in your quest to clean up or free up disk space on your Windows 11 or Windows 10 computer to make room for more storage space, you may come across the MountUUP folder which takes a considerable amount of disk space. In this post, we demystify this folder and also provide ways to delete the folder.
What is MountUUP folder?
The MountUUP folder is generated after you download and mount an Insider Preview Build of Windows. The Insider Builds use the UUP technology to download new Builds on your device which usually is released every week. UUP Technology enables downloading only those components which are updated in the newest Build to reduce the size of the download. The folder sometimes takes up 8-15GB of storage space on your drive. There are known cases where a download glitch causes this folder to grow abnormally high (over 100 GB).
How to delete MountUUP folder in Windows 11/10
It is not recommended, but there is no harm and it’s perfectly safe to delete this folder. However, the folder will be automatically re-created when the next Build becomes available for your device. You cannot delete this folder on your system the normal way, as the folder falls into a special protected folder category. So, if you need to delete the folder on your Windows 11/10 device, you can use any of the methods listed below.
- Delete folder via Command Prompt in Advanced Startup Options
- Run DISM command
- Delete folder in Safe Mode or in Clean Boot state
- Take Ownership of folder
- Use File Deleter software
Let’s see a quick description of the mentioned methods above.
1] Delete folder via Command Prompt in Avanced Startup Options
Since Windows will mount files currently stored in the MountUUP folder once the computer boots to the desktop, this method requires you to boot into Advanced Startup Options, and then access command prompt and delete the folder. To perform this task, do the following:
- Sign out of Windows.
- At the sign in screen, press and hold the Shift key and select Restart.
- At the Advanced Startup Options screen, select Advanced Options.
- Select Troubleshoot.
- Under Advanced options screen, select Command Prompt.
- In CMD prompt, type the command below one after the other and hit Enter to find the drive containing the MountUUP folder. This is because the drive letter you’ll see here is not the same as the drive letter you’ll see in File Explorer.
dir C: dir D: dir E:
Once you identify the drive letter containing the folder, type the command below and hit Enter to force the system to remove the MountUUP folder.
rd mountuup /s /q
- Wait until the command executes
- Exit Command Prompt.
- Restart PC.
Read: How to protect Files or Folders from being deleted accidentally in Windows
2] Run DISM command
You may be unable to delete the MountUUP folder because it contains a .wim or .vhd file currently mounted on your PC. This method requires you to run a DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) command to unmount and clean up any WIM image currently mounted on your system. To perform this task, do the following:</…….
Source: https://www.thewindowsclub.com/mountuup-folder-in-windows