You can use the in-built Disk Cleanup tool to clear clutter. However, there is a much faster way that you can do this using the Command Prompt. Clearing up clutter is important for the proper functioning of your computer. It improves performance and clears up essential storage space. In this tutorial, I will show you how to quickly clear clutter on Windows 11 using Command Prompt.
Quickly Clear Clutter on Windows 11 Using Command Prompt
Using the Command Prompt is a faster way to clear up your Windows. Best of all, the process is simple, and even if you are someone who isn’t a computer expert, you can do it easily. Different commands do different clean-up jobs. I will walk you through them one at a time. But first, you need to learn how to open command prompt as administrator.
- Click on the search icon on the taskbar and type cmd.
- Select Run as administrator.
- You will be asked, do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device? Select Yes.
Defragment Using Command Prompt
Defragmentation helps your disks work at more optimum levels. You shouldn’t defragment your SSD devices. However, if you use a mechanical drive, you can use the steps below:
- Open Command Prompt with elevated privileges, as shown above.
- Type the following command and press Enter:
defrag c:
C: represents the drive. If you are defragmenting some other drive, enter the letter for it.
Disk Cleanup Using Command Prompt
Step-1: Open Command Prompt.
Step-2: Type the following command and press Enter:
cleanmgr
Step-3: Once you press Enter, the Disk Cleanup window will open.
Step-4: Check the boxes next to the files you wish to delete and press OK.
Step-5: Confirm your choice by selecting Delete Files.
Quickly Clear Clutter: Automatic File Deletion
There is a faster way to delete files using the Disk Cleanup feature. In this case, the utility will select files to delete for you and save you the trouble of selecting the files and then deleting them.
Step-1: Open Command Prompt.
Step-2: Type the following command and press Enter:
cleanmgr /sagerun
Resolve Low Space Issue
If you are running low on storage space, you can use the command prompt to check all the junk files from your drive and remove them to make space for new data.
- Open Command Prompt.
- Type the following command and press Enter:
cleanmgr /lowdisk /c
Where it says ‘c,’ you can replace it with the letter of the drive you wish to clean up. This command will select all the junk files in your selected drive.
Bonus Step: If you want to delete the files without having to confirm your selection quickly, you can use the following command instead:
cleanmgr /verylowdisk /c
Once again, replace the letter ‘c’ with the drive letter you wish to clean up.
Quickly Clear Clutter: Remove Temporary Files
As the name suggests, temporary files are created by your system for a moment only. However, if these files keep accumulating over time, they can cause your system to slow down. You can delete these files using the command prompt:
- To view your temporary files, use the following command:
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe %temp%\
- To delete the temporary files, use the following command:
del %temp%\*.* /s /q
Prefetch Files
These files are similar to temporary files and are created when an application runs.
Step-1: Open Command Prompt as administrator.
Step-2: To view the prefetch files that you can delete, type the following command and press Enter:
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe C:\Windows\prefetch\
Step-3: Once you have seen the files that you can delete in File Explorer, type the following command in the command prompt and press Enter to delete the files:
del C:\Windows\prefetch\*.*/s/q
Clean Hard Disk
You can use the Diskpart utility to clean your disk. However, this utility must be used very cautiously because incorrect management can cost you your entire data. I suggest you create a system backup before you proceed.
Step-1: Open Command Prompt.
Step-2: Type the following and press Enter:
diskpart
Step-3: Type the following and press Enter:
list disk
Step-4: Type the name of the disk you wish to wipe clean. For example, type:
Select disk 0
Step-5: If your disk is offline, type the following command and press enter:
online disk
Step-6: To wipe it clean, enter the following command:
Clean all
Step-7: Once you are done, type the following and press Enter to close Diskpart:
exit
I hope this helped you learn new ways to quickly clear clutter on your system. Let us know in the comments below.
