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Disc clean up Windows 11 not cleaning

No matter what I do I cannot delete Windows Update cleanup from Disk Cleanup

I've tried the following to no avail:

- Typing in %temp% from Start menu and deleting all contents

- Restart

- Stop Service "Windows update" to delete SoftwareDistribution folder... it gets recreated.

- Restart

- Re-enabled "Windows Update"

In that order

Anything else I could try?
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Hi, dssds1

Welcome to Microsoft Community and Merry Christmas!

We understand that you are experiencing an issue where Disk clean up is unable to clean up the space taken up by Windows Update. 

After Microsoft's official investigation, this may be a known issue with Windows 11 24H2, which causes Disk cleanup to be unable to accurately estimate the exact amount of space taken up by Windows updates, and may result in incorrect estimates, as you can see in the following link “Disk Cleanup might incorrectly report space available for cleanup": 

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Microsoft has released a workaround for this issue, you can check for the KB5044384 update in Settings - Windows Update and install it. 

  

Alternatively, you can visit the link below to download the entry “2024 - Cumulative Update 10 for Windows 11 Version 24H2 for x64-based systems (KB5044384)” and install the update manually: 

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If you have any progress, you are welcome to contact us at any time. 

Best Regards

Nicholas.Z - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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The update i assume didn't help as the option is no longer listed for selection anymore

This is AFTER applying the KB update.

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Hi, dssds1

Thanks for your reply! Merry Christmas!

This is a normal phenomenon. When you have completed the cleaning of Windows Update Cache, the option will not appear in Clean disk. When the system appears Windows Update Cache again after a period of time, you will see this option again through Clean disk.

You can check whether your C drive space has been reduced. You may have cleaned the Windows Update Cache before updating KB, but the space was not refreshed in time due to the compatibility problem of 24H2.

If you have any progress, please feel free to contact us.

Best Regards

Nicholas.Z - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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umm..that's strange.. Your telling me all other options stay there even with 0 bytes (as pictured in screenshot above), yet the Windows Update one will only display when its needing to clear ?

First time i've heard of that on ANY windows version.... so i'm suspicious.... The first question is WHY only this option then ? I mean if space is reduce which it has then i guess it has worked, but i would feel more better if it just showed a 0 bye like all others.

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Hi, dssds1

Thanks for your reply! Merry Christmas!

It should be explained that we are only support staff, not Microsoft employees and developers, so we can only provide solutions according to the existing functions and features of Windows. Regarding the display problem of Windows update cache, the results obtained by our test are the same as yours, so I think this may be related to the design of Windows. I agree with your point of view. As a user of Windows 11, I encountered the same situation as you when using Clean disk. You can check and compare whether the space of C drive has increased before cleaning.

For problems that appear in the new version of Windows, we recommend that you press Windows+F to report this problem to Microsoft. Only when you report your opinions will the development team know about the problem.

After submission, please share the feedback link here, because this will allow others on the forum (including me) to vote for your submission. More votes will increase the attention and priority of the development team. Thank you for your understanding!

If you need more help, please feel free to contact us.

Best Regards

Nicholas.Z - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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Question Info

Last updated February 25, 2025 Views 321 Applies to: