Learn the steps to disable the Reserved Storage feature in Windows 11 to free up several GBs worth of space easily.
On Windows 11, the reserved storage feature reserves a certain amount of space, a minimum of 7 GB, so that Windows updates can be installed smoothly without encountering the low disk space error. It doesn’t matter how big your hard drive is, Windows 11 will automatically reserve storage as soon as you install the OS. You can check how much space is being used by reserved storage by going to the “Settings” > “System” > “Storage” > “Show more categories” > “System & reserved” page. In my case, the reserved storage is using 7.39 GB.
While this is a good thing, if you are already low on disk space, disabling the reserved storage in Windows 11 instantly frees up 7+ GB of storage space. In this quick and easy guide, let me show you the steps to quickly and easily disable the reserved storage in Windows 11. Let’s get started.
Before You Start
- Administrator rights are required to disable reserved storage in Windows 11.
- If Windows Update is currently downloading or installing updates, wait for it to complete. Otherwise, you will see an error while disabling the reserved storage feature. You can check if any updates are downloading or installing from the “Settings” > “Windows Update” page.
Disable Reserved Storage in Windows 11
- Right-click on the “Windows” icon on the taskbar.
- Select the “Terminal (Admin)” option.
- Run the
Set-WindowsReservedStorageState -State Disabledcommand. - With that, the reserved storage feature is disabled in Windows 11.
Good to know: How to use PC Manager to free up space in Windows 11
Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)
The first thing we need to do is open the Terminal with administrator rights. To do that, right-click the “Windows” icon on the taskbar and then select the “Terminal (Admin)” option. Alternatively, open the Start menu, search for “Terminal” and click the “Run as administrator” option.
Once the terminal window opens, run the following command.
Set-WindowsReservedStorageState -State Disabled
As soon as you run the command, Windows 11 will disable the reserved storage feature. If you see an error, Windows update may be running in the background. Let the update operation complete before trying again.
To verify the reserved storage status, run the following command. It should say, “Disabled”.
Get-WindowsReservedStorageState
To enable the reserved storage in the future, run the following command in the terminal window with admin rights.
Set-WindowsReservedStorageState -State Enabled
That is all. It is that simple to turn off the reserved storage feature and reclaim the hard drive space. If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.
Good to know: How to disable reserved storage in Windows 10
