How to Disable Low Disk Space Warning on Windows 11

If you’ve ever seen the “Low Disk Space” pop-up in Windows 11, you know how persistent it can be. It appears when your drive — especially your system partition (C:) — drops below a certain amount of free space. While it’s a useful alert for most users, it can quickly become annoying if you intentionally maintain smaller partitions, use virtual drives, or already manage storage manually.

The good news is that you can disable the Low Disk Space warning safely using a few quick methods. In this guide, we’ll show you how to turn off the notification using the Registry Editor and Group Policy, as well as how to free up space if you want to eliminate the warning without disabling it entirely.

Disable Low Disk Space Warning

You’ll need administrator privileges on your Windows 11 PC. These methods work on all editions, though the Group Policy Editor is only available on Windows 11 Pro and higher.

Tip: Before disabling the warning, ensure you have sufficient free space on your drives — Windows typically needs at least 10–15% of your total disk space free for smooth performance and updates.

Step 1: Understand Why the Warning Appears

Windows monitors available disk space on all volumes. When it detects that a drive is running low (below roughly 200 MB), it displays the Low Disk Space notification balloon in the system tray.

This behavior is controlled by a system process called Disk Space Notification, part of the Shell component in Windows. The alert is triggered by registry keys that you can modify to disable it.

Step 2: Disable Low Disk Space Warning via Registry Editor

The most direct and universal way to disable the low disk space alert is by editing the Windows Registry.

Warning:

Changing the registry incorrectly can cause system instability. Follow these steps carefully, or create a backup before proceeding.

Steps:

1. Press Windows + R, type regedit, and press Enter.
2. Navigate to the following path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
3. If the Explorer key doesn’t exist, right-click Policies, select New → Key, and name it Explorer.
4. In the right pane, right-click an empty area and choose New → DWORD (32-bit) Value.
5. Name the new value: NoLowDiskSpaceChecks
6. Double-click NoLowDiskSpaceChecks and set the Value data to 1.
7. Click OK and close the Registry Editor.
8. Restart your PC.

After restarting, Windows will stop showing Low Disk Space warnings for all drives.

Step 3: Re-enable the Warning (If Needed Later)

If you ever want to bring back the notifications, follow the same steps above and set the Value data of NoLowDiskSpaceChecks to 0, or delete the entry entirely. Restart your PC, and the alerts will be reactivated.

Step 4: Disable Low Disk Space Warnings Using Group Policy (Windows 11 Pro)

If you’re running Windows 11 Pro, you can manage the same setting through the Group Policy Editor instead of manually editing the registry.

1. Press Windows + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.
2. Navigate to: User Configuration → Administrative Templates → All Settings
3. Scroll down and locate Turn off low disk space checks.
4. Double-click it, select Enabled, and click Apply → OK.
5. Restart your computer.

This disables all low disk space notifications for your user account through a centralized policy setting.

Step 5: Alternative — Free Up Disk Space to Remove the Warning

If you’d rather fix the problem instead of disabling the warning, here are quick ways to recover space safely.

Use Storage Sense

1. Press Windows + I to open Settings.
2. Go to System → Storage.
3. Turn on Storage Sense.
4. Click Storage Sense → Run Storage Sense now to automatically delete temporary files, recycle bin items, and cache data.

Manually Clean Up Temporary Files

1. Press Windows + R, type cleanmgr, and press Enter.
2. Select your C: drive and click OK.
3. Check boxes for Temporary files, Thumbnails, and Delivery Optimization Files.
4. Click OK → Delete Files.

Uninstall Unused Apps

1. Open Settings → Apps → Installed apps.
2. Sort by Size to see which apps take up the most space.
3. Click the three dots next to any unneeded app and select Uninstall.

These actions will free up several gigabytes of space, often enough to remove the warning without disabling it permanently.

Step 6: Verify the Setting

After making changes, verify that the notification no longer appears.

1. Open File Explorer and right-click any nearly full drive.
2. Check Properties — if your drive is low, Windows should no longer display the alert balloon in the system tray.
3. If the notification still appears, double-check the Registry or Group Policy settings to ensure they’re applied correctly.

Step 7: (Optional) Hide the Drive from File Explorer

If you’re intentionally using a small recovery partition or system drive that always shows low space, you can hide it completely from File Explorer to prevent any related notifications.

1. Press Windows + X and select Disk Management.
2. Locate the drive letter you want to hide.
3. Right-click it and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths.
4. Click Remove → Yes.

The drive will still exist and function normally but won’t appear in File Explorer or trigger notifications.

Step 8: Use Command Prompt to Apply the Same Registry Change

If you prefer a quick command-line method, you can disable the warning instantly without opening the Registry manually.

1. Open Command Prompt (Admin).
2. Run this command: reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer" /v NoLowDiskSpaceChecks /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
3. Press Enter and restart your PC.

This creates the same registry value automatically — ideal for advanced users or automated scripts.

Wrapping Up

The Low Disk Space warning in Windows 11 is meant to help prevent storage issues, but it can be unnecessary if you manage your disks manually or use drives with limited capacity. By setting NoLowDiskSpaceChecks in the Registry or enabling the corresponding Group Policy, you can turn off the alerts permanently.

If you prefer keeping the warning but need quick relief, using Storage Sense or Disk Cleanup can clear up enough space to stop the pop-ups without disabling the feature.

Either way, these methods ensure you stay in control — without constant interruptions from Windows reminding you about your storage levels.