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How to Make Your Windows 10 Laptop Work Better
Read this article to find out how to get your laptop ready for all kinds of tasks without paying extra. And how to configure Windows 10 in the best way. We will explore how to maintain Windows 10, configure system security and laptop power settings, what software to install and how to connect peripherals. Here is the best all-round guide for you!
In this guide, we will tell you about twelve easy methods to improve overall performance of your Windows 10 laptops, including steps for clearing junk files, optimizing the operating system and battery charge consumption, configuring security settings and installing additional apps.
In Windows 10, there is a section entitled Storage that manages the local hard disk of your laptop and contains various storage settings. Use it for an easy way to remove unnecessary files from the system disk as well as other internal and external storage devices. Using the functionality of this section, you can quickly get rid of outdated setup and temporary files in order to free disk space fro more important data and improve disk efficiency.
In Windows 10, all main settings for the operating system, installed applications and services are concentrated into the unified and multifunctional application, Settings. There are several ways to access it.
Right-click on the Start button or press the keyboard shortcut Windows + X to open the context menu and select Settings.
To delete temporary files from your Windows 10 laptop, just do the following.
- Open the Settings app in any way you prefer.
- In the main page, click on the System tab.
- In the left side of the Windows 10 settings panel, select Storage.
- Now look to the right, find the section Storage sense and click on the link Free up space now (for Windows 10 with the official October 2018 Update or an earlier version).
For Windows 10 version 1903 look to the right to find the section Windows 10 (C:) and click on Temporary files.
- In the new page, the operating system will scan the available disk space, find and identify temporary files, arrange them by their properties and prepare them for being removed.
When the operations are accomplished, you will see the entire list of all discovered items. Check the files suggested for removal with the help of the description that includes the following lines:
- Windows upgrade log files.
- Thumbnails.
- Temporary files.
- Delivery optimization files.
- Windows error reports generated by the operating system. Recycle Bin.
- Temporary Internet files.
- Windows Defender Antivirus.
- DirectX shader cache.
Hint: Elements available for removal may differ depending on the version of the operating system and applications installed on a specific computer. Also, you may have noticed that we do not mention the Downloads folder. If you plan to select it, make sure it doesn’t contain any mission-critical files before clearing its contents.
- Select items for removal by checking the corresponding boxes and click Remove files.
The operating system will clear the selected elements immediately and free up disk space for storing more important user data.
To configure automatic cleaning disk space from files you don’t need any longer, do the following in the Storage section.
- Open the Settings app in any way you like.
- In the main page, click on the System tab again.
Select Storage on the left.
In the right panel, find the section Storage sense and drag the slider into On position to enable automatic disk space cleaning for the hard disk in your laptop.
- After that, click Change how we free up space automatically below, or jump to the page where cleaning settings can be changed (just as before, we are describing the sequence of actions for Windows 10 with the October 2018 update or an earlier version).
For version 1903, go to the same Storage section and drag the slider for storage sense to the On position, and then use the link Configure Storage Sense or run it now to access a similar settings page.
- In the section Storage Sense, use the dropdown menu Run Storage Sense and select one of the predefined time intervals for automatic start:
- Every day.
- Every week.
- Every month.
- During low free disk space.
- In the next section Temporary files check the box for Delete temporary files that my apps aren’t using.
- After that, set the time range for removal of deleted files from the Recycle Bin of your operating system. Use the dropdown menu Delete files in my recycle bin if they have been there for over and select the time interval, after which the bin is going to be emptied automatically.
- After that, set the time interval in the dropdown menu Delete files in my Downloads folder if they have been there for over, to decide how long files downloaded from the Internet should be stored before they are removed automatically.
Advice: If you want to remove as may files as possible, choose the option 1 day. Bear in mind, though, that the Downloads folder may contain personal or important files, so it is recommended to back up all the files you need for the future before you proceed with automatic cleaning.
- Now, find the section Locally available cloud content, open the dropdown menu Content will become online-only if not opened for more than and select the maximal number of days after which the files that have not been used for a long time will be removed from the hard disk of your laptop – on condition, though, that their synchronized backup copy is saved to the cloud storage, OneDrive.
In the section Free up space now, check the box for Delete previous versions of Windows (if such line is displayed). With this option available, you may gain from 10 to 20 GB of additional free space.
Summing up, in the section Free up space now click on the button Clean now to start the process of removing the files according to the settings you have chosen in this page.
When all these actions are performed, some extra free space will appear in the hard disk of your laptop, or (depending on the settings) the automatic cleaning will run to optimize the storage device.
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