How To Delete System And Reserved Files Safely to Free Up Space?

Is it safe to delete System and Reserved Files?

A user from the Microsoft Community said:

First, put the answer first: No, it's not safe to delete system and reserved files, especially the System Reserved Partition. These files are important for your computer to work properly. They help the system start and run, so removing them can cause serious problems like crashes or failure to boot.

What are System and Reserved Files? Let's see them specifically: System files include key parts of Windows, such as drivers, libraries, and other components needed for the system to run. And the Reserved Partition stores boot files and other startup data. Deleting this can stop your computer from starting at all.

So, what can you safely delete to free up space? Here are some files you can remove:

If your System and Reserved files are using up 350 GB, and you've already checked your system health with SFC, consider using a tool like Disk Cleanup or Storage Sense to clear safe files. Reinstalling Windows may be the only way to reset this space if nothing else works.

How to remove system junk files?

If the System and Reserved storage huge, you can safely delete system junk files in 3 ways. Here are the detailed steps.

Way 1. Use AOMEI Partition Assistant for Cleanup

If you're trying to free up space on your PC, you’ve probably used Windows Disk Cleanup. But many people aren’t sure which options to select, and the tool can sometimes miss hidden junk files—or worse, delete something important by accident.

A safer and easier way to clean up your system is by using a third-party tool like AOMEI Partition Assistant for Cleanup. It works with Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7, and comes with a built-in PC Cleaner that does all the hard work for you.

It automatically scans your computer for junk—like temporary files, log files, and items in the Recycle Bin. Once the scan is done, it clearly shows what’s taking up space, and with just one click on “Clean Now,” you can safely remove everything you don’t need.

Compared to Disk Cleanup, which can be a bit confusing and risky if you’re not sure what you’re doing, AOMEI Partition Assistant for Cleanup keeps things simple. If you’ve ever hesitated while using Disk Cleanup, this tool is a great alternative. It’s user-friendly, effective, and helps you manage your storage with confidence.

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant for Cleanup. Click the "Clean Junk Files" tab.

Step 2. Click the "Scan Now" button to start the process of scanning junk files.

Step 3. After the scan process is finished. All system junk files (including recycle bin files, temporary files, log files, invalid shortcuts, and so on) and registry junk files (including DLL registry, system registry, and program registry) will be displayed.

You can also click the button behind to view the junk files details.

Step 4. And, you can click the button behind to locate the file.

By default, the program will select some junk files to clean up, for example, temporary files, log files, and so on. You can also manually check to select more or uncheck to deselect fewer listed junk files. Or, click "Select All" to select all junk files to clean up if you need to clean up all.

Step 5. After selecting junk files that are not needed anymore, you can click the "Clean Now"button to start the cleanup.

The process of the cleanup might take time, and the selected files will be cleaned up. After the process is finished, you will get a cleanup completed window displaying how many files you have cleaned and not yet cleaned.

Way 2. Delete system junk files with SoftwareDistribution Folder

The second way to remove update files in Windows computers using the built-in tool is quite simple. Sometimes, if Windows updates get stuck or don’t finish downloading, the update files are saved temporarily. Deleting these files or stopping them from being stored usually won’t cause any serious issues. So, it’s a good idea to stop the update service first to prevent more files from being saved.

Step 1. Type “Services” in the search box, and click the icon.

Step 2. Find “Windows Update” service, and right-click it. Choose “Stop”

Way 3. Safely delete Windows update files manually

Disk Cleanup is a Windows built-in tool that supports cleaning old Windows update cleanup, temporary files, thumbnails, setup log files, etc. Please refer to the following steps to learn how to delete windows update files:

Step 1. Press “Windows + R” at the same time, type in “cleanmgr.exe” and click “OK” to open Disk Cleanup.

Step 2. Check "Windows Upgrade Cleanup" in the small window, and then click "OK".

Step 3. Wait for a while and Disk Cleanup will clean up all selected Windows Update files.

Conclusion

Deleting System and Reserved files might seem like a quick way to free up space, but it’s not a safe option—they’re essential for keeping your system running smoothly. Removing them can lead to serious problems, including startup failures.

Instead, focus on cleaning up files that are safe to delete, like temporary files, update leftovers, and other junk. Tools like AOMEI Partition Assistant for Cleanup make this process easy and safe, especially if you're not sure what is safe to remove. And if space is still tight after cleanup, this powerful tool also helps to delete large files and scan and remove duplicate files in your PC.