Deleting the hidden “$Windows.~BT” folder and recovering gigabytes of space on your hard drive is tempting. But what is this cryptically named folder for, and how critical is it to your Windows installation?
What Is the “$Windows.~BT” Folder, and Should You Delete It?
Windows creates the “$Windows.~BT” folder when you upgrade the operating system to a newer build. This folder contains all the essential files for the upgrade process, like temporary installation files and logs from the previous Windows installation.
Windows automatically removes the “$Windows.~BT” folder after 10 days. As manually deleting this folder willremove old Windows installation files, you won’t be able to roll back to the previous Windows build using theGo backoption in the Recovery menu within that time (for example, todowngrade from Windows 11 to Windows 10). Hence, you should only get rid of this folder if you are satisfied with the current Windows build on your PC. You can also safely delete the massive folder if Windows fails to do it automatically after the grace period.
But you shouldn’t just delete this hidden folder like any other folder on the desktop. Instead, you should turn to the Disk Cleanup tool or the Command Prompt.
How to Find and Delete the “$Windows.~BT” Folder
As “$Windows.~BT” is a hidden folder, you need toconfigure Windows to show hidden files and foldersto find it in File Explorer. Once you do, theC:$Windows.~BTdirectory will become visible.
you may’t delete the “$Windows.~BT” folder directly, though. To do so, you need to run the Disk Cleanup tool. Here’s how:
If the “$Windows.~BT” folder shows up even after you run the Disk Cleanup tool, you’ll need to execute a few commands in Command Prompt. For that,open Command Prompt with administrative rightsand then run the following commands one by one.
Once you run the above commands, the “$Windows.~BT” folder will be deleted for good.
Now that you understand the purpose of the “$Windows.~BT” folder, you’re able to decide how to handle it. Beyond the “$Windows.~BT” folder, you may also come across folders like “Windows.old,” “$WinREAgent,” “$SysReset,” and others which can also be deleted safely using the Disk Cleanup tool.
