The mysterious $WINDOWS.~BT folder in Windows 10 and 11 is stealing a large amount of space from you … How to delete it

In addition to the personal files we store on our computer and the folders we create, the operating system itself also has its necessary folders and files for its functioning. Some of them are hidden in the system to prevent you from deleting them, as this could eventually lead to major computer problems that may force you to reinstall the operating system from scratch.

One of these “mysterious” folders is $WINDOWS.~BT, a temporary folder that can take up a large space on your computer’s storage drive. In this article, we will inform you about the purpose of this folder on a Windows 10 and 11 computer and how you can safely remove it.

The $WINDOWS.~BT folder is always created automatically when Windows starts a major upgrade process. Many major updates are released throughout the year, although the most important one usually comes at the end of the year. This leads to storing the necessary records for the update process, as well as temporary files that you can refer to in case of any issues.

This is why it functions as a preparation folder and a recovery folder for later, in case you need to revert back after the update due to a major error. When you revert back using this folder, you won’t notice major changes, as it plays an important role in your settings. However, despite its importance at the time of the update, it serves no significant purpose afterwards.

For this reason, if you decide to delete this folder to free up space, it is important to wait a few days since the last update and ensure there are no errors. From that point onward, you can free up space using the tool provided by Microsoft to delete installation files.

If you encounter this situation, you can follow the following steps to delete the contents of the folder:

For those who want to know how to delete the $WINDOWS.~BT folder from their Windows 10 and 11 computer, they can refer to the steps outlined below for a better understanding of the process:

Step 1. Click on the “Search” bar on the taskbar and type “Disk Cleanup” to open the relevant tool on your Windows computer.

Step 2. When it opens as a new window, select the drive that contains the Windows folder, which is usually the “C:” drive, and click “OK.” A new window will open to continue the process, where you need to select the “Clean up system files” option at the bottom.

Step 3. You need to select the drive again and wait for a new window to appear with a list of options. Select the “Windows Update Cleanup,” “Windows upgrade log files,” “Downloaded Program Files,” and “Downloaded Program Files” options to clean the Windows BT folder from your computer.

At that time, all the folders containing temporary update files will be empty. However, logically, from that point forward, you won’t be able to restore the previous configuration of the update if any errors occur.