How to Disable Reserved Storage in Windows 10

Reserved Storage in Windows 10 is a feature that automatically allocates a portion of your disk space for future system updates, temporary files, and caches. While this feature helps keep your system stable, it can take up several gigabytes of disk space, which may be a concern if you're using a device with limited storage. In this guide, we’ll explain how to disable Reserved Storage to free up this space for other needs.

Why Does Windows 10 Use Reserved Storage?

Microsoft introduced Reserved Storage to maintain system stability, particularly during updates. If your drive lacks sufficient space, updates may not download or could fail during installation. Reserved Storage prevents such issues by pre-allocating the required space.

How to Check if Reserved Storage Is Enabled

Open Windows “Settings” (press Win + I).
Go to “System”, then select “Storage”.
Click “View storage usage on other drives”, then select “This PC (C:)”.
Scroll down to find the “Reserved Storage” section, where you can see how much space it occupies.

How to Disable Reserved Storage in Windows 10

Unfortunately, there isn’t a built-in option to completely disable Reserved Storage through the settings in Windows 10. However, you can disable it manually by using the Registry Editor. Here’s how:

Press Win + R to open the “Run” dialog, type regedit, and press Enter or click OK to open the Registry Editor.

Navigate to the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ReserveManager

Find the ShippedWithReserves entry and double-click it.
Change the value to 0 and click OK.
Close the Registry Editor and restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Important: Potential Risks of Disabling Reserved Storage

Disabling Reserved Storage can free up a few gigabytes of disk space, but be aware that it may affect the stability of Windows during updates. If the disk runs out of space, updates may fail, or the system may start to run slower.