What is the Windows.Old folder?

1. Introduction
2. What is the Windows.old folder?
3. Removing Windows.Old

Introduction

Did you upgrade from an older version of Windows? You have a Windows.old folder on your computer and a large space. You can delete it, but it is different from deleting a normal folder.
The Windows.old folder is not a new feature in Windows 10. Before Windows 10 you would see it only if you bought a new version of Windows and then used it to upgrade an equipped PC of an old version.

What is the Windows.old folder?

This folder is created when you switch from one version of Windows to another, starting with Windows Vista. The Windows.old folder contains all the files and data from your previous Windows installation. You can use it to restore your system to the old version of Windows if you do not like the new version.
If you are looking for a specific file that has not been copied correctly in your new Windows installation, you can search the Windows.old folder and find it.
Mainly, the Windows.old folder contains the old Windows system. From Windows system files to installed programs and settings and files from each user account, everything is in this folder. You will need this folder in case you want to return to yourold version of Windows or in case you need to find a file.
Windows.old is not only created when reinstalling or upgrading to a new version of Windows, but also during major Windows updates.

However, this folder will not last too long, Windows will automatically remove the Windows.old folder to free up space after 30 days.

Removing Windows.Old

If everything works as expected after upgrading to Windows 10, you probably do not need these files because they will simply lose hard drive space. In this guide to Windows 10, we guide you through the steps to remove the Windows.old folder and other files that can take more than 15 GB of storage space on your computer.

To remove the Windows.old folder follow the steps below:

1. Open File Explorer

2. In the left pane, click This PC.

3. Under Devices and Drives, right-click the drive with the Windows 10 installation, and then click Properties.

4. Click on Disk cleanup

5. Click on clean up system files

6. Check the previous Install Windows option to remove the Windows.old folder. You can also choose to remove other installation-related files, which may also contain several gigabytes of storage.

7. Click OK.

8. Click Delete Files in the pop-up dialog box to confirm the deletion.

9. On the Disk Cleanup warning, click Yes to finish the cleanup.