I use a compact laptop with limited storage, so I regularly delete old downloads and uninstall apps I no longer need. One day, I opened the Storage section in Windows and saw the Local Disk C bar in red, which meant the drive was almost full. I hadn’t downloaded anything large, so I went through the usual checks. I emptied the Recycle Bin, cleared temporary files, and removed a few items from the Downloads folder, but the available space barely changed. Nothing I tried explained where the missing space had gone.
To find out what was eating up space, I opened the system drive in File Explorer and checked each folder in turn. I sorted the view by size and waited while Windows calculated the usage for each directory. Most of the usual locations, such as Users and Program Files, were within the range I expected. While scrolling through the Windows directory, I noticed a folder showing an unusually large size.
It was using more than twenty gigabytes on its own, which I didn’t expect from a system folder. I right-clicked it, opened Properties, and the numbers confirmed that this folder alone was consuming a large portion of my small C drive.
Why SoftwareDistribution hoards gigabytes
Windows update files accumulate and consume space
The folder was named SoftwareDistribution. It is part of the Windows Update system and stores downloaded updates, patches, and upgrade installers until they are applied. Normally, Windows cleans up these files automatically, but that doesn’t always happen. Large feature updates can leave behind rollback files so you can revert if an installation fails. Interrupted or failed updates may also create duplicate packages.
Inside SoftwareDistribution, there are several subfolders that handle different parts of the update process. The Download folder is usually the largest because it holds installers for cumulative and feature updates. DataStore maintains a local database that tracks which updates are installed and which are pending. Other folders store temporary metadata, delivery optimization data, or statistics that Windows uses to decide how and when to offer future updates. None of these are personal files, but together they can grow much larger than expected when updates are repeated or interrupted.
If you delay updates for months, Windows can keep older cache files instead of clearing them promptly. Over time, these build up quietly and can reach tens of gigabytes, especially on systems that have gone through several feature upgrades. Because SoftwareDistribution sits inside the Windows directory, built-in cleanup tools such as Storage Sense do not always remove its cached files.
The files stored there do not go through the Recycle Bin and are not listed separately in Storage Sense, so you won’t notice them unless you look directly in the folder. I had never opened it before, assuming Windows managed it automatically, but its size showed how old update files can fill a small drive when you only rely on the default cleanup options.
Clearing the cache safely
Pause services before deleting the folder contents
Before deleting anything, I checked whether my PC already had the latest updates installed. That suggested the files inside SoftwareDistribution were leftover installers rather than anything Windows still needed.
To clear the folder safely, the update-related services need to be paused first.
- Press Win + R to open the Run dialog.
- Type services.msc and press Enter.
- Find Windows Update and Background Intelligent Transfer Service.
- Right-click each one and select Stop.
Pausing these services releases the lock on the SoftwareDistribution files. After that, I opened File Explorer, went to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution, and deleted everything inside the folder. I didn’t remove the folder itself because Windows needs it to stay in place for future updates. The deletion took a few minutes and freed just over twenty gigabytes of space. Once the folder was empty, I returned to the Services window and started Windows Update and Background Intelligent Transfer Service again, bringing the system back to normal operation.
Sometimes Windows keeps a few files active even after you stop these services. In that situation, starting the system in Safe Mode makes removal easier because the update components are inactive there. After booting into Safe Mode, you can open C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution again and delete any remaining files. Safe Mode also helps if third-party tools or security software interfere with cleanup, since it starts the system with a smaller set of drivers and background tasks.
After cleaning the folder, I restarted the computer and checked the Storage page again. The free space on the drive had increased by more than twenty gigabytes. The next time Windows Update ran, it took longer to check for new patches because it rebuilt its cache and downloaded fresh metadata, but the updates installed normally.
The fix I now check first
Clearing this folder changed how I troubleshoot storage issues on Windows. Instead of starting with personal files, I now check what Windows stores in the background. Updating caches is easy to overlook, but they are also easy to clear. It saved me from chasing the wrong files when spaces suddenly disappear.