Get rid of leftover Anniversary Update install files and free up 26GB

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you should already know that Microsoft released its latest major update for Windows 10. The Anniversary Update brings lots of improvements to the operating system like improvements to Windows Defender and Cortana, changes to the Start Menu, Edge extensions, and many others.

With all the updates and improvements, it’s no wonder the update is so heavy. After you download it, Microsoft allows files to reside in your system without deleting them afterwards by default. Thankfully, you can get rid of the problem fairly easily.

In order to clean up what Windows leaves behind, go to the Start Menu and search for Disk Cleanup option. Launch it, select the system drive and then click OK. While this is a useful tool that lets you know how much space is available to reclaim, you don’t really need this now, so click on the Clean up system files button.

Once again, you have to select the system drive and click OK. You will again receive a calculation of the space you can save along with the option Previous Windows installation(s). This means that it also includes the files installed by the Anniversary Update, which in many cases is reported to be almost 26GB. Check the box, check Temporary Windows Installation Files and click OK.

Be careful though! If you delete these files, you will not be able to restore the system to an earlier point and go back to a previous installation, so do it only if you’re sure you’re going to stay with Windows 10!

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