Huh, what trickery is this?! Microsoft seems to be making a big change in Windows 10 19H1, with talk that the operating system will reserve 7GB of space to install updates.
At least.
This is to ensure a seamless experience, with the operating system using it for updates, apps, temporary files and cache data related to Windows. By using this space, the remaining free space on a device will not be impacted.
Neat as this feature is, it could turn out to be quite a problem for devices with low storage, as there are many Windows 10 tablets and notebooks that only have 32GB of 64GB of storage.
The software titan does mention that reserved storage would only be enabled on devices that come with Windows 10 Version 1903, also known with its codename 19H1, preinstalled. As well as cases where users clean install the operating system.
As explained:
“Storage sense will automatically remove unneeded temporary files, but if for some reason your reserve area fills up Windows will continue to operate as expected while temporarily consuming some disk space outside of the reserve if it is temporarily full.”
So, basically, the reserved area would increase over time, depending on how you use your device. Two factors that could affect it are optional features and installed language.
Microsoft apparently debated using a virtual hard disk for this, but decided on using NTFS. The service stack will basically define how much space is needed, and the visible space will drop by that much on your system.
Windows Update will be the main service to benefit from this new addition, as the OS will no longer error out during updates due to there being not enough space on the disk.
The process will also happen in the background, with no input and configuration required on your end. Hopefully, this changes soon, and Microsoft allows some level of control to change how things are set up for storage space.
