If your PC is a little short on storage space, you may be interested in what Microsoft has planned for Windows 10. Soon, you'll be able to archive unused apps to free up space without deleting essential data.
Twitter user Mario found the feature in Windows 10 preview build 20201. Mario posted a screenshot of the feature in a tweet:
While Microsoft hasn't officially discussed this feature anywhere, you can get a good idea of what it does by its description alone.
Any apps you don't use will be archived away with all your data saved. When you want to use it again, Windows 10 will redownload the program.
The act of archiving a program without deleting important information isn't new. For example, iOS users can "offload" apps without erasing documents or personal data. We covered this feature in our guide on how to offload iOS apps to reclaim space.
What's interesting for the Windows version is that, unlike on iOS, the user doesn't appear to have control over whats archived. If you turn this option on, Windows will seemingly archive apps based on the last time you opened them without any other considerations.
However, given that this is an unannounced feature within an Insider build, it's safe to say that this new feature isn't fully fleshed out yet. Here's hoping that Microsoft will build upon this feature to grant users greater control over what is archived.
While we'll have to wait a little longer to see this feature for ourselves, Windows 10 will soon get an app archiving feature that tidies away anything you're not using.
While it seems bare-bones for now, be sure to keep an eye on it to see how it evolves past the Insider build and beyond.
If you can't wait any longer to free up space on your clogged-up PC, be sure to check out our tips on freeing up storage space on Windows 10.
