Fix: We Can’t Tell If Your PC Has Enough Space to Continue Installing Windows

When users attempt to upgrade their Windows from one version to a higher version, they encounter the error message, ‘We can’t tell if your PC has enough space to continue installing Windows.’ This error prevents users from upgrading their PCs, causing them to miss out on new updates. The primary cause of this error is low EFI Partition Storage.

Other factors such as low disk storage, issues with the ISO file, or problems with the disk can also trigger this error.

1. Run CHKDSK

It is recommended to run CHKDSK before trying anything else. This command scans the disk drive for errors and fixes them. Running this scan will detect and fix any disk errors.

1. Open the Search menu, type “cmd,” and run the Command Prompt as an Administrator.
   
2. Run the following command:

   chkdsk C: /f

   

2. Check Disk Storage

Check your disk storage. If there is not enough space available on your PC, this can lead to issues and cause this problem. The minimum storage required to upgrade to Windows 11 is 64 GB.

If it’s not enough, you can try disk cleanup, which will remove all unnecessary files on the drive like temporary files, system update files, and other cached files. This can help free up storage space for Windows to upgrade, potentially resolving the issue.

1. Press Windows + E to open File Explorer.
2. Check the storage available on the Windows drive. If it’s less than 64GB, proceed with the following steps.
   
3. Press Windows + R, type ‘Cleanmgr.exe‘, and press Enter.
   
4. Select your disk.
   
5. Select all the related items and press Enter.
   
6. Click Delete Files.
   

3. Extend EFI Partition

Insufficient storage in the EFI partition can also cause this problem, as the EFI partition contains the boot files that load when the PC is powered on. You can extend the EFI partition using the Command Prompt in Advanced Startup settings.

Note: Ensure to backup your data before proceeding with this method. Although this step shouldn’t cause any problems, things can go wrong sometime with Windows and you could end up losing some important data that you may have in your storage drive.

1. Boot into Advanced Startup. Check our article here.
2. Press Troubleshoot.
   
3. Click on Advanced Options > Command Prompt.
   
4. Run the following commands:

   Diskpart
   
   lis vol
   sel vol x (replace x with the number of the 500 MB System FAT32 partition)
   delete par override
   cre par EFI size=500
   format fs=fat32 quick
   assign letter=s
   exit
   bcdboot c:\Windows /s s: /f UEFI

5. Try upgrading now.

4. Clean Install Windows

If none of the solutions work, you can perform a clean install of Windows, which might help solve the issue. Clean installing Windows will delete all previously installed files and download a fresh version of Windows.

You can check our article on how to clean install Windows here.