5 Best Ways: How to Free Up Space on C Drive in Windows Server 2016

Try smart Windows 11 data transfer tool to move all data in 1 click.

EaseUS Todo PCTrans

  Free Download

100% Secure

Page Contents
 

Page Table of Contents

  • Applies to: Free up space on C drive in Windows Server 2016/2019/2022 and even older Servers.
  • Duration: 5 - 10 minutes.
  • Relative Topic: Clean up C drive, C drive Full, etc.
What do I do if my Server C drive is full? How do I clear and free up C drive space in Windows Server 2016?

Sometimes, you may get a C drive full warning when the drive has no sufficient space. To resolve this issue, you have two options:

  1. 1. Extend system C drive in Windows Server computers. (Guide: Extend System Partition in Server 2003.)
  2. 2. Free up space on C drive in Windows Servers.

Here, we'll discuss and help you resolve the second option - how to free up space on C drive in Windows Server 2016/2019/2022, etc.

5 Best Ways to Free Up Space on C Drive in Windows Servers:

Here we collected five ways that help you to effectively clean and free up space on C drive in Windows Server computers. 

  1. #1. Clean up C Drive System Junk Files and Useless Large Files
  2. #2. Move Programs from C Drive to Another Drive
  3. #3. Uninstall Programs
  4. #4. Disk Cleanup
  5. #5. Turn off Hibernation
Notice:
In case you carelessly clean up essential files saved in the C drive, please back up essential content that you saved in the system C drive in advance. 
You can turn to reliable file backup software for an efficient data backup solution for help. 

#1. Clean Up C Drive System Junk Files and Useless Large Files

When it comes to cleaning up the C drive, you may come up with the idea of deleting useless large files. However, the manual way is somehow too complex. Turning to a professional disk cleanup solution for an efficient solution to locate and remove system drive junk files and useless large files will be great. 

EaseUS Todo PCTrans Technician, with its System Cleanup feature, helps all levels of Windows Server users to clean up c drive junk files in simple clicks effectively.

EaseUS Todo PCTrans Technician

Trustpilot
 
☆ Deploy & install Todo PCTrans on multiple PCs.
Transfer unlimited files, programs, apps between Servers.
Transfer account, domain account, and settings.
Data rescue, find product key of installed programs.
One license for multiple PCs.

  Free Download

100% Secure

System Cleanup:

Step 1. Open EaseUS Todo PCTrans on your computer. Click "System Cleanup" and click the "Scan" button to go on.

system cleanup - step 1

Step 2. When the scan completes, junk files will be listed. Selected the unwanted files. Be careful not to mistakenly delete files that affect the normal operation of your computer or software.

system cleanup - step 2

Step 3. Click the "Clean up" button and confirm the cleanup operation. You can regularly use this function to free up disk space.

system cleanup - step 3

Clean Up Large File:

Step 1. Open EaseUS Todo PCTrans on your computer. Click "Large File Cleanup" > click "Start" button to go on. (It supports move or delete large files to free up more disk space, and you can also try to move the default folders to another drive.)

large file cleanup - step 1
 

Step 2. Then choose the hard drive you want to scan.

large file cleanup 2

Step 3. When the scan completes, files larger than 20M will be listed. Selected the unwanted files as you need. Be careful not to mistakenly delete files that affect the normal operation of your computer or software. We also provide recommendations for deletion after the scanning is complete in "Large File Cleanup". 

large file cleanup - step 3

Step 4. Click the "Delete" button and confirm the delete operation again. You can regularly use this tool to remove useless large files to free up more disk space. If you have more space on other drive, choose "Move" to move large files.

large file cleanup - step 4

#2. Move Programs from C Drive to Another Drive

Aside from system junk files, installed big programs and games also take huge space in the system C drive. 

To make full use of the storage space in your C drive, you can move the installed programs and software from the C drive to another drive in Windows Server computers. EaseUS Todo PCTrans, with its App Migration feature, is exactly what you need.

