Microsoft acknowledges a bug that results in approximately 9GB of undeletable files in Windows 11.

Important

 The recent major update for Windows 11 has become a significant source of frustration for many users, as it continues to introduce new issues that overshadow its beneficial changes and features.

The update has led to various problems, including blue screen crashes related to gaming and Intel drivers, as well as disappearing mouse cursors. One particularly troubling issue is that the Windows 11 24H2 update appears to create a large cache folder during installation that cannot be deleted. Just how large? An impressive 8.63GB—a substantial portion of storage even for most drives.

As of October 16, 2024, Microsoft has acknowledged this perplexing bug, clarifying that it is merely a reporting issue. When users run Windows Update Cleanup, the files are indeed deleted, but Disk Cleanup inaccurately continues to indicate that the storage is still being occupied. Microsoft is currently working on a fix for this error.

It's important to note that the presence of a cache is not uncommon; Windows typically generates a cache to temporarily hold installation files during updates. The unusual aspect is that this cache cannot be removed afterward.

According to Windows Latest, attempts to delete the cache through the Control Panel have been unsuccessful. While users can select the cache for deletion, the files remain intact. Other methods of clearing the Windows update cache have also failed, with the only solution being a complete reinstall of Windows.

Microsoft is aware of the situation, with multiple users reporting the issue in the Feedback Hub:

“I’m experiencing the same issue. I’ve tried the cleanup multiple times, including using SFC Scannow, but nothing worked. It seems like a bug that will be fixed.”

“Same problem here. It’s leaving 8.63GB of data behind.”

“I used Disk Cleanup to remove Windows Update Cleanup files, which take up nearly 9GB of space, yet even after using the utility, it still shows the files haven’t been cleared.”

A patch to address this problem is in the works and will be included in an upcoming update. In the meantime, it's advisable not to attempt to delete the Windows Update cache, as the hassle of reinstalling Windows isn't worth the trouble just to free up those files.

For more information, you can read about how to undo a problematic Windows update.

This article was originally published by our sister site PC-WELT and has been translated and adapted from German.