How to Reduce the Size of the WinSXS Folder
18How to Reduce the Size of the WinSXS Folder.
Command Used:
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
When your system disk space gets low, third-party utilities help you spot large files and collections of smaller files at a glance. That's where you might stumble upon the WinSXS folder. It has a size of almost 5–10GB, and for many users, it's like a black box in the Windows world.
Naturally, it raises the question of what exactly are those files installed in WinSXS and why it's so huge. Web searches and forums are full of questions about this folder. Let's demystify the secrets of WinSXS and the correct way to manage it.
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On Windows 10, "WinSxS" (Windows Side by Side) is an essential folder within the "Windows" folder, which contains most of the components to customize and update the current installation. For instance, inside the WinSXS folder are located the files to add or remove features, switch editions, recover damaged or missing system files, and pretty much everything else that makes up the OS.
Also, when installing quality updates, the new components will store in the WinSXS folder as well as the previous version of the components in the case rolling back to an earlier build is necessary to remove a problematic update. As a result, over time, the folder will continue to increase its size without a set limit.
While the WinSXS folder is expected to grow larger over time, the actual size on disk isn't as big as it may seem. The problem is that most people would use File Explorer to calculate its size. Because the folder uses "hard linking," a technique that allows the creation of pointers of an original file with entirely different names and locations in the same partition, they'll appear as separate files to applications (such as File Explorer) reporting the wrong size.
The WinSXS folder at C:\Windows\WinSXS is massive and continues to grow the longer you have Windows installed. This folder builds up unnecessary files over time, such as old versions of system components.
This folder also contains files for uninstalled, disabled Windows components. Even if you don’t have a Windows component installed, it will be present in your WinSXS folder, taking up space.
Have you ever experienced that your physical or virtual disk is being consumed by a bunch of files inside of the WinSXS directory and you weren’t able to delete any of them, because you didn’t have enough permission, even with an Administrator account? Probably, you were.
Whenever you are updating your Windows operating system, it will download and store files at C:\Windows\WinSxS. According to Microsoft, previous versions of some components are kept on the system for a period of time, allowing you to rollback if necessary. After a period of time, these older components are automatically removed from the installation. But, we realized that this is not always the case, and you need to do it manually.
This tutorial will apply for computers, laptops, desktops, and tablets running the Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems (Home, Professional, Enterprise, Education) from all supported hardware manufactures, like Dell, HP, Acer, Asus, Toshiba, Lenovo, Huawei and Samsung.