How to Delete an Old Windows Installation

Adrian Mühlroth

March 2, 2018, 11:08 am | Read time: 2 minutes

If storage space becomes tight, it can be helpful to delete the old Windows installation. These often remain after updates are installed. TECHBOOK shows you how it works.

When upgrading to a newer Windows version or installing a major update, a backup copy of old Windows files is automatically created. The files are stored in a folder named “windows.old” and can be used to restore the original installation in case of a faulty update. However, especially on PCs with limited storage, the folder—which often exceeds 10 gigabytes—takes up a lot of space, making deletion sometimes advisable.

Delete Previous Windows Installation

There are two ways to delete the old Windows installation from your computer. The first method, which you can see in our video, is simpler and faster and can be accessed through the settings menu. The second method is a bit hidden but offers many additional options for removing items from the hard drive besides the old Windows installation.

Method 1

Access Windows settings via the Start menu by clicking the gear icon
Navigate to the System section
Click on Storage on the left side
Select the local storage drive C: (This PC) where Windows is installed
Open the Temporary Files entry
You now have the option to remove the previous Windows version. To free up additional space, you can also delete temporary files and the contents of the “Downloads” folder in this menu.

Also interesting: How to change the language in Windows 10

Method 2

Open Windows Explorer and click on This PC on the left side
Right-click on the system drive (Drive C:) to open the context menu
Click on Properties at the bottom of the menu
To the right of the diagram showing the drive’s storage usage, click the Clean up button
A list of files that can be deleted to free up space will appear. To dig deeper, open the Clean up system files option
Among the files to be deleted, the previous Windows installation will now be displayed and can be deleted along with the other files by clicking OK

This article is a machine translation of the original German version of TECHBOOK and has been reviewed for accuracy and quality by a native speaker. For feedback, please contact us at info@techbook.de.