How to fix “Not enough disk space for Windows 10 update” error

Are you trying to upgrade your PC with Windows 10, but keep failing because you don’t have enough disk space? No problem. We show you some ways to resolve the situation.

Windows 10 updates offer the latest features and all the latest improvements in operating system security. For this reason, our advice is to update your PC regularly. Before the installation process begins, Windows checks that there is enough space on the internal disk.

If there is not enough disk space, a pop-up message will appear saying: Windows needs more space. This problem is certainly annoying, but not insurmountable and it certainly doesn’t have to be a reason to stop this important process. We will show you how you can cope with this situation.

How much disk space does it take to upgrade Windows 10?

Second Microsoft at least 3 are required2GB of free space disk to update to the latest version of Windows 10, whether you are using a 32-bit or 64-bit Windows operating system. If you have less than this, the system will most likely present you with the error “Windows needs more space”.

On some devices, such as Windows 10 tablets with only 16GB or 32GB of memory, you can save more disk space by installing the operating system Windows 10 Compact.

Otherwise, here are four ways to free up hard disk space to allow the Windows update to complete.

1. Clean the disc

When there is not enough disk space for the Windows 10 update, you can create more space by cleaning the drive that Windows 10 is installed on. For most people, this is the C: drive.

The instrument Windows 10 Disk Cleanup can help. It will run a quick disk scan for files that you can remove from your PC without making any changes to Windows 10.

Using the Disk Cleanup tool is a good way to create enough disk space without compromising your important files. Here’s how you can get started with the tool:

  1. Type Disk Cleanup in the Start menu search bar and select Best Match.
  2. When the Disk Cleanup window appears: go to Drive Selection, select drive C: and click OK.
  3. When the Disk Cleanup window for the drive (C :) appears, click Clean up system files.
  4. Select all the files you want to delete and click OK to continue.

To create more space on the C: drive, you can manually delete some files that you no longer need.

You can start by removing a folder called Windows.old, which contains all previous data from the previous version of the operating system. This is a folder that is created automatically every time you update Windows 10. Only delete the folder if you are completely satisfied with your current version of Windows 10 and do not intend to revert to the old operating system.

2. Extend the C: drive using Disk Management

If you can’t free up enough PC disk space, then it’s a good idea to extend your disk. This will give you enough space for the Windows 10 update. Of course, this solution only works if you have unallocated disk space, but you can always check and find out.

Here’s how you can extend the disk storage space.

  1. Type at least part of the path into the Start menu search bar and select the best match.
  2. When the Disk Management window appears, check if there is unallocated space on the C: drive or not. If there is unallocated space, right-click on the C: drive and select Extend Volume to add the unallocated space.

3. Create more space by using external storage devices

If you don’t have enough disk space on your PC, you can use an external storage device to complete the Windows 10 update. For this, you will need an external storage device with approximately 10GB of free space or more.

To get started, select Start> Settings> Update & Security> Windows Update> Check for Updates.

Windows will display the error message “Windows needs more space”. On the Windows update page, select Fix issues. This will launch the Windows Update Tool which allows you to update your PC using an external storage device. From here, follow these steps:

  1. Connect an external storage device with enough free space to your computer.
  2. On the Windows update page, you will see an option “External storage device” with a drop-down menu. Select your external storage device from the menu and then click Next to continue.
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions to finish installing the update. Once the installation is complete, you can safely remove the device’s external storage and restart your PC.

Advice: Before using an external storage device to upgrade your PC, be sure to back up your important files.

4. Find and remove heavy and unwanted programs using third-party software

You may have disk storage problems due to large files hidden somewhere on your PC. Windows offers several ways to eliminate unwanted software, but it may be difficult for you to locate programs manually. You can easily find and delete large programs using third-party software.

There is a lot of software you can use, but we recommend IObit Uninstaller. It once had a bad reputation for third-party software bundles to install, but that’s no longer a problem.

You can remove all large unwanted programs with the free version of the software. Here’s how you can use the software to remove unwanted programs from your PC:

  1. Download and install the free version of IObit Uninstaller.
  2. Launch IObit Uninstaller and select Large Programs in the left panel.
  3. All your large programs will be displayed in the right pane. Mark all the programs you want to remove and click the Uninstall button.
  4. A window will appear saying: “Are you sure you want to uninstall the selected programs?” You will have the option to create a restore point and automatically remove residual files by checking the relevant boxes. Click Uninstall to complete the process.

Removing large programs using a tool like IObit Uninstaller ensures that there are no leftover folders, files, and registry entries that would still consume the disk space. However, if you find large files and don’t feel like deleting them, you can move them to an external storage device or cloud storage to free up some disk space.

Do I need to upgrade my Windows 10 PC? Absolutely!

Updating your Windows 10 PC is something that, as already mentioned, you should do it regularly. Protects your PC from system crashes and malware attacks. However, sometimes you encounter the error “Windows needs more space” when trying to update Windows 10. The solutions we have proposed to you in this article should help you solve this problem.

There is another way, wanting: to consider replacing the hard drive, with a larger one. This solution is more “definitive” and will allow you to no longer have to face problems of this type. Of all the methods described, this is definitely the one we like the most.

And now do not waste time, check if you have the update on standby due to the limited space available, and proceed.