When a computer runs out of physical storage, its speed, performance, and ability to maintain system integrity are affected. A poorly managed hard drive can leave little room for critical updates to be installed and generally degrades the user experience over time. A laptop with a lot of data storage is very convenient, and small storage space will make the laptop run slower, so it will directly affect the performance of the laptop. it’s one of the most considerable facts before purchasing a laptop. However, if you have already purchased a laptop and are concerned about its storage issues, you are probably looking for a How To Increase Disk Space On Laptop solution to add more storage space to your laptop. Your computer’s disk space is your files, videos, photos, and anything else you can store on your computer. When you’re hard drive nears storage capacity, your computer may run slower and you may not be able to install new programs.
Why do I need more storage?
If you don’t have enough space on your laptop, you won’t be able to run them. Worse, it can lead to various problems. Below are the commonly encountered errors.
- Low Disk Space Warning
- It has not enough disk space to complete the operation.
- Windows Media Creation Tool does not have enough disk space
- Runtime Error
How much disk space do you need?
Most people can find enough storage space to perform their tasks here. You can get up to 1 TB of storage on a laptop, and while you may be tempted to choose that much storage, you may not actually need it. Finally, there are other options when it comes to adding storage space to your computer. This includes an external hard drive and cloud storage.
If you just surf the web on your laptop and watch the occasional TV show, 256 GB of storage is enough. If that’s all you normally do, you might only need 128 GB of storage. However, if you store large files on your laptop, play many games, or download entire TV series to your laptop, you will need more storage space. After all, a movie can take up around 1.5 GB to 2 GB, while a complete TV series can be closer to 20 GB and possibly more. It also depends on things you have stored on your laptop.
Programs like Photoshop, Adobe, Excel, and Microsoft don’t take up a lot of space on their own, but when they’re combined, they really do. Additionally, as a video editor or graphic designer, you probably need more than 256 GB of storage space. Many of these experts find that he needs 512 GB or 1 TB to store everything he needs on his laptop. If you are not sure what you need, consult a computer professional to determine exactly how much storage space you need.
Hacks to free up hard drive space:
1. Uninstall unnecessary apps and programs
Just because you’re not actively using an old app doesn’t mean it’s still there. Manage your storage space by removing unused applications that are hogging your storage space.
To successfully do this, follow the following steps:
- Click the Start button.
- Select “Apps”
- Then select “Apps & features”.
- Sort by size to see which programs are taking up the most disk space.
- Remove unused programs by selecting the program and clicking Uninstall.
2. Clean up your desktop
Many people keep everything on their desktop by default, but there’s a better way. These files constantly consume memory for display, so having a lot of clutter on your desktop can slow down your computer. Consider deleting unnecessary files and moving the rest to your documents, videos, and Photos folders. Deleting these files will free up some space on your hard drive. If you keep it on, it won’t slow down your computer any further.
3. Delete Monster Files
Most computers store data very efficiently, but some file types take up disk space and can be prohibitive.
To check the largest files:
- Open Windows Explorer (File Explorer).
- Select this PC. Type’ size’ in the top right search box.
- You can choose from several categories of file sizes, from’ Empty’ to’ Huge’.
- Start with the largest file and see if you need anything.
4. Use Disk Cleanup Tool
This handy utility that comes standard with Windows 10 PCs is a one-click solution for removing unnecessary OS files. Windows can detect these and remove the ones you no longer need.
- Ask Cortana or select from the search box to start Disk Cleanup.
- Select Drive: C to complete the task. This will take several minutes. If it’s your first time, it will take much time.
(Note: Disk Cleanup is different from Disk Defragmenter. Both are essential for optimal performance, but the second tool helps you manage your important files without cluttering up your hard drive. For best results, be sure to schedule both tasks.)
5. Destroy temporary files
Every time you visit a website. Browser stores some cookies, images, and text files that speed up your next visit to the same website. You don’t need to keep those files if privacy is an issue or if you need more space on your hard drive.
