Windows has been hoarding old drivers on your SSD — here’s how to clear them out
After using your Windows computer for a year, you may be surprised to learn that there is a file hidden deep within the system drive that has been filling up from the very day you installed Windows. You don’t see it in Windows’ storage breakdown, and clean-up tools don’t flag it. It could hold several gigabytes of driver files that the computer no longer needs, and it’s typically even worse on gaming PCs, where you make more frequent driver updates. It’s just how Windows was designed. However, you don’t have to live with this baggage. Windows keeps every driver you’ve ever installed It’s a safety net — but it never cleans up after itself Afam Onyimadu / MUO Your graphics card, audio chip, network adapter, printer, and every other piece of hardware on your computer needs a driver, and the drivers for all of them are stored in the DriverStore, a protected system folder. This is where Windows looks to pull previous versions of drivers when a driver update goes wrong, without needing an internet …
