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HP Notebook PCs - Freeing up storage space on a 32 GB hard drive in Windows 10

HP notebook PCs that come with a 32 GB hard drive are intended to be used with cloud storage. You might need to free up disk space before Windows Updates can proceed.

To update the version of Windows installed on your notebook, you need 10 GB of free hard drive space. If 10 GB of hard drive space is not available, delete or save to external storage any personal files and user-installed software or apps.

Note:

For additional assistance on Windows updates, see the HP support document HP PCs - Updating Drivers and Software with Windows Update (Windows 10. 8, 7).

Freeing up hard drive space to update Windows 10

To install Windows 10 updates, you need 10 GB of free hard drive space. Windows Update includes an option to delete unnecessary files on your hard drive if a low storage volume is detected. If available, an alternative to free up disk space is to store data to the cloud (online).

Note:

See Freeing up hard drive space using the cloud (online storage) to learn how you can store data to the cloud.

  1. In Windows, search for and open Windows Update settings.

  2. Click Check for updates. Windows Update downloads and begins to install any available updates. If prompted, click Download and install.

    The Windows Update window with Check for updates highlighted

  3. If Windows Update detects that more storage space is needed for the update, the Storage settings window opens. Click Free up space now.

    Clicking Free up space now

  4. The Free up space now window opens. Default categories of temporary files to permanently remove are preselected. Make sure that you want to delete these categories, or select additional categories to delete.

    Clicking Remove files

  5. Click Remove files to remove the selected temporary files.

  6. Wait for Windows Update to remove the files.

    The Almost ready window

  7. After Windows Update removes the temporary files, the update continues to download.

  8. After Windows Update installs the update, follow the onscreen instructions to restart your computer.

    Selecting Restart now

Freeing up hard drive space using the cloud (online storage)

For optimal performance, your notebook computer is intended for use with cloud storage. As an alternative to deleting files on your computer, you can move files to the cloud to free up more hard drive space.

Note:

Based on the configuration, your HP notebook computer offers different options to support cloud storage. Other cloud storage options are available online if these examples do not apply to you.

Activating Microsoft Office 365

Some 32 GB notebooks come with Microsoft Office 365 and 1 TB of cloud storage space on OneDrive.

To start using Office 365, open any Office application, and follow the onscreen instructions to activate your license. The product key is entered automatically by the device; there is no printed product key. Your Office license is connected to your Microsoft account.

For more information, see Activate an Office purchase or free offer on a new PC (in English).

Using Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage

After activating Office 365 (if applicable), you have 1 TB of cloud storage space on OneDrive.

Files stored on OneDrive can be accessed from any device connected to the Internet. Using cloud storage instead of storing files locally on the hard drive helps to reserve free space and improve device performance. For more information about using OneDrive, see the Microsoft Support page OneDrive on your PC (in English).

Confirming that the Windows 10 update installed successfully

Check the update history in Windows Settings to confirm that Windows 10 updated successfully.

  1. In Windows, search for and open Windows Update settings.

  2. The Update status message confirms that Windows is up to date. If you want to view the update, click View installed update history.

    Clicking View installed update history

  3. Confirm the successful installation of the Windows update.

    Viewing update history screen

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