The Recovery drive full but no files saved to it is an issue due to low disk space. However, you have nothing to delete. Here, in this article, we will help you understand different scenarios when this problem occurs and provide you detailed guide how to fix it.
Here is what a user dealing with this issue reported on security forums:
The desktop system shows the C drive is almost full. But, when I open it to find what actually filling up the space whether it is some program or movie or other data, I found that no large files but the Windows 10 office and others therein. I quickly opened program files, temp, Windows, downloads and etc, and found nothing appear large on these places. When I look to the properties of the folder, hardly I notice a file using more than 1MB of space. What actually I am missing here?
Sometimes, this happens that the recovery drive full but no files Windows 10. You will see the drive is sucking the storage space and no single file in it is functional. This could happen because of malware infection or unintentionally you have saved some large files/ folders to the drive.
In other cases, it is possible that the program files, previous Windows installation, temporary files and other system files are taking up spaces on that drive of your Windows 10 or if you are using Windows 7, i.e., Windows 7 hard drive full. Check below the detailed fixes that you should try to get its solutions.
Possible fixes for recovery drive full but no files Windows 10
If you receive a message hard disk full but no files Windows 10 but you see no file or folder that you can delete to release the memory, here are some potential fixes that you can try to get the problem resolved:
Fix 1: Check for virus infection
The foremost step is to check and verify if the particular issue is not causing by malware infection. You can get this virus when you downloaded some data from third party sites. If virus attack is a problem, running a full system scan using some reputable antivirus tool is needed to find and delete the suspicious, malicious applications running inside.
Fix 2: Check disk errors
The problem could be because of faulty functioning of the hard drive and in that case you should look for running CHKDSK utility to get its fix:
- Press Win+ R, type cmd and hit Enter,
- Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator,
- Type chkdsk: /f /r /x and press Enter,
(Here, F stands for letter assigned to the partition that is to be repaired)
- The utility will then check for the problems with the drive, find the bad sectors and recover the data.
Fix 3: Show hidden files & folders
There could be some hidden files and folders that the hard drive occupied with due to which you receive recovery drive full but no files problem. In that case, you should unhide the files and folders to verify the reason:
- Open Control Panel,
- Click on File Explorer followed by clicking the View option,
- Now, check the box that says show hidden files, folders and drives,
- Return to the drive under investigation and check if some space is freed or not.
Fix 4: Delete system restore point and shrink disk usage
You might have created multiple backups on your system in the process of frequent system restoration. This is eating up a lot of space on your hard drive. To resolve the problem, you should delete the unimportant backups created:
- Open Control panel and go to the Settings,
- Under it, select configure and then click on System protection,
- Let it continue and you should now move to the Disk space section and disk space there (recommended percentage is 3-6%),
- Now, click on delete option and this will delete the restore points for the drive,
- Click OK to continue and check if ‘recovery drive full but no files’ issue is gone.
Fix 5: Hide recover partition
One of the reliable solutions that people often move to is to hide the recovery partition by removing its drive letter. Here is how:
- Press Win+ R, type cmd and hit Enter,
- In the opened command prompt, enter the command line and hit Enter,
- Now, replace the drive letter with a new one,
- Close the command box now and check if the problem persists.
Fix 6: Safe cleanup the junk files and large files
If recovery drive full but no files continues, you should look for the option to delete all junk files. For this, built in disk cleanup utility is helpful:
- In the Windows main menu, click on Accessories and then system tools,
- Under it, you will find option of disk cleaning utility, click on it,
- In the disk cleanup utility, select the files you want to delete and click Delete option to complete the action.
Fix 7: Delete temporary files
Sometimes, to release memory, it is necessary to delete temp files that includes Windows installation files, upgrade logs, browse caches and etc that occupy large space on the drive:
- Press Win+ R, type in Prefetch and hit Ok,
- In the next window, select all temporary files for deletion. To make selection use Ctrl + A, and to delete the selected items press shift + Del keys on the keyboard.
- Next search for %temp% and hit Enter,
- Delete the files there in the opened window,
- Now, type recently in the box and click Ok to continue,
- Again, select all files there in and delete them.
Fix 8: Delete unwanted Windows Update
Windows update occupies huge memory on the drive. Therefore, you should look for the option to deleting them if, till now, none of the above mentioned methods provide you the fixes for recovery drive full but no files:
- Click on C-drive,
- Go to its menu,
- Select Software distribution followed by download,
- Select all the files and delete them.
Fix 9: Empty Windows recycle bin
Deleting files and folders will just create an extra load on the recycle bin and therefore do not forget to delete them from there as well. For that, launch recycle bin from the main menu and choose Empty Recycle Bin option.
Fix 10: Replace the drive
If none of the methods work, and you still receive recovery drive full but no files problem, you should have to replace your hard drive. This could be the only solution you have to deal with no space issue on the hard drive Windows 10.
Conclusion
That’s all! We have provided all possible fixes for recovery drive full but no files. if none of the methods work, you should run full system scan using PC Repair Tool to look for other possible factors responsible the issue and get its immediate repair.
