Microsoft is doubling Windows 10’s storage requirements

Windows 10’s 1903 update will bring with it some changes to the OS’ minimum system requirements, while also packing in new features, hardened security from Spectre/Meltdown and changes which should make the OS easier to update in the future. 

For starters, Windows 10’s minimum storage requirements will jump from 16GB to 32GB on 32-bit systems and 20GB to 32GB on 64-bit systems, a move which will make 32GB eMMC powered notebooks more challenging to use without storage-related issues.   

On top of this change in storage requirements, Microsoft also plans to pre-allocate 7GB of storage for temporary files, future OC updates and system cache, effectively removing access from some of the space on the user’s Windows 10 boot drive. While this change will make Windows updates less of a hassle moving forward, it will result in difficulties for users of PCs with small boost drives. 

This update will place more strain on PC users with use small SSD or eMMC boot drives, but ultimately the move will help ensure that future Windows 10 updates run smoothly. Beyond that, only a minority of PCs use boot drives which are small enough to be hugely impacted by this change.