How to Delete the Windows.old folder

When you upgrade or reinstall Windows, old data may be stored in the Windows.pd folder on the C: drive. Although this method is quite convenient in recovering old files, it will take up a lot of space on the computer. You cannot delete this folder like normal folders, but you will need to use Windows’ Disk Cleanup utility.

Table of Contents

Steps

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Copy important files from the . Windows.pd before deleting this folder. The Windows.pd folder contains the files and settings of the previous Windows installation. You need to copy the necessary files to the current user’s directory before deleting the Windows.pd folder.

Open the Computer/My Computer window from the Start menu. Windows 8 users can press ⊞ Win + E .
Double-click the drive that contains Windows. Usually will be the C: drive.
Double-click the Windows.pd folder.
Double-click the Users folder and open the folder of the user account from which you want to restore files.
Copy and paste the files you want to keep in the User folder (Documents, Pictures, Videos, etc.). You can also move files to the desktop.

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Open the Disk Cleanup utility. This utility will automatically delete the Windows.pd folder. Here are a few ways to open this extension:

Press ⊞ Win + R , type cleanmgr and press ↵ Enter .
Open the Contrp Panel, select “System and Security” and then select “Administrative Tops”. Then, open Disk Cleanup from the list that appears.

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Select the drive containing the . Windows.pd . This folder is usually located in the C: drive.

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Wait for Disk Cleanup to scan the drive. This process may take several minutes.

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Click the button . Clean up system files (Clean up system files). You may have to enter an administrator password.

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Select the drive again if prompted. Disk Cleanup will scan the drive again.

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Check the “Previous Windows installation(s)” box. You can also choose to add other file types from the list to delete.

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Click . OK to delete the Windows.pd folder . Click Delete Files to confirm that you want to delete the folder. ^{[1] X Research Source windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/how-do-i-remove-the-windows-pd-fpder}

Troubleshoot

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You cannot delete the . Windows.pd even if you drop this folder into the Recycle Bin. The Windows.pd folder is protected, so you’ll get an error if you try to drag and drop a folder into the trash (or right-click it and choose delete). Instead, follow the steps above to completely delete the folder.

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Disk Cleanup failed to delete the . Windows.pd . This situation may occur if you have multiple Windows.pd folders, such as the Windows.pd.000 folder.

Open Command Prompt as Administrator. Click the Start menu, right-click Command Prompt and select “Run as Administrator”. Windows 8 users can right-click the Windows button and select “Command Prompt (Admin)”. ^{[2] X Research Source}
Type RD /S /Q %SystemDrive%windows.pd and press ↵ Enter . The Windows.pd folder will be deleted immediately.
Repeat this operation with the other Windows.pd folders. For example, if you want to delete the Windows.pd.000 folder, you need to type RD /S /Q %SystemDrive%windows.pd.000 and press ↵ Enter .
Close Command Prompt.

Advice

On Windows 8, the Windows.pd folder is automatically deleted after 28 days. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Steps

Troubleshoot

Advice

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