Onedrive Taking Up Large Amount of Space on Windows 11 Solutions

If you're running low on storage space on your Windows 11 PC, it's possible that OneDrive is taking up a large amount of space.

OneDrive is designed to sync your files across all your devices, but this can sometimes lead to unexpected storage usage.

To start troubleshooting, check if OneDrive is syncing files in the background, which can consume a significant amount of storage space.

The default OneDrive sync settings can be set to sync all your files, including large files and folders, which can quickly add up to a large amount of space.

By adjusting these settings, you can free up storage space on your Windows 11 PC and still maintain access to your files across devices.

On a similar theme: Delete Large Groups of Photos in Onedrive

You're probably wondering why OneDrive is taking up so much space on your Windows 11 computer.

OneDrive is a cloud storage service, which means it's meant to store your files online, not on your local hard drive. However, some users have complained that OneDrive is taking up too much space on their C drive.

Discover more: Dropbox Taking up Space on Pc

The issue is that by default, OneDrive syncs files from your cloud storage to your local drive, which can quickly add up and consume space. This is why you might see a large amount of space being taken up by OneDrive on your C drive.

Many users have reported this issue, and it's not just limited to Windows 11 – it's also a problem on Android phones, iPhones/iPad, and other computers.

If OneDrive is taking up a large amount of space on your Windows 11 computer, don't worry, there are several ways to free up space.

First, ensure that your Outlook Mailbox isn't eating up storage space. If you have a large number of emails, consider archiving or deleting them to free up space.

To fix the issue of OneDrive using up all your disk space, you need to understand the problem. When you sync files with On Demand turned on, sparse files are not created correctly, and all supposedly empty files take up real disk space.

Take a look at this: Onedrive Free Space

You can fix this issue in two ways. First, remove the sync or fully log out of OneDrive, delete all the bad sparse folders, and then sign in and sync again. Alternatively, mark all the files as "Keep on this device" from the root of the share, wait for all the files to sync, and then mark them as Online Only/Free up disk space.

To avoid this issue in the future, consider using method 1 if it's just an external OneDrive or SharePoint Document Library, as you can simply unsync it, delete the folder, and start again.

Here are some additional tips to free up space on your OneDrive:

By following these tips, you should be able to free up space on your OneDrive and avoid the issue of sparse files taking up too much disk space.

To fix the issue of OneDrive taking up a large amount of space on Windows 11, you can try restarting OneDrive. This can be done by selecting OneDrive in the Task Manager and clicking the End task button, or by right-clicking OneDrive and selecting End task from the context menu.

Relaunching OneDrive after restarting it may resolve the issue. If not, you can try relocating files to your local drive or another cloud storage service to free up space.

Here are three ways to fix the issue:

By following these steps, you should be able to free up space on your Windows 11 device and get OneDrive running smoothly again.

High CPU usage can be a real problem, and if you're experiencing it with OneDrive, don't worry, there's a solution.

You can use the End task feature in Task Manager to quit the problematic program.

If your program does not respond, this feature can help.

To restart OneDrive, follow the steps below to quit the program using Task Manager.

If you're still having issues, you can try restarting your computer.

If you're experiencing issues with OneDrive taking up too much space on your C drive, there are a few fixes you can try.

First, consider using Windows Storage Sense to manage disk space. This feature, available on Windows 10, 1809 version, automatically frees up space by making locally available files online-only again.

To turn on Windows Storage Sense, go to Start > Settings > System > Storage > Turn on Storage Sense. From there, you can select when you want Storage Sense to run, such as every day or when your disk space is low.

Alternatively, you can use OneDrive's built-in features to free up space. For example, you can select Sync > Sync PC to Public Cloud to relocate files to the cloud.

If you're looking for a more permanent solution, consider using a data backup alternative like Google Drive or Dropbox. These services offer more storage space than OneDrive and can be used to back up your files.

Here are some data backup services you can consider:

By trying out these fixes and alternatives, you can free up space on your C drive and ensure that your files are safely backed up.

Restarting OneDrive is a simple yet effective solution to resolve high CPU and memory usage issues.

To restart OneDrive, select the program from the taskbar and click the End task button in the lower right corner.

Alternatively, right-click OneDrive and select End task from the context menu.

Relaunch the OneDrive program and check if the issue has been fixed.

Deleting OneDrive setup files can reduce high CPU usage.

You can find these files in C:\Users\bj\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\setup\logs.

Deleting files in the OneDrive Recycle Bin can also free up space.

The Recycle Bin holds deleted files for 30 days, counting towards your storage space.

To clear the Recycle Bin, navigate to the "Recycle Bin" tab in OneDrive and click "Empty Recycle Bin".

Deleting unused data from OneDrive can free up decent space, especially if you've reached your storage limit.

Identify large files and folders by sorting them by size in the "My Files" tab, and delete the ones you no longer need.

Curious to learn more? Check out: Free Storage Onedrive

Deleting setup files can be an effective way to reduce OneDrive's high CPU and memory usage. This method has been tried by users and shown to be successful.

To accomplish this task, you'll need to press the Windows + E key combinations to open File Explorer. From there, move on to the View tab and check Hidden items.

You'll want to navigate to the C:\Users\bj\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\setup\logs folder. Inside this folder, look for two specific files: UserTelemetryCache.otc.session and UserTelemetryCache.otc.

Delete these two files to see if it resolves the issue. After deleting the files, restart OneDrive to see if the high CPU usage is reduced.

Worth a look: How to Open Onedrive Folder in Windows File

If your OneDrive storage has reached its maximum capacity, you likely have some old files stored there that you no longer need.

Deleting these files can free up decent space, and to locate those bulky files and folders, navigate to the "My Files" tab and click on the "File Size" column header to sort files from largest to smallest.

Curious to learn more? Check out: How to Stop Files Saving to Onedrive Windows 11

Identify large files you no longer need and click the three horizontal dots next to them, then select "Delete" to confirm the deletion.

Open the folders occupying the most space and arrange files within them by size to identify and delete large, unnecessary files.

After deleting unwanted data, remember to empty the Recycle Bin to free up space.

Clearing the Recycle Bin can free up space on OneDrive, as it holds deleted files for 30 days and still counts towards your storage space.

Explore further: How Can I Remove Onedrive from Windows 10

Windows Storage Sense is a feature in Windows 10, 1809 version, that helps manage disk space on your C drive. It works with OneDrive to automatically free up space by making locally available files that you aren't using anymore online-only again.

To turn on Windows Storage Sense, go to Start > Settings > System > Storage > Turn on Storage Sense. From there, you can configure it to run automatically at a frequency of your choice, such as every day, week, or month.

You can also choose to run it manually by clicking the "Clean now" button under "Free up space now." This can be helpful if you need to free up space quickly.

One important thing to note is that Windows Storage Sense only works on the C drive and requires an internet connection to function.