Maximum PC - USA (2019-06)

numerous temporary files, which are only required for a short

amount of time. After that, they just take up valuable space on

your drives, so it’s worth allowing Storage Sense to remove

those files after a set period. The default delay is 30 days, which

we think is a reasonable amount of time to ensure those files are

no longer needed [Image C]—but again, you can change this setting

if you prefer.

4

DOWNLOADED FILES

Usually, when you download a program or file, it’s kept

in your PC’s “Downloads” folder. However, even after

installing a program, the installer itself is usually left in that

folder, and over time, you may find that you end up with a lot of

large files in there, swallowing up your storage. To remove your

downloads at certain intervals, click the menu under where it

says “Delete files in my Downloads folder” [Image D], and choose

an appropriate time.

5

FREE UP SPACE NOW

If you want to use Storage Sense right now, you simply

need to hit the “Clean now” button, which immediately

starts the process of cleaning your PC’s storage drive [Image E].

It uses the set tings that you’ve selec ted from the rest of the page,

s o if you’ve chos en to never delete file s in the “Dow nlo ads” folder,

this process respects that choice. After clicking the button,

you’ll see a message appear on screen, asking you to wait while

Storage Sense runs.

6

OTHER WAYS TO CLEAN UP YOUR PC

With Storage Sense enabled, you can leave Windows 10

to keep your drives free from clutter. However, there’s

also a number of other tools in Windows that can help you keep

them clean. First, open File Explorer, and click “This PC”

in the left-hand pane. This gives you an overview of all

your PC’s storage drives [Image F], and from there you

can see how much space is on each drive.

7

USE DISK CLEAN-UP

Disk Clean-up is a tool that preceded Storage

Sense, and has been a part of previous versions

of Windows for a while now. While Storage Sense does

a lot of what Disk Clean-up used to do, the older tool

is still useful. In the “Start” menu, search for “Disk

Clean-up” and press Enter. In the window that opens,

select the disk you want to clean [Image G]. This is your

“C:” drive by default.

8

CHOOSE WHAT TO CLEAN

Disk Clean-up scans your PC for various files

that are safe to remove, and then lists them in

the window above. You’ll see how much space each type

of file takes up. Click the checkbox to place a check mark

in it, which marks those files to be removed, then click

“OK” to delete those files. For more options, click “Clean

up system files” [Image H]. You need to be logged in as an

administrator to do this.

E

F

G

H

Of course, you should be doing this anyway, but make sure

you take regular backups of your most important files—

that way, you won’t lose anything.

KEEP IT SAFE!

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