Following a successful Windows 10 installation, the previous OS may still take up space on your system and consume hard disk space.

Unlike many other technology companies, Microsoft lets users upgrade their devices and keep a backup of the important files that comprised the previous OS version. This is located fairly deep in the C:/ drive. If, for instance, you had upgraded to Windows 10 but needed to roll back for any reason, you could do that using this data backup.

If the new OS suits your needs, you can wave goodbye to its previous iteration; there’s a way to clear that backup. Click the Windows Start button and type ‘cleanup’ to search the system for Disk Cleanup, which should appear. Click on the search result to open the app.

Next, a drive selection option should appear; all you need to do is select the drive your OS is installed on. The C:/ drive should appear first, as it’s often the default drive. Hit OK if you are sure this is the drive your OS was installed into. Windows 10 should then scan your system briefly before another prompt appears.

You will now face two choices, which look like a list of files to delete immediately. One option is ‘Previous Windows Installation(s),’ and the other will be the ‘Clean up system files’ option on the bottom left if this first choice isn’t available.

The OS performs more calculations at this stage and offers a similar-looking prompt window, but this time presents the option to delete previous Windows installation(s). You might have to scroll down to find it, but it should take up a sizeable bit of drive space, in our case, 3 GB. Tick this option and click OK. In the separate message box that appears asking if you’re certain you want to send this, click Delete Files, and you are done.