Windows Disk Cleanup

Recover disk space on Windows 10/11 by cleaning temp files, caches, dev tool artifacts, stale dependencies, and other reclaimable storage. Developer-focused — knows where the real space hogs hide on a dev machine.

Core Philosophy

1. Analyze before deleting. Always scan first with the analysis script.
2. Risk-aware cleanup. Categorize by risk (safe/low/moderate/high). Clean safe items freely, confirm everything else.
3. Use built-in tools when possible. cleanmgr, DISM, Storage Sense, dotnet nuget locals, npm cache clean over raw Remove-Item.
4. PowerShell everything. All commands are PowerShell. Indicate which need elevation (Run as Administrator).
5. Never touch user data. Documents, Desktop, Pictures, credentials, SSH keys, registry — hands off.

Quick-Start

"My disk is full, help me clean up"

Step	Action
1	Run .\scripts\analyze-disk.ps1 to scan all targets
2	Review report — prioritize by size and risk
3	Clean safe targets first (caches, temp files, logs)
4	Present moderate targets for user confirmation
5	Mention high-risk targets only if asked
6	Show before/after disk space comparison

"Clean everything safe"

Remove-Item "$env:TEMP\*" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "C:\Windows\Temp\*" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue  # Admin
Remove-Item "C:\Windows\Prefetch\*" -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue       # Admin
npm cache clean --force 2>$null
pip cache purge 2>$null
dotnet nuget locals all --clear 2>$null

Cleanup Priority Order

Priority	Target	Typical Savings	Risk
1	Windows.old	15-30 GB	Moderate
2	Docker WSL2 vhdx	10-100 GB	Moderate
3	Hibernation file	8-64 GB (=RAM)	Low
4	Stale node_modules	5-50 GB	Moderate
5	Rust target dirs	5-50 GB	Moderate
6	Windows Update + WinSxS	2-15 GB	Safe
7	NuGet/Gradle/npm caches	5-25 GB	Safe
8	User & system temp	1-15 GB	Safe
9	Browser caches	1-5 GB	Safe
10	Recycle Bin	0-50 GB	Moderate

Decision Trees

What to Clean Based on Request

User Says	Action
"Clean up my PC"	Full scan, report, clean safe, confirm moderate
"Clean caches"	Temp files, browser caches, dev tool caches
"Clean dev tools"	npm/pip/NuGet/cargo/gradle caches only
"What's using space?"	Analysis only, no cleanup
"Clean Docker"	docker system prune -a + compact WSL2 vhdx
"Free up X GB"	Prioritized cleanup until target reached

WinSxS Cleanup

Never manually delete from WinSxS. Use DISM only:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup  # Admin

Docker WSL2 Disk

Docker's WSL2 virtual disk doesn't auto-shrink. After docker system prune:

wsl --shutdown
Optimize-VHD -Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Docker\wsl\disk\docker_data.vhdx" -Mode Full  # Admin

Safety Rules

Never touch:

• User profile folders (Documents, Desktop, Pictures, etc.)
• C:\Windows\Installer (breaks app repair/uninstall)
• C:\Windows\WinSxS directly (use DISM only)
• $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh, .gnupg, .aws, .kube (credentials)
• C:\Windows\System32, C:\Windows\SysWOW64
• Registry hives, .git directories, database files

See references/safety-protocols.md for full safety rules.

Reference Files

File	Contents
references/cleanup-targets.md	Exhaustive cleanup targets with paths, PowerShell commands, risk levels, typical sizes
references/safety-protocols.md	Golden rules, confirmation flows, never-touch paths, recovery procedures
references/space-analysis.md	Disk analysis techniques, finding large files/dirs, stale node_modules, recommended tools

Scripts

Script	Usage
scripts/analyze-disk.ps1	Scans all targets, reports sizes and risk. Flags: -Json, -DevOnly, -Quick