You may randomly find the local disk D almost full in your Windows 10 or 11. Why is local disk D full and how to fix it? If you wonder about those, this post is what you need. In this post, MiniTool summarizes possible reasons and troubleshooting fixes for the frustrating issue.
About Local Disk D Almost Full
Sometimes when you check the disk space usage bar in Windows 10/11 File Explorer, you may find your local disk D almost full. It’s a common computer issue that is similar to the “C drive keeps filling up” or the “E drive full” issue.
It may trouble you a lot when there is only low disk space D drive Windows 10. But you don’t need to worry. In this post, we explain “why is local disk D full” and explore how to effectively solve the issue. Just keep reading to get the detailed information.
Reasons Why My Local Disk D Is Almost Full
If you encounter the low disk space drive D issue on your computer, you may wonder “why my local disk D is almost full” like others. Various reasons can lead the D drive to become full. Below we collect multiple possible causes of the “local disk D almost full” issue.
- The D drive has a small disk space that can be quickly run out of.
- You save many large files or applications in the D drive.
- There are hidden files taking up much of your disk space.
- Certain viruses or malware infected the D drive.
- …
How to Fix Local Disk D Almost Full
What should you do when D drive is almost full? Here are some feasible solutions available. You can follow them to work out the “low disk space D drive Windows 10” issue.
Fix 1: Extend the D Drive
Faced with the “local disk D almost full” issue, you may need to enlarge the drive by taking space from other partitions or unallocated space. The Windows built-in utilities – Disk Management and Diskpart – allow you to execute the operation. Additionally, you can take advantage of MiniTool Partition Wizard, a third-party partition manager.
Click here to get the Diskpart extend volume guide. For details about Disk Management and MiniTool Partition Wizard to extend the D drive, you should pay attention to the following content.
Way 1: Use Disk Management
Step 1: Right-click the Start icon and select Disk Management.
Step 2: Right-click the D drive and select Extend Volume. Then click Next to continue.
Step 3: In the next window, enter a specific number to determine how much space in MB you want to extend.
Step 4: After that, click Next > Finish to complete the operation.
Way 2: Use MiniTool Partition Wizard
MiniTool Partition Wizard includes a wide range of features associated with partition/disk management. You can use it to partition/format/extend/clone hard drive, convert MBR to GPT (and vice versa), migrate Windows 10, recover data from hard drive, and more.
Moreover, it breaks the extending limitation in Windows built-in tools, enabling you to expand a partition with non-contiguous unallocated space or free space. To extend the D drive, follow the steps below.
Step 1: Download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard on your PC. Then launch it to enter the main interface.
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Step 2: Right-click the D drive and select Extend. Alternatively, you can highlight the target drive and select Extend Partition from the left action panel.
Step 3: In the pop-up window, choose unallocated space or another drive to take space from. Then drag the sliding handle leftwards or rightwards to decide the amount of space you want to take.
Step 4: Once done, click OK > Apply. If prompted, click Yes to confirm the operation.
Fix 2: Move Large Files/Apps to Another Drive
Large files or apps saved in the drive D will occupy lots of space. That’s why you just have low disk space Windows 10 D drive left. To solve it, you can try transferring those files and apps to an idle drive containing enough free space. This post will tell you how to do this: How to Move Programs to Another Drive Like C to D? See the Guide!
Fix 3: Run Disk Cleanup
When local disk D is full, you can try using Disk Cleanup in your Windows 10/11 too. This feature enables you to release disk space easily by deleting temporary files, caches, or other unnecessary files. The following are detailed steps of disk cleanup.
Step 1: Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog.
Step 2: Type cleanmgr in the text box and click OK.
Step 3: In the Disk Cleanup window, select the D drive from the drop-down menu and then click OK.
Step 4: Tick all the types of files that you want to clear. Then click OK to delete them.
Fix 4: Uninstall Unnecessary Applications
If there are certain applications you don’t need anymore, it’s better to remove them from your computer. It’s also a great way to fix the “low disk space drive D” issue. You can complete the program uninstallation with the given instructions.
Step 1: Type control.exe in the Run dialog and press Enter to open Control Panel.
Step 2: Click Uninstall a program under the Programs section.
Step 3: After that, locate the unwanted program. Then right-click it and select Uninstall. Repeat the action until all the unnecessary programs are removed.
Fix 5: Do a Space Analysis
When D drive is almost full, we’d like to recommend you do a space analysis with MiniTool Partition Wizard. It’s a reliable space analyzer that helps you analyze the disk usage and each file’s size and delete space-consuming files.
Step 1: Download, install, and launch MiniTool Partition Wizard on your PC.
MiniTool Partition Wizard FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe
Step 2: Select Space Analyzer at the top toolbar. Then choose local disk D from the drop-down menu and click Scan.
Step 3: Wait for the process to end. Then right-click the large useless files and select Delete (Permanently) or Delete (to Recycle) to remove them for more space.
Fix 6: Format the D Drive
Some users report they fix the “low disk space Windows 10 D drive” issue by formatting the specific drive. Therefore, when you experience the same issue, you can try formatting the hard drive as well. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to format the D drive.
Step 1: Open Disk Management, right-click D drive, and then select Format.
Step 2: Choose the desired file system. Then tick the checkbox next to the Perform a quick format option and click OK.
Step 3: Click OK in the warning window to finish the operation.
To know more about formatting a hard drive, you can focus on this post: What Does Formatting a Hard Drive Do? Here Are Answers
Bonus Tip: Local Disk D Is Full but No Files
In some cases, you are likely to face the issue that local disk D is full but no files are inside it. Well, the reason behind the issue might be virus attacks, hidden files, a damaged drive, etc. To assist in solving the confusing issue, several methods are listed below. You can have a try.
Fix 1: Show Hidden Files and Folders
Step 1: Open Control Panel. Then select Appearance and Personalization.
Step 2: After that, click the Show hidden files and folders option under File Explorer Options.
Step 3: In the prompted window, select Show hidden files, folders, and drives. Then click Apply and OK to save the change.
Step 4: Once files and folders are visible, press Windows + E to open File Explorer.
Step 5: Find and delete the unnecessary files in the D drive to free up disk space.
Fix 2: Scan for Viruses or Malware
Step 1: Press Windows + I to open Windows Settings. Then select Update & Security.
Step 2: Go to Windows Security and then click Virus & threat protection from the right side.
Step 3: On the next page, click Scan options. Then choose Full scan and click Scan now.
Step 4: Once the scan finishes, restart your computer to see if the D drive returns to normal.
Fix 3: Run CHKDSK
Step 1: Open the Run dialog. Then type cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open Command Prompt as an administrator.
Step 2: In the elevated Command Prompt, type chkdsk D: /f /r /x and press Enter. This command will help you check and fix file system errors. Besides, it can also help locate bad sectors on the D drive and try to recover readable information on the bad sectors.
Bottom Line
In this post, we discuss “why is local disk D full” and how to fix it. When you get hit with this issue, you can try to solve it by referring to the above methods. If you have any problems, you can leave a message in the comment area below.
For any issues related to MiniTool Partition Wizard, you can contact us via [email protected]. We’ll reply to you as soon as possible.
About The Author
Position: Columnist
Yamila is a fan of computer science. She can solve many common issues for computer users by writing articles with simple and clear words. The very aspect that she is good at is partition management including create partition, format partition, copy disk and so on. When she is free, she enjoys reading, doing some excerpts, listening to music and playing games.