A lot of users are unable to upgrade to Windows 11 computer or install a fresh copy of Windows 11 on their computer. When trying to do the same, they receive the following error message in the middle of the installation process.
We can’t tell if your PC has enough space to continue installing Windows 11. Try restarting Setup.
Mostly, the error is caused due to lack of space. Windows 11, by default, needs at least 64 GBs to install on any computer. If your computer has less than 64 GB of free storage space or the disk you have selected lacks the required space, you won’t be able to install Windows 11. In this post, we will talk about this error in detail and see what you can do to resolve the issue.
Fix We can’t tell if your pc has enough space to continue installing Windows 11 error
If you see We can’t tell if your pc has enough space to continue installing Windows 11 when upgrading your OS, go ahead and restart the setup. Sometimes, the issue is a result of some glitch, in case, you see the error message a second time as well, execute the solutions mentioned below to resolve the issue.
- Delete Junk files
- Remove unwanted files & uninstall unwanted programs
- Use a different drive
- Delete the Windows.old folder
- Extend the C: Drive Using Disk Management
To perform the solutions mentioned below, you should end the installation process and boot into your current configuration.
1] Delete Junk files
Run Disk Cleanup Tool to clear up disk space, you could also use CCleaner with CCEnhancer to delete more junk files.
2] Remove unwanted files & uninstall unwanted programs
It would benefit you to check which programs are taking up how much space on your disk. It is easy for you to find the programs and files that are taking up unnecessary space. Follow the prescribed steps to do the same.
- Press the Windows + I key to open Windows Settings.
- Click on System, and at the bottom of the screen click on Storage.
- Now under the Local Disk(C:), check which apps and files are occupying how much disk space.
- Next, click on the Show more categories option, here you will be able to see in more detail how much space is taken by Documents, Pictures, videos, etc.
Now that you know what all resources are taking up the required space, go ahead and delete the files manually. This is a manual process, hence it gives you utmost control over the decision of which app to delete.
You may want to also uninstall programs that you no longer need.
This will help free up and increase hard disk space.
2] Use a different drive
This is a workaround that you can try if your C drive. During the installation process, you are asked to select a disk, at that time, you can select a drive other than C drive. In case, the other drive is full, or you don’t like the idea of having two OSs on a single system, move to the next solution.
Related: Windows needs more space Windows Update error.
3] Delete the Windows.old folder
Windows.old folder is automatically created when you upgrade your operating system to the latest version. It can easily hold 20 GB of your disk space or more because Windows.old contains all the data from the previous Operating System version. If you delete this folder, you will free up space on the C drive. To delete the Windows.old folder from the computer, follow the prescribed steps mentioned below.
- Press the Windows key and type Disk Cleanup in the search bar and press Enter.
- Select drive C: and click on the OK button.
- Wait for a few seconds because your drive is getting scanned and then click the Clean up system files button.
- Select C: drive again when prompted and press the OK button.
- Finally, click on the Previous Windows installation checkbox from the files to delete the list and click on the OK button.
After deleting Windows.old folder from the computer, you get more space in C: drive, and now your issue will be resolved.
You could also use Disk Space Analyzer software to know which file or folder occupies what space.
Read: Setup needs space to update Windows 11
4] Extend the C: Drive Using Disk Management
Disk Management is a Windows system utility that helps you to perform disk-related tasks. Using this utility, you can add a new drive, make partitions of that drive, shrink your drive, and extend your drive. Since we are a little short of space, we can just extend the C drive, and that will do the trick.
- Press the Windows + R key to open the run dialog box.
- Type diskmgmt.msc in the run dialog box, and press enter button.
- Right-click on that drive which has more space so that we can add its space to the C drive, and click on Shrink Volume.
- Input the amount of space that you want to shrink, and press Shrink.
- Now right-click on the C drive and select Extend Volume.
- Finally, follow the on-screen instructions to add space to the C drive we freed.
If nothing works, execute this solution. Also, create a backup of both drives before proceeding.
How do I fix Storage space running out on Windows 11?
Low Disk Space balloon notification is meant to warn you that you are running out of disk space. If you feel you are truly running out of disk space, you might want to clean up some disk space. But at times you may get it for no apparent reason, in which case you can disable it via Registry.
