How to Free Over 10GB of Disk Space After Installing Windows 10’s May 2019 Update

Did you just install the May 2019 Update? If so, there’s more than 10 GB of data wasting space on your hard drive—we had 24.6 GB! On a laptop or tablet with a limited amount of storage, this can fill up your device quite a bit.

If you have a computer with a large amount of available storage, you might not even notice this useless data. It’ll stick around for 10 days until Windows automatically cleans it up. But, if you’re pressed for space, you’ll want to clean it up as soon as possible.

These Files Let You Downgrade for 10 Days

Upgrading between “builds” of Windows 10–like from Windows 10’s October 2018 Update to Windows 10’s May 2019 Update–is treated the same as upgrading to an entirely new Windows operating system.

When you upgrade to a new “build,” Windows creates a Windows.old folder that contains the system files from your “old” Windows installation. This allows you to “go back” to the previous build of Windows 10 if you experience a problem with the new build.

RELATED: What is the Windows.old Folder and How Do You Delete It?

However, this folder can use more than 10 GB of space on your hard drive. Windows will automatically remove it after 10 days, but you can remove it sooner to free up the space immediately.

Warning: You should only do this if your PC seems to be working properly. If you have some issue with the new version of Windows 10 on your hardware, you won’t be able to “go back” to the previous build without completely reinstalling Windows after you wipe these files.

You can go back to the last build of Windows 10 you had installed by navigating to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery and using the “Get Started” button under “Go back to the previous version of Windows 10.” This button is only present if the files are still available on your computer.