Guide: How to Enable/Disable Reserved Storage in Windows 10
A rather interesting addition in Windows 10 version 1903 is the reserved storage. As the name implies, it is a certain amount of storage space reserved by the operating system for a specific set of tasks. That raises several concerns, such as what kind of tasks? And more importantly, can you turn off reserved storage? Or is it even possible to do that? That can be a mystery if you need too much storage space or if Windows 10 isn’t taking up disk space without your permission. So let’s dive right in and see what reserved storage space is and if it’s worth it to go ahead and disable it.
How it works
Whenever you perform a fresh installation of Windows 10, version 1903, the operating system automatically takes control of at least 7 GB of disk space. Otherwise known as reserved storage, it is fully counted towards the total amount of storage space on your primary system partition. However, Windows 10 will not perform this allocation if you simply update your PC from an earlier build (1809 or earlier), although you can manually activate the storage reserve if you wish (details below). Tip To see the exact size of the storage reserve, type “storage settings” in the Start menu, then press Enter. Then click on Show more categories and then click on System and Reserved. The rationale behind reserved storage is quite simple – it allows for a smoother procedure when installing both cumulative and feature updates in the future. For example, if your device is running out of storage space, updates will still download and install properly as they can just use reserved storage instead. In others words, you don’t have to worry about failed updates due to lack of storage.
Has 7 GB of storage space been wasted?
But wouldn’t reserved space mean that 7 GB of storage space usually goes unused? Well not really. Windows 10 uses reserved storage space to store temporary files as well. And when new cumulative and feature updates are available, Windows 10 automatically deletes temporary files in the storage reserve to clear the way to install them. At other times, it will use Storage Sense to manage obsolete files as a means of preventing reserved storage from filling up up In short, reserved storage is the new thing home for temporary files created by the operating system. And that means that free space on the primary partition is no longer used for that purpose.
Excessive reserved storage
You will often find that reserved storage space on the primary partition takes up more than 7 GB. That happens when you have a lot of optional features enabled or additional languages installed. Thus, the increase in storage reserve helps to keep them when newer updates appear on your PC in the future. You can reduce this excessive storage consumption by removing unnecessary optional accessories features and languages. Type manage optional in the Start menu features from the Start menu to optionally uninstall features then press Enter.
On the optional Features screen that is displayed up, select an unwanted one features you want to delete, and then click Delete. Tip You can always reinstall optionally features by clicking on Add a Feature option within the same screen. To remove unwanted languages, type language settings in the Start menu and press Enter. Select the language you want to remove and click Remove. Tip To add a language again, use the Add a preferred language option in the same screen.
Disable reserved storage
If you are running out of storage space, you can turn off reserved storage quite easily by modifying the system registry. However, the space gain can be minimal as Windows 10 is going to use the free space to create temporary files due to the lack of storage reserve. That means you may not see the full 7 GB freed up up storage. And newer cumulative and feature Updates also cannot be installed if you do not have enough free space. Please keep that in mind before proceeding. Step 1: Press the Windows + R shortcut to open the Run box. Then type regedit. Then click OK to open Registry Editor.
Step 2: Copy and paste the following path into the address bar at the top of the window: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARE MicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionReserveManager
After that, hit Enter and make sure the folder named ReserveManager is selected in the left pane. Step 3: Double-click the registry key labeled ShippedWithReserves on the right side of the Registry Editor window. On the pop-up , enter the value 0 and click OK.
Restart your computer. Windows 10 will make the necessary changes during the restart procedure. You will no longer see the Reserved Storage section under the System and Reserved section of Storage Settings.
Enable reserved storage
If you’ve updated from a previous build, you won’t see reserved storage in the Storage Settings panel. However, you can feature, but Windows 10 will not make a full 7 GB reservation until the next major feature Updating. The same is true if you’ve disabled reserved storage and want to re-enable it. Note: The following steps assume that you have updated Windows 10 from a previous build, which probably means creating the relevant registry key from scratch to enable reserved storage. If you only want to turn reserved storage back on after you previously turned it off, skip steps 3 and 4. Step 1: Press the Windows + R shortcut to open the Run box. Type regedit and then click OK to open Registry Editor.
Step 2: Copy and paste the following path into the address bar at the top of the window: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARE MicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionReserveManager
Press Enter and make sure the folder named ReserveManager is selected in the left pane. Step 3: Right-click on an empty area on the right side of the Registry Editor window. Point to New and then select DWORD Value (32-bit).
Step 4: Name the newly created registry key ShippedWithReserves.
Step 5: Double-click on the newly created ShippedWithReserves key. Set a value of 1then click OK.
Restart your computer. Although reserved storage is now active, you will not see the resulting storage reservation until the next major feature Updating.
Doesn’t really matter
Windows 10’s reserved storage is actually a well thought out implementation, especially since updates can now take place without any storage issues to mess things up upHowever, desktops with SSDs that have less space to begin with can specifically suffer from this extra storage space allocated by the operating system. But since Windows 10 isn’t going to waste reserved storage, it’s really not that clear if you’ll possibly be free up a significant amount of space by disabling it. So unless you’re really looking for some storage, there’s really no reason to turn it off. The next up Windows Sandbox is another interesting implementation that was released as part of the May 1903 update. If you’re missing it, here is how to make it possible.
How to Enable/Disable Reserved Storage in Windows 10: benefits
Faq
Final note
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