The disable command is one line — so when it answers with an error instead, it feels personal. It is not. There are only three errors people realistically meet here, each one names its own cause, and each fix takes under a minute. Find your error below and match the fix.
DISM errors look cryptic because they were written for technicians, but the reserved storage commands fail in predictable ways. Elevation errors mean the window was not really an admin window. The in-use message means an update is holding the reserve at that moment — Microsoft prints that exact sentence in its own documentation. Error 87 means the option itself was not recognised, which is a typing problem or a very old Windows build. Work through the one you have; do not stack fixes on top of each other.
👆 The in-use message in Microsoft's own words. It is a timing problem, not a broken PC — the fix is to wait and retry.
Error: 740 — Elevated permissions are required to run DISM. The most common failure of all, and the message is literal: the terminal you opened does not have administrator rights.
The title bar of an elevated window says Administrator. If it does not, the command will keep refusing no matter how perfectly you type it.
This message appears when an update download, an install, or another servicing job is actively using the reserve — most often because a feature update is pending or half-applied.
Forcing the change mid-servicing is exactly what the block exists to prevent. Patience here is the fix, not a workaround.
Error: 87 — The option is unknown. Two usual causes. First, a typo: the command is unforgiving about slashes and the colon in /State:Disabled. Copy it exactly: DISM /Online /Set-ReservedStorageState /State:Disabled.
Second, age: these reserved storage switches exist from Windows 10 version 2004 onward and on all Windows 11 builds. On an older Windows 10, no spelling will work — update the OS first, or accept that the state cannot be changed by DISM on that build.
Success message, same free space. Before assuming failure, separate the two things the command controls.
DISM /Online /Get-ReservedStorageState — if it reports the new state, the change workedWhat not to do: layer a registry tweak on top of a working DISM change. One method, verified — that is the whole troubleshooting method for this feature.
Watch the commands run cleanly in the video so you know exactly what a successful run looks like.
▶️ Watch Full VideoYes — it is the elevation family. Open Terminal or Command Prompt explicitly as administrator and approve UAC. Standard user windows cannot change servicing state.
Yes. Get-WindowsReservedStorageState shows the state and Set-WindowsReservedStorageState changes it, from an elevated PowerShell. The DISM and PowerShell routes set the same state.
A stuck update is the usual cause. Complete or repair Windows Update first — check for a permanently pending update — and only retry the state change once update activity is genuinely finished.