Engadget tests Windows tools that clear PC junk
Engadget scanned one nearly full 1TB drive with three Microsoft tools and found Disk Cleanup and Storage Sense missed most of the real junk.
The facts
- Engadget ran a scan-only test of Disk Cleanup, Storage Sense and Microsoft PC Manager on one 1TB C: drive with about 4 percent free space.
- Disk Cleanup and Storage Sense each offered to clear 1.66GB. PC Manager listed 26GB, though that includes items that are not real junk. Engadget measured roughly 20GB of actual junk on the drive.
- Disk Cleanup and Storage Sense found about 8 percent of the real junk, while PC Manager covered about 90 percent, including a 9.25GB NVIDIA shader cache and about 5GB of Chrome cache.
- Storage Sense reported 0 bytes cleaned in the past month because by default it only runs when disk space is low. Engadget says switching it to a daily, weekly or monthly schedule fixes this.
Case notes · Danny's take
Why it matters
The tools Windows ships with are cautious by design, and that caution means they miss most of what fills a drive. Your PC can look maintained while the settings are doing nothing. Even a perfect clean only moved free space from about 4 percent to about 6 or 7 percent, so the real space hogs are games, videos and photos. Check the setting, then check the big files.
For builders
Engadget says PC Manager's cleanup found caches left behind by developer tools such as Python and Node.js. If you build or work on a Windows machine, those folders are worth checking before you blame the project for a full drive.
Not financial advice. Do your own investigation.
This story was summarised with AI from Engadget's reporting and checked against our editorial policy. Danny's take reflects his views. Disclaimer.
Danny Walter
Founder of Moon Republic, Volt Terminal and Moon Republic Academy. Author of The Market Is a Crime Scene and After the Applause.