24H2 spawns an unusable 'Windows Update Cleanup' cache file on PCs -- with no easy way to remove it.
Microsoft's anticipated Windows 11 24H2 update is finally here -- but it comes with a mysterious file that's hard to ditch.
Some Windows 11 users noticed that after updating their PCs, System > Storage > Temporary files shows a "Windows Update Cleanup" cache that's 8.63GB in size.
"The update cleanup file is not getting deleted no matter how many times I remove it," one Windows 11 user explains. "I even tried restarting." Using Microsoft's Disk Cleanup tool doesn't seem to remove the file, either, according to multiple users.
Microsoft has reportedly said that the file is real -- not a bug like some have suggested -- and a fix is coming. The junk file may be related to "Checkpoint Updates," which were, ironically, created to help make Windows updates smaller and more optimized. Some news outlets suspect the file may actually be smaller than 8.63GB, despite Windows marking it as that size. PCMag has reached out to Microsoft for comment.
Windows 11 24H2 has spawned some other strange bugs and incompatibilities, according to user reports and Microsoft itself. Microsoft has found compatibility issues with Easy Anti-Cheat, an anti-cheat solution used by popular games like Call of Duty, Apex Legends, and Fortnite. Because this issue could crash games, Microsoft isn't offering 24H2 to PCs with EAC until a fix is released. 24H2 can also cause some users' cursors to disappear in text input fields.
While 24H2 comes with some features exclusive to Copilot+ PCs, like Recall, it also comes with other quality-of-life improvements and updates for all Windows users. It includes changes to File Explorer, Smart Power Management, Wi-Fi 7 support, improved Voice Clarity, Microsoft Teams updates, and updates to Remote Desktop, System Tray, and the taskbar, to name a few.