If you’re puzzled by a Windows10Upgrade folder- you’re not alone.
If you’ve recently upgraded your Windows operating system, you might have noticed a folder called Windows10Upgrade.
Rest assured, it be safely removed, according to a variety of tech sites.
How To Remove It
Major Geeks recommends this simple method: uninstall the Windows 10 Update Assistant app.
1. Navigate to your Control Panel
2. Select Apps & Features
3. Locate the Windows 10 Update Assistant and select Uninstall.
4. You will be asked “Are you sure to uninstall Windows 10 Update Assistant,”
5. Confirm and you’re done!
How To Uninstall Windows 10 Upgrade Assistant
What Is The windows10upgrade folder
Uninstalling the Windows 10 Upgrade Assistant will remove the windows10upgrade folder.
But if you’re curious, over at Ten Forums a tech blogger provided an efficient explanation of this folder. According to him, the “C:Windows10Upgrade” folder is generated whenever you install the Windows 10 Update Assistant to bring Windows 10 up to date.
The “C:Windows10Upgrade” folder is generally only around 19.9 MB large, and houses the program files for the Windows 10 Update Assistant app.
In the event you don’t need the Windows 10 Update Assistant app, then you can certainly just uninstall it to safely delete the “C:Windows10Upgrade” folder.
Ten Forums Removal Method
According to Ten Forums, the following process should remove the windows10upgrade folder:
- Open up Programs and Features in Windows 10, and select Upgrade Assistant to remove this app
- When you are prompted by the Windows 10 Upgrade Assistant, select on Uninstall to remove it
- When the Windows 10 Upgrade Assistant has completed the uninstall, the “C:Windows10Upgrade” folder will itself have been removed
How To Delete Windows.old After Windows 10 Upgrade (Video Guide)
The Britec09 YouTube channel provides a video walkthrough for Windows 10 users. He uses the Disk Cleanup method, navigating to the C: root directory and conducting a scan.
Once the scan is done, you just make your selections of what you want to remove by ticking the boxes and then click on Clean Up System Files.
According to this YouTuber, the Windows.old folder contains file folders that are generally used to save all your previous operating systems in case you want to downgrade or rollback to it.
So, he says, if you don’t need them, then get rid of them, especially if you’ve got a solid-state drive with less space than a traditional hard drive.
Windows Vista & Windows 7 Windows.old Removal
A related issue, if you’re using an older-generation Windows operating system, is dealing with the Windows.old folder.
Much like Windows 10 users dealing with an unnecessary upgrade folder.
According to How To Geek, if you’ve upgraded from an old version of Windows, you’ll have a Windows.old folder on your computer. It’s likely taking up a big chunk of hard drive memory.
They say that it’s safe to delete- but does require a bit of a different process. According to them, this Windows.old folder isn’t something new with Windows 10, but pre-Windows 10, you’d only notice it if you had bought a new version of Windows, and then used it to upgrade a PC that had an older Windows OS installed.
If you’re using Vista or Windows 7, the Kodyaz website, recommended in a Microsoft support thread, provides instructions for its removal.
Follow the instructions over at: How to Delete and Remove the Windows.old Folder on Vista or Windows 7.
How To Delete Windows.old Folder From Windows 7 And Vista
How To Delete The Windows.Old folder Without Using Disk Cleanup
How To Delete The Windows.Old folder Without Using Disk Cleanup
Over in Microsoft support, they posted the following fix for Windows 7 & Vista, if for some reason you can’t use the Disk Cleanup method.
Check out their thread if you want some added context for the solution:
1. Open an Elevated Command Prompt
Start – input Search box -> CMD find at top – Right Click – RUN AS ADMIN
How to Open an Elevated Command Prompt in Windows 7
2. The Prompt most likely looks similar to C:WindowsSystem32>
Type this at the prompt after which hit ENTER
CD
The actual prompt should look like C:>
3: Type this at the prompt after which hit ENTER
DIR Windows.old
It should look like C:>DIR Windows.old
It ought to return:
Directory of C:Windows.old
and display the contents of Windows.old
That’s just to ensure the Windows.old folder is under C: (the C Drive) – otherwise, STOP
4. Type this at the prompt and after that hit ENTER
Attrib -r -a -s -h C:Windows.old /S /D
It ought to look like C:>Attrib -r -a -s -h C:Windows.old /S /D (there are SPACES between Attrib and -r and -a and -s and -h and C:Windows.old and /S
and /D). The C: is the drive Windows.old is located on.
It ought to return you to the prompt C: if it shows and ERROR then STOP – check the command and if it was entered accurately you aren’t in the appropriate spot. You may have to run the TAKEOWN command:
TAKEOWN /f Windows.old /a /r
and repeat Step 4 – were you using an Elevated Command Prompt? Are you logged to an
ADMIN account?
5. Enter this at the prompt and after that hit ENTER
RD /s Windows.old
Should look like C:>RD /s Windows.old
(there are SPACES between RD and /s and Windows.old )
Will return Windows.old, are your sure Y/N type Y
(If you get a message that you do not have Ownership Rights then issue this command and hit ENTER
TAKEOWN /f Windows.old /a /r
and repeat Step 5 – were you using an Elevated Command Prompt? Are you logged to an ADMIN account?
6. Enter this at the prompt and after that hit ENTER
DIR Windows.old
Should look like C:>DIR Windows.old – and hit ENTER
It ought to return:
Directory of C:
File Not Found
Which confirms it is gone.
7. Close the COMMAND window
Summary
Overall, this is a pretty simple fix. It should free up some hard drive space and the removal process is pretty basic.
You don’t even have to resort to searching through Reddit technical support forums for a fancy fix- this one can be accomplished, most likely, with a simple Uninstall.
