4 Ways to Clean Up Your SSD Storage Space

Upgrading from an old hard disk drive to a speedy SSD remains one of the most impactful computer upgrades as we venture into 2024. While it’s true that SSDs come with a higher price tag compared to traditional HDDs, the performance boost they offer is well worth the investment. However, one potential drawback of SSDs is their relatively limited storage capacity per dollar spent, which can lead to concerns about running out of space on your system.

Fortunately, keeping your SSD clutter-free is the key to maximizing its performance and ensuring you have ample space for all your digital needs. Regularly decluttering your SSD can help optimize its efficiency and maintain snappy responsiveness. If you’re unsure about how to clean up your SSD effectively, fear not! We’ll walk you through some essential tips and techniques to help you free up space and keep your SSD running smoothly. Whether you’re looking to make room for more games, store countless photos and videos, or simply maintain a tidy digital environment, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading to discover how you can declutter your SSD and unlock its full potential.

If you have a large SSD with 1 TB or 2 TB, you probably won’t have many issues with storage management. It is still not comparable to the amounts that we easily have on HDDs like 4 TB, for example, but is still a lot, especially for devices that are known for their elevated price per GB. The greatest part of SSDs out there has between 256 GB and 512 GB of Internal Storage. For handling apps and the Operating System, this is efficient enough. However, you may need to do some cleanup from time to time. Through this guide, we will teach you 5 effective ways to clean up your SSD space.

A SSD Without Storage Can Have Its Performance Compromised

It is worth noting that SSD with limited free storage can experience compromised performance. Here’s why:

1. Wear Leveling: SSDs use a technology called wear leveling to prolong their lifespan. This process distributes write and erase cycles evenly across the memory cells. When the drive is nearly full, it has fewer cells to work with, which can lead to excessive wear on the available cells and potentially slow down the drive.
2. Garbage Collection: SSDs periodically move and consolidate data to free up blocks of storage, a process known as garbage collection. When the drive is full, it has to work harder to find space for new data, slowing down write operations.
3. TRIM Command: The TRIM command helps the SSD know which blocks of data are no longer in use and can be wiped clean. When the drive is nearly full, there are fewer blocks available for immediate use, which can slow down write speeds.
4. Overprovisioning: Many SSDs reserve a portion of their capacity for overprovisioning, which helps maintain performance and reliability. If the SSD is filled to capacity, the benefit of overprovisioning is reduced, leading to slower performance.

To maintain optimal performance, it’s generally recommended to keep some free space on your SSD—usually around 10-20% of its total capacity. This allows the drive to effectively manage data, perform wear leveling, and execute garbage collection processes efficiently. So without further ado, let’s dive in the four effective methods to clean up SSD Storage Space. (Via: XDA-Developers).

1 – Cleaning the SSD By Removing Temporary Files

Let’s streamline the process of clearing temporary files on your system with this quick and easy cleanup tip:

Temporary files are notorious for cluttering up your system, silently consuming valuable space on your SSD. While cleaning utilities and built-in tools like Disk Cleanup can handle these files, taking matters into your own hands occasionally ensures they don’t become a nuisance.

Here’s how to find and clear temporary files manually:

• Press Windows + I on your keyboard to access the Windows Settings page.
• Navigate to and click on “System” settings on the left-hand side.
• Click “Storage,” and then select “Temporary files.”
• Click the “Refresh” button to update the list of temporary files.
• Review the list and click the checkboxes to select or deselect items you want to clean up.
• Once you’ve made your selections, hit the “Remove files” button to initiate the cleanup process.

2 – Uninstall Unwanted Applications

The next step is to remove all unwanted apps and games from your SSD. Perhaps, you’ve installed one app for testing but forgot to remove it afterwards. Or perhaps, you’ve downloaded a huge game, played it to the end, unlocked all achievements, finishing it for good. You will never play the game again, but it keeps taking storage space. So the best thing to do is to remove this game and any other kind of app that you don’t use anymore.

Getting rid of apps and games you haven’t opened in ages is a straightforward yet effective way to reclaim valuable space on your SSD. We’ve all installed programs that seemed useful at the time but ended up gathering digital dust, taking up precious storage.

Here’s how to bid farewell to those forgotten apps and games:

1. Quickly access Settings by pressing Windows + I.
2. On the left-hand side, click on “Apps” and then select “Installed Apps.”
3. Click the drop-down menu next to the “Sort by” option and choose “Size (Large to small).”
4. Scroll through the list to locate the app you wish to uninstall.
5. Click the three-dot icon next to the app.
6. Select the “Uninstall” button twice to confirm and remove the app from your system.

3 – Use the Disk Cleanup Feature

Regularly running disk cleanup is a wise habit to maintain the health and efficiency of your SSD, and fortunately, it’s one of the best free utilities at your disposal.

Disk Cleanup, a built-in Windows tool, works wonders in clearing out unnecessary files, thereby freeing up valuable space on your SSD. Its straightforward interface and ease of use make it a go-to solution for optimizing your storage.

To utilize Disk Cleanup:

1. Press the Start button and type “Disk Cleanup” in the search bar.
2. Select the Disk Cleanup utility from the search results to open it.
3. If you have multiple drives on your system, you’ll need to select the specific drive you want to clean before proceeding with Disk Cleanup. Once you’ve opened the Disk Cleanup utility, it will automatically calculate and display the amount of space that can be freed up on the selected drive.
4. This estimation is based on various types of unnecessary files that Disk Cleanup identifies and offers to remove, such as temporary files, system cache, and other items that are safe to delete.

After Disk Cleanup calculates the amount of space that can be reclaimed on the selected drive, you’ll be presented with a list of file categories to choose from. Here’s how to proceed:

1. Click on the checkboxes next to the file categories you want to clean up to select or deselect them. These categories may include temporary files, system cache, recycle bin contents, and more.
2. Review your selections carefully to ensure you’re only removing files you no longer need.
3. Once you’re satisfied with your choices, select “OK” to initiate the cleanup process. Disk Cleanup will then proceed to remove the selected files from your system, freeing up space on your SSD.

4 – Use the Storage Sense Feature to Free Up SSD Storage

Windows Storage Sense is like your personal cleanup crew for your computer’s storage. It automatically clears out stuff you don’t need, such as temporary files. By default, it’ll toss out stuff from the Recycle Bin after a while. However, you can also set it up to tidy up your Downloads folder and even OneDrive.

To get it going:

1. Press Windows + I to whisk yourself into Windows Settings.
2. Dive into “System” and hunt down the “Storage” option.
3. Once you’re there, keep an eye out for Storage Sense on the Storage Management tab. Click the toggle switch to kick it into gear.
4. Now, click on the Storage Sense option to reveal all the settings.
5. Adjust how often you want Storage Sense to do its cleanup dance based on your needs

Conclusion

The above methods are valid and tested, and can effectively cleanup your SSD storage without much effort. One alternative is to do all the management by yourself, but in the current days when we don’t have much time to spend in this kind of work, these tools will certainly save you some long hours of storage management.