  Free Download

100% Secure

Here is the guide to migrate and move programs, applications, and even games to a non-system drive without any boot issues:

Step 1. Run EaseUS Todo PCTrans on your PC

Go to "App Migration" and click "Start" to continue.

Select app migration transfer mode

Step 2. Select programs to move from C drive to another drive

1. Tick the C drive and select programs (marked as "Yes") that you want to transfer.

2. Click the triangle icon to select another drive on your computer as the destination, and click "Transfer" to start the process.

select programs to transfer

Step 3. Finish the transferring

Wait patiently until the transferring process finishes and click "OK" to confirm. 

finish transferring programs from C drive to another drive

When it has done, you can restart PC if necessary. This will keep all changes on your PC and then you can run and programs from another hard drive without reinstallation.

#3. Uninstall Programs

The other efficient way that you can try is to uninstall and remove some big useless programs installed in your system C drive in Windows Server. 

Step 1. Click the Windows icon and select "Settings".

Step 2. Click "Apps" > "Apps & Features".

Open Apps and Features

Step 3. Scroll down to locate the programs you don't frequently use on your computer, right-click on the app and select "Uninstall".

Uninstall Apps that takes huge space

#4. Disk Cleanup

Aside from cleaning junk files, large files, uninstalling programs, you can also run the Disk Cleanup feature to clean and delete some temporary files, recycle bin, etc., at one time.

Here is how to run Disk Cleanup:

Step 1. Open File Explorer, right-click C drive, and select "Properties".

Open Properties in System C drive

Step 2. Click "Disk Cleanup" and select the content that you want to clean up in c drive, for example: Downloaded Program Files, Temporary Internet Files, Recycle Bin, and more.

Check content to clean up in C drive

Step 3. Click "OK" to confirm the operation and free up Windows Server system C drive space.

Confirm to clean up c drive

#5. Turn off Hibernation

By disabling Hibernation in Windows Server, it will delete the hiberfil.sys file created in the system C drive. This will also save huge space in the C drive:

Step 1. Press Windows + S keys, type cmd in the search box.

Step 2. Right-click "Command Prompt" and select "Run as administrator".

Step 3. Enter powercfg.exe /hibernate off and hit Enter. 

Turn off hibernation in system c drive

Step 4. Type exit to close the command prompt window when the process completes.

Conclusion

We collected the 5 best and most efficient methods to help you free up space in the Windows Server system C drive on this page. 

With these methods, you can efficiently clean up useless files, uninstall unwanted programs, and even large hidden files in the C drive. These programs also work to clean up some non-system drives in Windows Server computers. Cleaning up the system drive can be efficient and simple if you turn to the correct solutions for help.

About the Author

Updated by Tracy King

Tracy joined in EaseUS in 2013 and has been working with EaseUS content team for over 10 years. Being enthusiastic in computing and technology, she writes tech how-to articles and share technical solutions to resolve Windows & Mac data recovery, data backup, partition management, data transfer, Windows update issues, etc.

Read full bio

Reviews and Awards

Product Reviews

TrustScore 4.7 | 34 reviews
  • EaseUS Todo PCTrans Free is a useful and and reliable software solution created to serve in computer migration operations, be it from one machine to another or from an earlier version of your OS to a newer one.

    Read More
  • EaseUS Todo PCTrans is by the folks at EaseUS who make incredible tools that let you manage your backups and recover your dead hard disks. While it is not an official tool, EaseUS has a reputation for being very good with their software and code.

    Read More
  • It offers the ability to move your entire user account from your old computer, meaning everything is quickly migrated. You still get to keep your Windows installation (and the relevant drivers for your new PC), but you also get all your apps, settings, preferences, images, documents and other important data.

    Read More

5 Best Ways: How to Free Up Space on C Drive in Windows Server 2016

Try smart Windows 11 data transfer tool to move all data in 1 click.

EaseUS Todo PCTrans

  Free Download

100% Secure