In order to get more features and improve the overall performance, Microsoft made a change in the minimum storage requirement, starting from Windows 10 May 2019 Update. The minimum storage has been increased to be at least 32GB. This is sad news for users who have less storage space left.
The public release date of new Windows 10 update – May 2019 Update (also known as version 1903) – is approaching. At this point, Microsoft declared in an updated support document that there will be a change in the Windows 10 minimum storage requirement.
Microsoft Announced Windows 10 Minimum Storage Requirement
How Much Space Does Windows 10 Require Exactly
- The Windows 10 version 1809 requires no less than 16GB of storage for the 32-bit version; as for the 64-bit version, that minimum storage should be changed to 20GB.
- The Windows 10 version 1903 (both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions) needs at least 32GB of free storage in order to run properly. It is about twice as much as version 1809.
Why Would the Windows 10 Space Requirements Be Increased
Microsoft has not given a clear explanation for the higher minimum requirements for Windows 10 till now. Yet, you can find easily that the Minimum Hardware Requirements page of Microsoft has been updated.
People are asking for an explanation for the increased storage requirement:
I have a detailed document, much of it above my head, with the hardware requirements for the May update showing it to have been increased to 32 GB, and more for the 64bit OS. There are certain things important to those of us with 2-in-1 small storage Tablet PCs which are not clear (to me at least). Nowhere does it seem to say if this refers to the amount of storage which is free / unused / unoccupied. If not there will be problems. Many of these devices only have 32 GB total to start with (actually less). My 64 bit machine after vigorous cleaning / slimming only has a little above 10 GB free at any time. But that refers to the system C drive. Are external drives counted, with their storage? If not and if what is referred to is the free storage available, what happens to the files which are in place when updating is attempted? I know there is discussion of this issue elsewhere, mainly related to the effects of the new requirement for Reserve storage, but I am not sure what the answers to these basic points are.– said clayto on Windows TenForums
Well, I think it is possible that the increasing of storage requirement is a consequence of the new Reserved Storage feature. After all, this new feature will take 7GB of disk space for storing updates, Apps, system caches, and temporary files.
How Will the Increased Minimum Storage Requirement Affect Users
- For users who are running a computer with large disk space and enough space left, the 32GB minimum storage is a piece of cake. It won’t affect anything; at least users won’t feel any change.
- However, for people whose computer is very old, this change in hardware requirements will affect them a lot (even though they can install the update; the space left is larger than 32GB). After updating, they may feel an obvious decrease in running and responding speed.
The Windows 10 May 2019 is going to be tested with Windows Insiders on the Slow and Release Preview ring as planned. Recently, the ISO files are available for users on MSDN. If there is nothing went wrong, the public rollout will finally come out in May. Microsoft may offer a couple of bug fixes updates during the period when the official update is not released.