Each type of browser has a different way of removing these files. So check your browser’s documentation for best results. You can also use windows tools to work on temporary files. Consider this an opportunity to clear cookies, discard temporary files, and clear cache. This will have an immediate positive effect on your browsing.
6. Add Disk Space with MiniTool Partition Wizard
we recommend you to use an effective and reliable professional partition manager to increase disk space. Minitool partition wizard is a utility that can help you increase disk space. With Extend Partition and Move/Resize Partition feature, you can easily increase the size of your hard drive.
7. Resize partition to increase disk space
If unallocated space is contiguous before and after the drive you want to extend hard disk, use “Move/Resize Partition” option to increase disk space recommended.
8. Upgrade to a larger hard disk
one can directly increase laptop storage capacity by upgrading your current hard disk to a larger one. According to user reports, upgrading hard drives can lead to data loss. Given this fact, many users hesitate to upgrade their hard drives. Things are different when you use MiniTool Partition Wizard to perform this operation.
With this program’s Copy Disk and Migrate OS to his SSD/HD feature, you can upgrade your existing hard drive to a larger drive without losing data. MiniTool Partition Wizard is the multifunctional software that can help you convert MBR to GPT, manage different RAID types, migrate OS to SSD/HD, test hard drive, recover lost data, etc. Don’t hesitate to download it.
9. Run the Disk Cleanup utility.
Disk Cleanup deletes temporary files, clears cache, empties Recycle Bin, and various other files and items you no longer need. You can replace your current hard drive with any SSD. If you don’t want to use the external storage method, simply replace your hard drive with an SSD. SSDs are invulnerable and much faster than hard drives. Upgrading your hard drive to SSD not only results in poor storage space management but also data transfer speed and data loss prevention.
10. USB drive
this is the easiest and cheapest way to store your data. Many USB sticks are available from 1GB to 256GB. You can purchase an available USB flash drive if needed. Helps you save and store standard-size data in your pocket.
11. Disable hibernation
Windows 10 has a feature called hibernation as an option that you can use when you leave your computer. Your work-in-progress session is saved when you shut down, so you can pick up where you left off when you’re ready. However, this operation will write the data currently in memory to the hard drive, occupying disk space.
12. Targeting large and Duplicate Files
after doing the above, the disk space utilization improved significantly, but let’s take a closer look. To find out what really occupies the most space on your hard drive, use a disk space analyzer. WinDirStat (free) scans your drive and graphically displays how much space each file occupies. Select large blocks in WinDirStat to narrow down the files that take up the most disk space. Therefore, it is a candidate for deletion.
13. Move Key Folders to an External Drive
Probably the easiest way to slim down your system is to increase your storage space on an external drive. All you need is an inexpensive USB hard drive or flash memory card to store your ever-growing collection of photos and videos outside your computer and use your primary drive just too quickly boot your operating system or applications.
14. Store on the web
Cloud storage service offers tons of free online storage space that you can use in place of your hard drive. For example, Microsoft’s SkyDrive offers 7GB or 25GB for free (depending on when you signed up for the service), while Box, Google Drive, and SugarSync offer 5GB to 15GB for free. Dropbox Basic starts at 2GB. and the use of cloud storage has a great benefit. you can use them from anywhere and at any time if you can connect to the internet.
15. Delete unnecessary files
Furthermore, delete unnecessary personal files on your laptop. Videos, documents, and music you no longer use can be taking up space on your computer. Scan your hard drive and delete anything you don’t use.
Open Control Panel and select Add/Remove Programs. Scroll through the list of programs and remove those you don’t use often. Run Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter. These programs remove temporary Internet files and unused programs to free up disk space on your laptop.
Connect an external hard drive. Store photos, videos, and other files on a USB hard drive that you don’t need constant access to. Copy these files to your hard drive and delete them from your computer. Upgrade laptop hard drive. Take it to your local computer store and tell them you’re ready to upgrade. Note: Upgrades are expensive.
