When's the last time you emptied the recycling bin on your PC? If the answer is right this second because you got self-conscious, then you're not alone. However, if you haven't waited nearly a decade to do so, you aren't quite as bad as one Redditor.
As user Illuminated Autocrat shared on Reddit, they just deleted 557,459 files from their recycling bin because they forgot to clear it out for almost a decade. That makes for 302 GB total, or 0.5 MB per file. They reportedly upgraded from 500 GB to 4 TB of storage over the years, "so the bin grew with it". They add, "free storage upgrade, I guess."
If you're wondering how exactly they took all that rubbish data with them, the user reportedly copied the entire SSD in a disk cloning station, so they never had to reset or wipe the storage since getting it. They also never seemed to realise how much data they couldn't account for on their rig.
I have no room to speak, unfortunately, as I checked and have almost as much data in my recycling bin. I have an 8TB hard drive that has been following me around for years, filled with game capture (so I can make videos), and, well, I now have a spare 300 GB on my PC. Mine only totalled about 7,000 files, though.
Illuminated Autocrat reports the files were mostly text/game/mod files that were kept "just in case". The biggest of the almost deleted files is a 120 GB Skyrim mod folder they made a few years prior.
Decided to empty my recycling bin after almost a decade... from r/pcmasterrace
If you are worried you are losing out on your precious storage and don't want to buy any more (with the memory crisis, who can blame you), there is a smart way of doing so on Windows.
In settings, you will find a neat tool called "Storage Sense". When turned on, it will automatically delete files that are older than 30 days if you are running low on disk space. However, you could opt to have Storage Sense go through your files every month, under the same parameters.
Searching through your deleted files yourself is the best way of avoiding losing data you want to keep, but those files getting into the recycling bin is a good sign you don't want them in the first place. Still, it's a good sign to do a little bit of digital spring cleaning. I know I needed it.
