Can I delete my Windows setup files?

After installing Windows on your computer, you may notice that the Windows setup files still remain on your hard drive, taking up space. These files allow you to perform repairs, rollbacks, and reinstall Windows if needed. However, keeping these files around isn’t always necessary, especially if you need to free up drive space. So, can you safely delete your Windows setup files?

Quick answer

Yes, you can delete the Windows setup files from your hard drive to free up space in most cases. The main setup files that you can remove are located in the C:\Windows\Setup folder. However, it’s recommended to first create a system restore point or full system backup before deleting these files in case you ever need to reinstall Windows.

Understanding Windows setup files

When you first install Windows on your PC, the operating system stores its original installation files in a folder called C:\Windows\Setup. This includes files like:

  • Setup.exe – The main Windows setup executable
  • Setupmgr.log – A log file of the installation process
  • Sysprep folder – Contains sysprep tools for automating installation
  • .cab files – Compressed cabinet files with installation data

These files take up space on your primary hard drive partition, usually around 3-5 GB. Even if you perform Windows updates, the original setup files remain untouched in this folder after the initial installation.

The main purpose of storing these files is to allow you to perform various recovery and reinstallation tasks, such as:

  • Reinstall or repair Windows while keeping files and settings
  • Roll back to a previous version of Windows
  • Refresh your PC and reinstall Windows while keeping personal files
  • Reset your PC to factory settings by fully reinstalling Windows

Having access to the original setup files makes these recovery options easier. However, there are ways to reinstall Windows without needing these files stored locally.

Risks of deleting setup files

Before deciding to remove your Windows setup files, it’s important to understand the potential downsides:

  • You lose the ability to quickly restore, reset, or reinstall Windows from within Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). You would need to reinstall from external media.
  • You can’t roll back to your previous Windows version if you upgraded recently.
  • Repairing Windows or recovery options may be more difficult or require external files.
  • You’ll need to download Windows installation media if you want to reset or reinstall Windows.

Essentially, deleting the setup files means you lose convenient access to recovery and restoration abilities. You would need to rely on external backup sources like a Windows bootable USB drive to reinstall the operating system.

Alternative option

Instead of deleting your Windows setup files, consider freeing up drive space in other ways first:

  • Use the Disk Cleanup utility to delete unnecessary Windows files
  • Remove old system restore points and shadow copies
  • Delete temporary files and folders
  • Uninstall unused programs
  • Move data files like photos, videos, music, etc. to another drive

Trying these options first allows you to free up space while still keeping Windows setup files intact. Only resort to deleting the setup files if you absolutely need the space.

How to delete Windows setup files

If you understand the risks and still want to remove the Windows setup files from your system drive, here is the general process:

1. Create a system restore point

First, use Windows’ System Protection feature to create a restore point:

  1. Type “create restore point” in the Windows search bar and select the result
  2. Click Create and name your restore point

This allows you to revert your system to its current state if anything goes wrong when deleting the setup files.

2. Back up your system drive

It’s also a good idea to create a full backup of your system drive before making major changes like deleting setup files. Options include:

  • Cloning the drive with software like Macrium Reflect
  • Imaging the drive to an external hard drive or NAS
  • Manually copying important files to another location

Having a backup allows you to easily restore your full system if needed.

3. Download Windows installation media

Now download Windows installation media from Microsoft’s website onto a USB drive:

  1. Go to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-installation-media-for-windows-99a58364-8c02-206f-aa6f-40c3b507420d and select Download Tool Now
  2. Run the media creation tool to download Windows and copy the files onto a USB

This provides you with a bootable Windows installer that you can use for recovery after deleting the setup files.

4. Delete the Setup folder

You are now ready to delete the C:\Windows\Setup folder and its contents:

  1. Open File Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\Setup
  2. Right-click on the Setup folder and choose Delete
  3. Confirm that you want to move the folder to the Recycle Bin
  4. Empty the Recycle Bin to free up the disk space

The Windows setup files are now removed from your hard drive.

5. Check for space freed up

Open File Explorer and look at the properties of your C: drive. The amount of free space shown should have increased after deleting the Setup folder.

The space freed up depends on your version of Windows, but is usually around 3-5 GB. You may need to restart your PC to see the reclaimed space.

Reinstalling Windows after deleting setup files

With the setup files removed, reinstalling or recovering Windows involves a few extra steps:

  • You can no longer use the Reset or Refresh options from within Windows itself, as these require the setup files. Instead, you need bootable media.
  • Insert your Windows USB drive and reboot your PC. Boot from the USB to initiate a clean install of the operating system.
  • If you only need to repair your installation, boot from the USB and choose Repair instead of Install. However, repairs may be limited without the setup files.
  • For rolling back your Windows version after a recent upgrade, you’ll need to clean install the previous version from media.

While recovery is still possible without the setup files, it involves booting from external media instead of using the built-in Windows recovery options.

Alternatives to deleting setup files

If you are concerned about losing the convenience of Windows’ built-in recovery features, consider these alternatives to deleting the setup files:

Move the Setup folder

Instead of deleting the Setup folder entirely, you can move it to another drive to free up space on your primary system drive:

  1. Copy the Setup folder to an external drive or secondary internal drive.
  2. Delete the original Setup folder on C: drive.
  3. When you need to recover Windows, move Setup folder back to C: drive.

This allows you to keep the files intact while freeing up main drive space.

Compress the Setup folder

Another option is to right-click the Setup folder, select Properties, and compress the contents. This reduces the folder size, although the amount of space saved depends on the folder contents.

Clean up the WinSxS folder

Many Windows system files are contained in C:\Windows\WinSxS which can grow large over time. You can try cleaning up unneeded files in WinSxS to recover space. Be cautious not to delete required files.

Perform a selective OS reinstall

Instead of a full Windows reinstall when recovering, you can perform a selective OS reinstall that replaces only Windows system files without touching personal data and apps. This retains your setup files.

Conclusion

Deleting the Windows setup files allows you to recover several GB of drive space in a pinch, but at the cost of losing some recovery functionality. Make sure to create backups before removing these files. While reinstalling Windows is still possible, it involves using external boot media rather than the built-in recovery options. For most users with data backups, deleting the setup files is a relatively safe and straightforward way to quickly free up disk space after verifying the risks. But alternatives like moving the Setup folder allow you to regain space while keeping Windows recovery capabilities intact.