16. File Compression
Another great option to reduce disk space is the File Compression feature. More files can be easily compressed. Compress to rar or .zip to use less disk space. You can compress computer program files, including drivers. However, before compressing files, you need to make sure that compression software is installed on your computer.
Follow the steps below to compress files to reduce disk space usage.
- Create a new folder and copy additional files into it.
- Right-click the folder.
- Select the Add to .rar option.
These steps will compress the folder and reduce the file size, thus using less data.
17. Dealing with Downloads
For those wondering how to free up space on their laptop’s hard drive, one of the easiest ways is to tackle the huge list of downloads you may have on your device. Many of us have downloaded videos, music files, photos, and PDF documents that we may or may not need in the future.
However, some downloads are important, so please take the time to review your Downloads folder and move important files to the appropriate permanent folder.
When finished, select all and click Remove to remove the rest.
18. Storing in the Cloud
Finally, you may not be able to store everything you need on your desktop or laptop.
This is one of the reasons why experts recommend regularly backing up your important files to your cloud storage service of choice. Not only does this free up valuable space on your hard drive, it also protects you in the event of a hard drive failure, lost device, or other damage that puts your data at risk.
However, remembering to perform regular backups can be difficult. Failure to do this consistently can put your data at risk and transfer large amounts of data at once. Choose a utility built into most desktops and laptops that automate this process so that you can break down the task into manageable chunks and keep your backups on track.
HP services and Windows services both have their own solutions for backing up data. Check your settings to make sure this is scheduled at least weekly, if not nightly. If you only have paid Internet service available, or if you need to transfer your data quickly, you should consider transferring your data to an external storage device. These are secure, affordable, plug-and-play solutions to keep your important files available when you need them.
Some Examples:
Increase Laptop Storage On Windows
Windows 10 and Windows 8
- Right-click the Start button, click Control Panel, click System and Security, click Administrative Tools, and click Disk Cleanup
- If the Disk Cleanup: Drive Selection dialog box appears, click the hard disk drive you want to clean up, then click OK
- Click the Disk Cleanup tab, then select the checkboxes for the files you want to delete
- When you finish selecting the files you want to delete, click OK, then click Delete files to confirm the operation
- Disk Cleanup will then begin to remove the files
Windows 7
- Click the Start button, click All Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, and click Disk Cleanup
- If the Disk Cleanup: Drive Selection dialog box appears, click the hard disk drive you want to clean up, then click OK
- Click the Disk Cleanup tab, then select the checkboxes for the files you want to delete
- When you finish selecting the files you want to delete, click OK, then click Delete files to confirm the operation
- Disk Cleanup will then begin to remove the files
Windows Vista
- Click the Start button, click All Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, and click Disk Cleanup
- In the Disk Cleanup Options dialog box, choose whether you want to clean up your own files or all of the files on the computer
- If you are prompted for an administrator password or then enter the password
- If the Disk Cleanup Drive Selection dialog box appears. Select the hard disk drive that you want to clean up, then click OK
- Click the Disk Cleanup tab, then select the checkboxes for the files you want to delete
- When you finish selecting the files you want to delete, click OK, then click Delete files to confirm the operation
- Disk Cleanup will then begin to remove the files
Increase Laptop Storage On Mac
If you want to know how to free up space on your Mac faster, the easiest solution is to clean up your Mac with the right software. With MacKeeper’s cleaning tools, cleaning can be done in just a few steps.
- Download and install MacKeeper.
- In the MacKeeper app, select Safe Cleanup in the sidebar
- Click the “Start Scan” button.
- Select the boxes you want to clean.
Conclusion
To conclude, low storage issues in laptops is extremely annoying for users as this reduces their system performance. There are several methods to add more storage to a laptop which is mentioned above and, among them; the cloud storage method is the safest and fastest method that every user can do pretty easily. This method ensures that you can access your data at any time or at any place without needing to carry a laptop with you. The low disk space error won’t arise if you correctly plan your data storage. However, it is better to schedule the driving spaces according to the requirements to avoid issues.
