How to Delete the Windows.old Folder on Windows 11/10/ 8/7?

Windows.old folder is a leftover folder when you upgrade to a newer version of Windows 11. If there were an existing Windows, it would get moved to a new folder called WINDOWS.OLD in the root C:/ directory. This risewindows article might come in handy when you have recently installed Windows 11 on a partition where there was an existing Windows.

Clean and gain storage space by deleting temporary files on a Windows 11 PC. Temporary files are leftover and useless, but Windows allows you to keep them or delete them. You can delete them and save some space on the hard drive. But here is the catch, there is more than one location where temporary files are created and sometimes abandoned for no reason. Here, if you have recently upgraded Windows operating system and noticed Windows.old, you can delete it safely and save a lot of space on your computer.

When you try to delete it through traditional ways, Windows will refuse to do. After deciding to continue with the new operating system and want to remove old operating system files and folders to reclaim the space, you need to take ownership of Windows.old folder. Then, you can eliminate it from your PC after you are granted ownership of Windows.old folder.

This risewindows post will guide you on how to delete Windows.old Folder in Windows 11/10/ 8/7.

How to Delete the Windows.old Folder in Windows 11 / 10 / 8 / 7?

Step 1. First, download and install the TakeOwnershipPro freeware application.

Step 2. Then, right-click on Windows.old folder and select TakeOwnershipPro from the context menu.

Step 3. After that, the TakeOwnershipPro application will open up.

Step 4. Next, click the “Take Ownership” button, and the program will begin to take ownership of all files and subfolders in Windows.old folder. So, the program may take one to two minutes depending on the number of files/folders and the speed of your computer,

After performing the above steps, ownership is granted to your current user account, and then you can delete Windows.old folder without any permission issue.

That’s it for the article.

I hope this article will guide you well.

Good luck & keep learning, guys.

Also, read How to Remove Previous Windows Installation Files and Folders from Windows 11?