How to Free Up Disk Space on Windows 10 with Open Source Tools
How to Free Up Disk Space on Windows 10 with Open Source Tools
Windows 10 comes with a built-in tool called Disk Cleanup that can help you delete unnecessary files and free up some disk space. However, Disk Cleanup has some limitations, such as not being able to delete files related to Windows Update and Windows Defender, not supporting modern web browsers, and not having a preview option before deleting files.
If you are looking for a more powerful and flexible alternative to Disk Cleanup, you might want to try some open source tools that can do the job better. In this article, we will introduce you to some of the best open source disk cleanup tools for Windows 10 and show you how to use them.
Open Source Disk Cleanup Alternative for Windows 10
BleachBit
BleachBit is one of the most popular open source disk cleanup tools for Windows 10. It can delete temporary files, cache, cookies, history, logs, and other junk files from various applications and system components. It can also shred files securely, wipe free disk space, and optimize your system performance.
To use BleachBit, you need to download it from its official website and install it on your computer. Then, launch it and select the items you want to clean from the left panel. You can also click on the Preview button to see how much disk space you can recover. When you are ready, click on the Clean button to start the process.
BleachBit has some advanced features that you can access from the menu bar, such as editing whitelists, changing preferences, running commands, and switching to dark mode. You can also use BleachBit as a portable app from a USB stick or similar device without installation.
SD Maid SE
SD Maid SE is another open source disk cleanup tool for Windows 10 that specializes in maintenance. It can scan your system for unnecessary files and folders, duplicate files, orphaned files, corrupted files, and more. It can also optimize your database, manage your apps, and analyze your storage usage.
To use SD Maid SE, you need to download it from its GitHub page and extract it to a folder of your choice. Then, run the SDMaid.exe file as an administrator and accept the UAC prompt. You will see a simple interface with four tabs: Explorer, Searcher, AppControl, and CorpseFinder.
You can use the Explorer tab to browse your files and folders and delete any unwanted ones. You can use the Searcher tab to find duplicate files or files by name or content. You can use the AppControl tab to manage your installed apps and uninstall any unwanted ones. You can use the CorpseFinder tab to scan for orphaned files and folders that belong to uninstalled apps or failed installations.
SD Maid SE has some additional features that you can access from the menu bar, such as clearing the clipboard, flushing the DNS cache, changing settings, and switching to dark mode. You can also use SD Maid SE offline and without any external advertising.
Tron Script
Tron Script is a different kind of open source disk cleanup tool for Windows 10. It is a batch script that automates a series of tasks to clean up and optimize your system. It can perform actions such as deleting temporary files, clearing browser cache, removing malware, repairing file system errors, defragmenting disks, updating drivers, and more.
To use Tron Script, you need to download it from its official website or its Reddit page and extract it to a folder of your choice. Then, run the tron.bat file as an administrator and accept the UAC prompt. You will see a command-line interface with some instructions and options.
You can press Enter to start Tron Script with default settings or use some flags to customize its behavior. For example, you can use -sdb flag to skip de-bloat stage or -spr flag to skip page file reset stage. You can also 0efd9a6b88