a major update released by Microsoft in Windows Operating System. This folder contains your old windows system settings, which can be utilized if your current Windows version gets corrupted due to some reasons.

Although the windows.old folder deletes itself from your windows system after 10 days; sometimes, you may find multiple windows.old folders taking up too much of your hard disk space. You can safely delete the windows.old folder if you don’t require your old windows 10 system version and settings back in the next 10 days. To manually delete the windows.old folder, find it in the disk drive where the windows 10 system is installed.

2. Removing or reducing the hiberfil.sys:

The hibernation mode in Windows 10 is turned on by default right from the installation of your system. The Hiberfil.sys file is not severely harmful to your storage space. Still, it keeps track of your system’s primary settings, allowing your system to operate faster after coming to active mode from hibernation.

The storage space required for the hiberfil.sys file depends on the amount of system RAM installed on your PC. It may occupy up to 75% amount of your RAM. This amount of hiberfil.sys file storage space is consumed on your hard disk space and not on your system’s RAM.

Turning the hibernation off:

1. Run the command prompt on your Windows 10 machine as an administrator. ( Either from the Start Menu or the Run Dialogue box).

2. To switch the hibernate mode off, type in powercfg /hibernate off, and press the enter key.

3. To turn the hibernate mode back on, type in powercfg /hibernate on, and press the enter key.

The hiberfil.sys file gets automatically disappeared once the hibernate mode is off.

3. Remove or uninstall bloatware:

Windows 10 comes with a significant amount of pre-installed apps or bloatware. These pre-installed apps may include Groove Music, Weather, Money, Candy Crush Saga, Microsoft 3D Builder, Sport, Music, etc. Most Windows 10 OS users prefer some other apps over these and don’t find some of these apps essential at all.

Uninstalling or removing these pre-installed apps or bloatware on Windows 10 can return you some fraction of space, but it can be a tedious and time-consuming task. So if you are running very low on storage space after installing the latest Windows 10 OS with bloatware, you might consider removing these pre-installed apps.

We hope this article about “How much space does Windows 10 take has solved all your queries regarding the installation size of Windows 10 and how to minimize it.