Skip to main content
Remote access

Analyze and free up disk space

Find large folders and files with the Storage Analyzer and delete temporary files and caches with disk cleanup.

When a drive fills up, the Storage Analyzer shows which folders and files take up the most space, and Disk cleanup deletes temporary files, package caches and the recycle bin. You start both from the File explorer in the device's toolbox.

Prerequisites

  • The device has an octoja agent and is online.
  • Your group grants the File Browser device action for the device. If Only allow during remote desktop is set for the device, you also need an active remote desktop session; see How remote access works.

Analyze storage usage

  1. Open the device and click File explorer in the top-right corner. The toolbox opens with the list of drives.
  2. Open the actions menu of a drive or folder (right-click, or … in the row) and choose Analyze with Storage Analyzer. The entry is not available for network drives.
  3. A new Storage of … tab starts the scan immediately. The header shows the path being scanned and the number of folders scanned; Cancel stops the scan.
  4. Click a folder to expand it. The table shows Size, Allocated, Files, Folders, % of parent and Last Modified.

During the scan, folders that are not fully counted yet are dimmed; their size is still growing. The Storage Analyzer lists files of 1 MB or more individually and groups smaller ones per folder in a row such as + 120 other files smaller than 1 MB. It does not count other drives or mounted volumes below the scanned folder. Use Rescan to start the scan again after changes.

From a row's actions menu you can:

  • Open in File Explorer — open the folder (for a file, its folder) in a file explorer tab,
  • Open in Terminal — start a terminal in that folder,
  • Rename — rename the folder or file,
  • Delete folder or Delete — remove the entry after confirmation.

Warning: Deleting in the Storage Analyzer removes the folder or file on the device permanently, not to the recycle bin. This cannot be undone.

You cannot rename or delete the scanned root folder itself there.

Run disk cleanup

  1. In the File explorer, open the More actions menu (… next to Upload) and choose Disk cleanup.
  2. octoja scans the device and lists the categories with the space that would be freed. Nothing is deleted yet.
  3. Review the selection. Categories that would free space or whose size is unknown are preselected; categories that are empty or failed cannot be selected.
  4. Click the Clean up … button; it shows the total of your selection.

After the cleanup, octoja reports the space freed and reloads the current folder. The cleanup skips files that are locked or in use. Every cleanup is recorded in the device log under Activities → Logs.

Operating systemCategoryWhat is deleted
WindowsRecycle BinContents of the recycle bin
WindowsWindows temporary filesContents of %windir%\Temp
WindowsUser temporary filesThe temp folder of the account the octoja agent runs as — not the temp folders of signed-in users
WindowsWindows Update cacheDownloaded update files in %windir%\SoftwareDistribution\Download
WindowsDelivery Optimization cacheContents of %windir%\SoftwareDistribution\DeliveryOptimization\Cache
LinuxAPT package cacheResult of apt-get clean, only if APT is installed
LinuxDNF package cacheResult of dnf clean all, only if DNF is installed
LinuxSystemd journalOlder journal entries; journalctl --vacuum-size=100M shrinks the journal to 100 MB
LinuxOld /var/tmp filesFiles in /var/tmp older than 7 days
macOSOld ASL logs.asl files in /private/var/log/asl
macOSHomebrew cleanupResult of brew cleanup -s, only if Homebrew is installed; octoja shows the size in advance as Size unknown

For the Linux package caches and the journal, the preview shows the current size of the respective folder; how much is actually freed is determined by the operating system's tool.

FAQ

You start Disk cleanup in the File explorer manually; it is not a separate automation action. For recurring cleanup, use an automation with Schedule and Run Script instead — see Create an automation.

Under Configuration → Automations → Start from template, you can find these Windows templates, among others:

TemplateWhat it cleans up
Windows Temp & Update Cache CleanupThe system account's temporary files, the Windows Temp folder and the Windows Update download cache. It stops and restarts the Windows Update service to do this.
Windows component store cleanupSuperseded update components via DISM; not temporary files or the Recycle Bin.

These templates run scripts, not the File explorer's category selection. Templates are enabled as soon as you create them. If you need to review the script, target devices and schedule before the first execution, create an empty automation instead, disable it and save it first. Then configure the cleanup and test it on one device before enabling it.

Was this helpful?

Still need help? Ask the team