How to Decompress all files in C drive for windows 10

Introduction

Windows 10 has a feature that allows you to compress files on your C drive. This feature can help you save disk space, but it can also cause problems if you don’t know how to use it properly. If you have compressed files on your C drive and want to decompress them, this post will guide you through the process.

What are Compressed Files?

Compressed files are files that have been reduced in size to save disk space. Windows 10 has a built-in feature that allows you to compress files on your C drive. When you compress a file, Windows 10 uses a compression algorithm to reduce the size of the file. This can be useful for files that are not used frequently, such as old documents or pictures.

Why Decompress Files?

While compressing files can save disk space, it can also cause problems if you don’t know how to use it properly. If you have compressed files on your C drive and want to decompress them, there are a few reasons why you might want to do so.

First, compressed files can slow down your computer’s performance. When you access a compressed file, Windows 10 has to decompress it before you can use it. This can take longer than accessing an uncompressed file.

Second, compressed files can be more difficult to work with. If you have compressed a folder that contains multiple files, you will need to decompress the entire folder before you can access any of the files. This can be time-consuming if you need to access a specific file quickly.

How to Decompress Files in Windows 10

There are a few ways to decompress files in Windows 10. One way is to use the built-in Disk Cleanup tool. This tool can help you identify which files are compressed and allow you to decompress them.

To use the Disk Cleanup tool, follow these steps:

1. Open the Start menu and type “Disk Cleanup” in the search bar.
2. Select “Disk Cleanup” from the search results.
3. Click on the “Clean up system files” button.
4. Wait for the tool to scan your system for files that can be cleaned up.
5. Check the “Compress your OS drive” option.
6. Click on the “OK” button.
7. Wait for the tool to decompress the files.

Another way to decompress files is to use PowerShell. PowerShell is a powerful command-line tool that can be used to automate tasks in Windows 10. To use PowerShell to decompress files, follow these steps:

1. Open the Start menu and type “PowerShell” in the search bar.
2. Select “Windows PowerShell” from the search results.
3. Type the following command: Get-ChildItem -Path C: -Recurse | ForEach-Object { if ($_.Attributes -match ‘Compressed’) { $_.FullName } }
4. Press Enter.
5. Wait for PowerShell to scan your system for compressed files.
6. Once the scan is complete, type the following command to decompress the files: Get-ChildItem -Path C: -Recurse | ForEach-Object { if ($_.Attributes -match ‘Compressed’) { $_.FullName } | ForEach-Object { $f = $_; $f.Attributes = $f.Attributes -band (-bnot [System.IO.FileAttributes]::Compressed) } }

This will decompress all compressed files on your C drive.

Identifying Compressed Folders/Files

If you want to identify which folders or files on your C drive are compressed, you can use the following steps:

1. Open File Explorer.
2. Navigate to the folder you want to check.
3. Right-click on the folder and select “Properties”.
4. In the Properties window, click on the “Advanced” button.
5. In the Advanced Attributes window, check the “Compress contents to save disk space” option.
6. Click on the “OK” button.

If the folder is compressed, the “Compress contents to save disk space” option will be checked. If it is not compressed, the option will be unchecked.

Conclusion

Compressing files can be a useful way to save disk space, but it can also cause problems if you don’t know how to use it properly. If you have compressed files on your C drive and want to decompress them, there are a few ways to do so. You can use the built-in Disk Cleanup tool, PowerShell, or File Explorer to identify and decompress compressed files. By following the steps outlined in this post, you can ensure that your computer is running smoothly and efficiently.

You can use the following steps to decompress all files on your C drive:

1. Open File Explorer and go to the C drive.
2. In the top right corner, click on the “Search this folder” icon and type in “:compressed” (without the quotes) and press Enter. This will search for all compressed files on the C drive.
3. Select all the compressed files by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on each one.
4. Right-click on one of the selected files and choose “Properties” from the context menu.
5. In the Properties window, go to the “General” tab and uncheck the “Compress contents to save disk space” option.
6. Click on the “Apply” button and then on the “OK” button.
7. Confirm the action in the pop-up window by clicking on the “Apply changes to this folder, subfolders, and files” option.

This should decompress all the selected files and folders on the C drive.

Note: Decompressing the files will take up more disk space, as the compressed files take up less space than the decompressed versions.

To uncompress all the contents of the C:\ drive, open an Administrator command prompt and enter the following command:

compact /U /S:"C:\"

This will uncompress the contents of the C:\ drive by default.