How to Check Free Hard Disc Space on PCs, Macs, iPhones & Androids

If you are receiving error messages that you storage space is full, or you are just curious about how much storage space you have left, you can easily check your storage space in the Settings menu on all devices. This wikiHow article teaches you how to check your hard drive storage space on Windows, Mac, iPhone/iPad, Android, and Chromebook.

Checking Hard Disc Storage on Different Devices

On Windows, Click the Windows Start menu > Settings > System > Storage Check how much storage is available.
On Mac, open the Apple menu > System Settings > General > Storage. Check how much storage is available.
On Android, open Settings and tap Device Maintenance or Device Care. Then tap Storage. Check how much storage is available.

Method 1

Method 1 of 5:

Using Windows

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To do so, click the Windows Start icon. Then click the icon that resembles a Gear to open the Settings menu.
On Windows 11, System is in the menu bar on the left. On Windows 10, it's the icon that Then click Storage. resembles a laptop.^{[1]
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Review your hard drive's space usage. You will see a bar graph below the name of your main storage drive that shows the total amount of storage space you have, as well as how much storage space you have used and how much storage space you have free. You will also see additional bar graphs showing how much of your storage space is being used by installed apps, pictures, temporary files, documents, and other data.^{[2]
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Microsoft Support
Technical support and product information from Microsoft.

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- Click the toggle switch next to Storage Sense on Windows 11 to delete temporary files automatically and manage space. On Windows 10, click Configure Storage Sense or run it now below "Temporary Files."
- Click Cleanup recommendations on Windows 11 to see recommendations of what you can delete to free up storage space. You can also free up disk space by deleting old files you no longer need and uninstalling apps you no longer use.

Method 2

Method 2 of 5:

On Mac

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Open the Storage menu. Depending on which version of macOS you are using, use one of the following steps to open the storage menu:
- macOS Ventura (10.13) or later:: Click the Apple icon > System Settings > General > Storage.
- macOS High Sierra (10.12) and earlier: Click the Apple icon > About this mac > Storage.
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Review your Mac's hard drive space. You'll see a color-coded bar graph that displays how much storage space you have used. Subtract the storage space you have used from the total storage space you have to find out how much storage space you have free.
- The color coding categorizes what type of data is taking up storage space on your Mac. You can use color coding to tell how much data is being used by applications, documents, pictures, system data, etc.
- You can free up storage space by storing your files in iCloud. You can also uninstall unused apps by opening the Finder and clicking Applications. Drag any apps you no longer use to the trash. Then empty the trash.

Method 3

Method 3 of 5:

Using iPhone and iPad

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This app is grey with gears on it. You'll likely find it on the Home screen.
This takes you to a page that displays how much storage space you are using as well as a breakdown of how your storage is being used.^{[3]
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Review your used and available storage. According to IT expert Gonzalo Martinez, you'll be able to see a nice breakdown of how much storage space you are using as well as where all your data is. You'll also be able to delete apps unused apps to free up space.
- The bar graph shows how much storage space you have used and how much storage space you have total Subtract the storage space you have used from the total storage space to find out how much storage space you have free.
- The color coding displays what type of data is taking up storage space on your hard drive. You can see how much data is being used by apps, photos, documents, trash, iOS data, etc.
- You can scroll down to see exactly how much storage space each app is currently using.
- You can free up storage space by transferring documents to your iCloud storage or uninstalling or offloading unused apps. Offloading an app will uninstall the app but keep the app data on your device in case you want to use it again. To offload an app, scroll down and tap an app you aren't currently using. Tap Delete to uninstall it or tap Offload app to offload it.
EXPERT TIP

Gonzalo Martinez
Computer Repair Technician
Gonzalo Martinez is the President of CleverTech, a tech repair business in San Jose, California founded in 2014. CleverTech LLC specializes in repairing Apple products. CleverTech pursues environmental responsibility by recycling aluminum, display assemblies, and the micro components on motherboards to reuse for future repairs. On average, they save 2 lbs - 3 lbs more electronic waste daily than the average computer repair store.

Gonzalo Martinez
Computer Repair Technician

On iPhone, you go to your settings app, and then you will click on your Apple ID account located on the very top. And then you scroll down to iCloud. And then you'll be able to see managed storage there.

Method 4

Method 4 of 5:

Using Android

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To do so, swipe down from the top of the screen to open the Notifications panel. Tap the icon that resembles a gear in the upper-right corner.
This menu displays information about your battery, storage, and memory. You'll see how much storage space you have free below "Storage" as well as a bar graph showing how much storage space you have used.^{[4]
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This opens a detailed page that shows what percentage of storage space you are using as well as what type of data is being used by storage space.
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Review your Android's storage space. At the top of the screen, you see what percentage of storage space you have used up. You can also view a breakdown of how your storage space is being used.
- Tap Show more to see how much data is being used by images, videos, audio files, documents, apps, system, and more.
- If you have an SD card installed on your Android device, swipe left to view your SD card storage.
- You can free up storage space by uninstalling apps you no longer use. You can also delete videos and files you no longer need. If you don't want to delete them, you can back them up to a cloud storage service, like Google Drive.

Method 5

Method 5 of 5:

Using Chromebook

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To do so, click the time in the lower-right corner. Then click the icon that resembles a gear.
This opens a page that displays a breakdown of how your storage is being used.
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Review your Chromebook's storage space. You will see a bar graph at the top that displays how much storage space you have used and how much storage space you have available. Below that, you will see how much storage space is being used by Downloads, offline files, browsing data, Android storage (i.e. Apps and their data). and data used by other users.^{[5]
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- You can free up storage space by deleting offline files or moving them to Google Drive, you can also uninstall any Android apps you aren't currently using. If you have a lot of files in your Downloads folder, go ahead and delete them.

Community Q&A

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How much free space on a hard drive is best?

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It depends on how much space you need -- that is, on what you use your computer for. Gamers need much more space than the average user who simply uses a word processor occasionally and checks email does, for example.

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How can I do this on Windows 10?

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Go to File Explorer, and go to "This PC". Look for your default hard drive, which by default is (C:), and from there you can check your total space, and how much you have used.

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Is there an application for Windows to check how much space a folder is taking?

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You can do that by right clicking the folder or file you want to check the space of and then clicking on Properties. After you do that, Windows will start calculating the space occupied by the folder/file. It may take some time if the file is large.

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Your item's available hard drive space will always be less than was advertised. This is because a portion of the hard drive is used for the operating system and required files.

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If you're trying to clear space on your computer, note that you cannot change your hard disk space simply by dragging files into your trash; you must empty the trash to make more space.

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Warnings

If your hard drive is full, you'll need to delete files or programs before you can add more to the hard drive.

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Traditional hard drives will always run slower than optimal speed if they're over halfway full. Solid State Drives don't have this problem.

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