If you are not careful, the Recycle Bin can quickly grow in size. Follow these steps to configure Windows to empty the Recycle Bin automatically.
Deleting a file or folder in Windows is pretty straightforward. i.e., when you select a file or folder and press the Delete key on your keyboard, the file is moved to the Recycle Bin. The good thing about this approach is that you can recover the deleted file or folder from the Recycle Bin if you’ve deleted it accidentally or want it some other time.
As good as it is, if you are not careful, the recycle bin can quickly fill up and use precious hard drive space. In that case, you can manually clean the recycle bin from time to time to get back the used space. However, there is a better way to do things. i.e., you can configure Windows to delete files in the recycle bin automatically. That way, you can eliminate one more boring task and ensure that your recycle bin is not consuming all the disk space.
Follow the below steps to configure Windows to automatically empty recycle bin after 30 days.
Table of contents:
- Empty recycle bin automatically in Windows 11
- Empty recycle bin automatically in Windows 10
- Use task scheduler to empty recycle bin automatically
Empty recycle bin automatically in Windows 11
You can configure Windows 11 using the Storage Sense feature to empty recycle bin at a set interval. It is pretty easy to do. Let me show you how.
- Open the Settings app (Start + I).
- Choose “System” on the sidebar.
- Click on the “Storage” option.
- Click on the “Storage Sense” option.
- Turn on the “Automatic user content cleanup” option.
- Choose “Every month” from the “Run Storage Sense” dropdown menu.
- Choose “30 days (default)” from the “Delete files in my recycle bin” dropdown menu.
- Set “Never” under the “Delete files in my Downloads folder” dropdown menu.
- (Optional) Click the “Run Storage Sense Now” button at the bottom.
- Close the Settings app.
- With that, the recycle bin will automatically empty once every month.
That is it. From now on, Windows will automatically delete files inside the recycle bin that are older than 30 days. For example, if you’ve just deleted a file or folder, that will not be cleaned by Storage Sense for the next 30 days. This gives you a chance to recover files when needed.
Empty recycle bin automatically in Windows 10
Windows 10 makes it relatively easy to empty the recycle bin using the Storage Sense feature. If you don’t know, Storage Sense lets you automatically delete all the temporary files to free up some space. Follow the below steps to use Storage Sense to empty recycle bin.
1. Open the settings app by searching for it in the start menu.
2. In the settings app, go to the “System -> Storage” page. Toggle the switch under “Storage Sense” to the “On” position on the right panel.
3. Next, click on the “Configure Storage Sense or run it now” link appearing right under the toggle switch.
4. Here, ensure that the “Delete temporary files that my apps aren’t using” checkbox is selected. Next, select “30 days” from the dropdown menu under “Delete files in my recycle bin if they have been there for over.”
6. Close the settings app.
That is it. From now on, Windows will automatically delete files inside the recycle bin that are older than 30 days. For example, if you’ve just deleted a file or folder, that will not be cleaned by Storage Sense for the next 30 days. This gives you a chance to recover files when needed.
Create a scheduled task to automatically empty Recycle Bin
If you are on Windows 7 or 8, you can use the task scheduler to empty recycle bin on schedule. Of course, Windows 10 and 11 users can follow the steps too.
1. Open the start menu, search for “Task Scheduler,” and open it.
2. Click on the “Create Task” button on the right panel in the task scheduler window.
3. The above action will open the Create Task window. Here, type in the task name.
4. Go to the “Triggers” tab and click on the “New” button.
5. In the Trigger window, select “On a schedule” from the dropdown menu next to “Begin the task.” Next, select “Monthly.” After that, select “On,” “First,” and “Sunday” from the dropdown menus. Click on the “Ok” button to save changes.
6. Go to the “Actions” tab and click on the “New” button.
7. Type cmd.exe in the Program/Script field. Next, copy the below command and paste it into the “Add arguments” field. Click on the “Ok” button.
/c "echo Y|PowerShell.exe -NoProfile -Command Clear-RecycleBin"
8. Click on the “Ok” button in the main window to save the changes.
9. To ensure the task is running as it should, find the task in the Task Scheduler, right-click on it and select “Run.” If everything is working fine, you should see a brief command prompt window, and the recycle bin will be emptied automatically.
From now on, the task scheduler will empty the recycle bin every month on the first Sunday. If you want to run it on some other day or week, change the settings in step 5.
That is it. It is that simple to empty recycle bin automatically in Windows.
I hope this simple and easy Windows how-to guide helped you.
If you are stuck or need some help, comment below, and I will try to help as much as possible.
If you like this article, check how to move the downloads folder and delete temporary files in Windows 10 to free up space.
