System Turn On or Off Storage Sense in Windows 11

Brink · Sep 7, 2021

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off Storage Sense to automatically free up system drive space for your account in Windows 11.

Storage Sense can automatically free up drive space for you by getting rid of items that you don't need, like temporary files and items in your Recycle Bin.

Storage Sense is off by default. If your PC runs into low disk space and you have not interacted with Storage Sense in the past, Windows may turn on Storage Sense to manage select temporary files, then notify you. If you prefer, you can choose to turn Storage Sense off right away or after the low disk state is resolved.

If Storage Sense is turned on with the default settings, it will run when your device is low on disk space and will clean up unnecessary temporary files. Content from the Recycle Bin will be deleted by default after some time, but items in your Downloads folder and OneDrive (or any other cloud provider) will not be touched unless you set up Storage Sense to do so.

Starting with Windows 11 build 22557, Storage Sense will now be enabled by default for PCs going through OOBE. Your current settings will be persisted on upgrade.

Reference:

Manage drive space with Storage Sense - Microsoft Support

How to use Storage Sense to free up hard drive space on your Windows device.

support.microsoft.com

Storage Sense works on your system drive ("C:") only, which contains the Windows operating system.

Contents

Option One: Turn On or Off Storage Sense in Settings
Option Two: Turn On or Off Storage Sense using REG file

EXAMPLE: Manage drive space with Storage Sense

Option One

Turn On or Off Storage Sense in Settings

1 Open Settings (Win+I).

2 Click/tap on System on the left side, and click/tap on Storage on the right side. (see screenshot below)

Open Storage settings

3 Do step 4 (on) or step 5 (off) below for what you would like to do.

4. Turn On Storage Sense

A) Click/tap on Storage Sense under Storage management on the right side. (see screenshot below)

Open Storage Sense settings

B Cleanup of temporary files

Check (default) or uncheck Cleanup of temporary files for what you want to Keep Windows running smoothly by automatically cleaning up temporary system and app files. (see screenshot below)

This setting is saved to the DWORD in the registry key below:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\StorageSense\Parameters\StoragePolicy

04 DWORD

0 = Off
1 = On

C Automatic User content cleanup

Turn On Storage Sense under Automatic User content cleanup for what you want.

This setting is the same as Option Two.

D Run Storage sense

Select Every day, Every week, Every month, or During low free disk space (default) in the Run Storage sense drop menu for when you want Storage Sense to automatically run.

This setting is saved to the DWORD in the registry key below:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\StorageSense\Parameters\StoragePolicy

2048 DWORD

0 = During low free disk space
1 = Every day
7 = Every week
30 (decimal) = Every month

E Delete files in my recycle bin if have been there for over

Select Never, 1 day, 14 days, 30 days (default), or 60 days in the Delete files in my recycle bin if have been there for over drop menu for what you want.

This setting is saved to the DWORD in the registry key below:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\StorageSense\Parameters\StoragePolicy

256 DWORD

0 = Never
1 = 1 day
13 (decimal) = 14 days
30 (decimal) = 30 days
60 (decimal) = 60 days

F Delete files in my Downloads folder if they haven't been opened for more than

Select Never (default), 1 day, 14 days, 30 days, or 60 days in the Delete files in my Downloads folder if they haven't been opened for more than drop menu for what you want.

This setting is saved to the DWORD in the registry key below:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\StorageSense\Parameters\StoragePolicy

512 DWORD

0 = Never
1 = 1 day
13 (decimal) = 14 days
30 (decimal) = 30 days
60 (decimal) = 60 days

G OneDrive content will become online-only if not opened for more than

Select Never (default), 1 day, 14 days, 30 days, or 60 days in the OneDrive content will become online-only if not opened for more than drop menu for what you want.

H) When finished, go to step 6.

5. Turn Off Storage Sense

This is the default setting.

A) Turn off Storage Sense under Storage management on the right side, and go to step 6. (see screenshot below)

6 You can now close Settings if you like.

Option Two

Turn On or Off Storage Sense using REG file

This is for enabling or disabling all Automatic User content cleanup Storage Sense settings.

1 Do step 2 (on) or step 3 (off) below for what you want.

2 To Turn On Storage Sense

A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Turn_on_Storage_Sense_for_current_user.reg

Download

(Contents of REG file for reference)

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\StorageSense\Parameters\StoragePolicy]
"01"=dword:00000001

3 To Turn Off Storage Senser

This is the default setting.

A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Turn_off_Storage_Sense_for_current_user.reg

Download

(Contents of REG file for reference)

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\StorageSense\Parameters\StoragePolicy]
"01"=dword:00000000

4 Save the .reg file to your desktop.

5 Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

6 When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

7 You can now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.

That's it,
Shawn Brink