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The fastest way to see how much room is left on a Windows 11 PC is File Explorer’s This PC view, which shows free space under each drive. If you want to know what is using that space, or you need to check a second internal or external drive, open Settings and use the Storage pages instead.
Check free space in File Explorer (quickest method)
Use this method when you only need the remaining space on a drive.
- Open File Explorer from the taskbar, or press Windows key + E.
- In the left navigation pane, select This PC. If the pane is hidden, use the File Explorer view options to show it, or browse to This PC from the address bar.
- Under Devices and drives, read the available-space figure beneath the drive you want. Windows also shows a capacity bar for each drive.
The number belongs to one specific drive. A PC with both C: and D: can have very different amounts free on each, so check the drive letter before you act on the figure. Microsoft’s guidance on this view is in Free up drive space in Windows.
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Settings gives a category breakdown rather than a single free-space number. It answers the question “what is taking up space?”
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- Select Start, then Settings, then System, then Storage.
- Review the categories Windows lists, such as installed apps, temporary files, and system and reserved storage.
- If the categories you need are hidden, select Show more categories.
Microsoft’s description of these categories is in Storage settings in Windows. A category’s size tells you where space is going; it does not by itself show that something is wrong. Some entries, including system and reserved storage, are managed by Windows and are not ordinary personal files, so do not treat them as space you can clear by hand.
Check other drives
To review storage on drives other than the one Windows is running from, go to Start > Settings > System > Storage, then open Advanced storage settings > Storage used on other drives and select the drive you want. Microsoft says this view covers connected internal and external drives, so a USB drive that is plugged in should appear there as well.
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File Explorer or Settings: which to use
| Goal | Best route | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| How much space is free on a drive | File Explorer > This PC | Free space under each drive in Devices and drives, with a capacity bar |
| What is using space on the main drive | Settings > System > Storage | Categories such as installed apps, temporary files, and system and reserved storage |
| Storage on a second or external drive | Settings > System > Storage > Advanced storage settings > Storage used on other drives | Usage for each connected internal or external drive |
Checking space is not the same as freeing it
Both methods above only report storage. They do not delete anything. If you want to recover space, Windows offers cleanup options from the Storage page, and Storage Sense is one of them.
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What you do not need
Checking free space requires no extra software, purchase, or accessory. Everything in this guide uses tools already included with Windows 11. The PC Health Check app can also show main-drive usage, but it is optional and not needed for this task, as explained in Microsoft’s How to use the PC Health Check app guide.
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Quick reference
- File Explorer > This PC shows free space per drive under Devices and drives.
- Settings > System > Storage shows what is using space; select Show more categories for the full list.
- Advanced storage settings > Storage used on other drives covers connected internal and external drives.
- Storage Sense is an optional cleanup feature for the system drive, and its defaults leave Downloads and cloud content alone.
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