Disable Reserved Storage in Windows 11 😳 Free Up Space NOW!

What Reserved Storage Is and Why Windows Keeps It

Reserved Storage is disk space Windows sets aside for itself — it starts at about 7 GB and is used by updates, apps, temporary files and system caches, so a Windows update never fails just because the drive ran out of room. The feature arrived with Windows 10 version 1903 and is on by default in Windows 11. The exact size varies from PC to PC: it grows when you install optional features or extra languages, because Windows reserves room to keep them working through updates.

On a large drive, 7 GB hardly matters. On a small SSD — 128 GB or 256 GB — it is real space you could be using, which is exactly why this video shows how to switch it off safely.

See How Much Space It Holds on Your PC

Before changing anything, look at your own number. Open Settings ➔ System ➔ Storage, click Show more categories, then open System & reserved. The Reserved storage line shows exactly how much space Windows is holding on this PC. If there is no reserved storage line at all, the feature is not active on your machine and there is nothing to disable.

Open Command Prompt as Administrator

The DISM commands in this guide only work in an elevated window. Click Start, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator, then confirm the UAC prompt. Windows Terminal (Admin) works too — the commands are exactly the same.

Check the Current State First

Run this command to ask Windows whether reserved storage is currently enabled or disabled:

DISM /Online /Get-ReservedStorageState

The output clearly states "Reserved storage is enabled" or "Reserved storage is disabled". Checking first matters: if it is already disabled, you are done — no change is needed.

Disable Reserved Storage

Now run the second command, exactly as shown in the video:

DISM /Online /Set-ReservedStorageState /State:Disabled

Wait until DISM finishes with "The operation completed successfully." That is the whole change — no registry edits, no third-party tools, just Windows' own servicing command.

Restart and Verify the Space Is Back

Restart the PC so Windows releases the reserved space back to your usable pool. Then go back to Settings ➔ System ➔ Storage ➔ Show more categories ➔ System & reserved — the Reserved storage line should now be gone or empty, and your free space should be up by roughly the amount you saw in Step 2 (often around 7 GB, sometimes less depending on the PC). You can also re-run the Step 4 command to confirm the state now reads disabled.

Turn It Back On Anytime

Nothing here is permanent. To restore Microsoft's default behaviour, open the admin Command Prompt again and run the same command with the state flipped to Enabled:

DISM /Online /Set-ReservedStorageState /State:Enabled

Restart once more and Windows will start reserving space again. Re-enabling it before a major Windows feature update is the safest habit if your drive tends to run nearly full.