{"id":32187,"date":"2026-06-09T10:15:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T14:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/?p=32187"},"modified":"2026-06-09T10:15:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T14:15:34","slug":"windows-storage-sense-windows-housekeeping-made-automatic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/windows-storage-sense-windows-housekeeping-made-automatic\/","title":{"rendered":"Windows Storage Sense: Windows Housekeeping Made Automatic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 24pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><strong>Windows Storage Sense: Windows Housekeeping Made Automatic<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">There are dozens of free and paid programs that you can download to clean up your Windows computer. Windows even comes with Disk Cleanup, which Microsoft was supposed to deprecate some time ago but hasn\u2019t\u2014at least not yet. Of course, then there are PrivAzer and BleachBit, as well as the popular (but not popular with us) CCleaner, which we most strongly do not recommend.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Somewhere, along the way, Windows Storage Sense has been forgotten. So, we\u2019re going to remind you about the benefits of Windows Storage Sense. We\u2019ll cover Storage Sense in Windows 10 and the more streamlined Storage Sense in Windows 11.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><strong>Windows 10 Storage Sense<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Right-click the Start button and choose Settings. In Settings, choose System &gt; Storage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">If you have not done so already, turn on Storage Sense by sliding the switch to the \u201cOn\u201d position.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">If you want to run a quick cleanup, click \u201cConfigure Storage Sense or run it now&#8221;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/images\/2021\/sense-win10.png\" alt=\"Windows 10 Storage Sense - Cloudeight InfoAve\" width=\"506\" height=\"676\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Under \u201cTemporary Files, &#8221; check the selection box next to \u201cDelete temporary files my apps aren\u2019t using\u201d. And then check to make sure you have \u201cNever\u201d selected under \u201cDelete files in my downloads folder if they haven\u2019t been open for more than:\u201d. You can easily clean up your Downloads folder manually.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/images\/2021\/ssense-win10-0.png\" alt=\"Storage Sense - Windows 10 - Cloudeight InfoAve\" width=\"590\" height=\"299\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Next, under \u201cFree up space now\u201d, click the \u201cClean now\u201d button.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/images\/2021\/ssense-win10a.png\" alt=\"Windows 10 Storage Sense - Cloudeight InfoAve\" width=\"590\" height=\"564\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">That\u2019s all there is to using Storage Sense in a basic cleanup. If you\u2019re an advanced user and like to tinker with settings, you can fine-tune Storage Sense and customize it to your liking.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><strong>Windows 11 Storage Sense\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Right-click the Start button and choose Settings from the menu. Then click on System &gt; Storage. Yep! Just like Windows 10.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">When Storage opens, click on \u201cStorage Sense\u201d\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/images\/2026\/ss26.png\" alt=\"Windows 11 Storage Sense - Cloudeight\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">In the System &gt; Storage &gt; Storage Sense section, turn the switch to \u201cOn\u201d under \u201cAutomatic user content cleanup.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Next,\u00a0 click \u201cStorage Sense\u201d&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">We recommend that you change the settings for Storage Sense as shown below:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/images\/2026\/ss26a.png\" alt=\"Windows 11 Storage Sense - Cloudeight\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">And once you get Storage Sense set to run every week and automatically clean up your recycle bin every 14 days, you can run it now. Just scroll down and click on \u201cRun Storage Sense now\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Now you know an easy and automatic way to clean up your Windows PC.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Storage Sense vs. Privacy Cleaners: What it Doesn&#8217;t Do<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">While Storage Sense is a great tool for general hard drive housekeeping, it is important to understand its limitations. **Storage Sense is not a privacy cleanup tool.** It is designed solely to free up disk space, meaning it will not clear out your deeply hidden internet browser history, wipe away tracking cookies, shred sensitive file remnants, or erase data logs from your third-party applications. If you are looking for a deep, secure cleaning to protect your personal privacy and erase your digital footprints, you will still want to use a dedicated privacy tool like<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/bleachbit-the-free-comprehensive-system-cleaner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> BleachBit.<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">But for keeping your hard drive lean, clean, and free of everyday Windows clutter, Storage Sense does the job well and automatically. It truly is a &#8220;set it and forget it&#8221; Windows feature.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Windows Storage Sense: Windows Housekeeping Made Automatic There are dozens of free and paid programs that you can download to clean up your Windows computer. Windows even comes with Disk Cleanup, which Microsoft was supposed to deprecate some time ago but hasn\u2019t\u2014at least not yet. Of course, then there are PrivAzer and BleachBit, as well as the\u2026 <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/windows-storage-sense-windows-housekeeping-made-automatic\/\">Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4353,3948,4221,4299,3602,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32187"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32187"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32192,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32187\/revisions\/32192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}