How To Increase or Decrease the Recycle Bin Storage Capacity in Windows XP Professional
The default size for the recycle bin in Windows XP is 10% of the hard drive space. If you have a small hard disk, you might want to increase the 10% to suite your purposes. If you hardly use the recycle bin (pressing Shift+Delete to remove files), you might want to reduce the size of the recycle bin.
To Increase or Decrease the Recycle Bin Storage Capacity in Windows XP Professional:
- Select by right-clicking the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop and then click the Properties option.
- Use the slider over Maximum size of Recycle Bin and drag to the desired capacity.
Note: To set the storage capacity for each drive differently, select the option, Configure drives independently. Choose the different drive tabs and then set the desired capacity. - Click the OK button.
Due to the 32 bit architecture of the operating system, the limit for the recycle bin in Windows is 3.99 GB. This means the slider will be limited to the percentage that is relevant for that maximum, even on larger drives.
Do keep in mind that you can maximize the recycle bin for multiple drives by using individual settings per drive.
this helps me a lot
@steve – On Windows XP that is not possible due to the 32-bit architecture. You’ll need to move to a 64-bit architecture for that, probably Vista or Windows 7.
i need a registry tweak to get past 3.99 GB
shown me a registry tweak to get past 3.99 GB
thank you very much for this information. it was helpful for me!
@tester – I think the DEFAULT is 10%, not the maximum. The maximum is indeed 3.99GB, which is related to the nature of the 32 bit OS.
I’ll update the article to reflect this information. Thanks.
Kyle
In Windows XP, the maximum Recycle Bin size is 10 percent of the drive’s capacity or 3.99GB, whichever is smaller. It’s a hard limit—you can’t get around it. If you stick with Win XP, you’ll want to establish some kind of protocol so that you’ll always verify the archive before deleting the files.
doesn’t work, just stays at 3.99 g