The next instalment in our 21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildings series looks at Zaha Hadid's Bergisel Ski Jump, which was the turning point in Hadid's career. Although it's hard to imagine now, at the beginning of the century Hadid was still called a "paper architect", known primarily for her drawings and numerous striking, but unrealised, schemes.Towering above Innsbruck in Austria, the Bergisel Ski Jump marked a turning point for Hadid as her first major completed project, clearly demonstrating that her ambitious designs could be built.Zaha Hadid's Bergisel Ski Jump was her first completed major building. Photo via ShutterstockHadid's studio, Zaha Hadid Architects, won the international competition to replace the ageing ski jump in Innsbruck in December 1999. It was the latest in a series of high-profile competitions won by the studio.Hadid first gained global attention when she won the competition to design The Peak private club in the hills of Kowloon, Hong Kong, in 1983.Although the project didn't end up being built, it in part led to her inclusion in the seminal Deconstructivist Architectureexhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1988, where she featured alongsideFrank Gehry,Rem Koolhaas,Daniel Libeskind,Peter EisenmanandCoop Himmelb(l)au.The ski jump replaced a historic structureThe studio went on to design several small-scale projects, including a restaurant in Singapore and a private fire station for the Vitra furniture factory in Weil am Rhein, as well as the first Serpentine pavilion. Hadid also won another high-profile competition in 1990 to design an opera house in Cardiff, but this project was also later abandoned.The result was that almost two decades after winning The Peak competition, the studio had still not completed any major projects.It is the architectural incarnation of the sensations experienced by the ski-jumpers Lilli Hollein in DomusThat would change in Innsbruck, where a ski jump had stood on the Bergisel hill since 1926. Although the jump was updated in the 1960s ahead of the town hosting the Winter Olympics in 1964 by the 1990s it no longer met international standards.This prompted the Austrian Ski Federation to organise a competition to design a replacement, which, along with a launch ramp for the jump, would also contain a cafe and viewpoint. It also wanted to create a landmark for the city."The challenge here was to integrate a new, initially alien element the cafe and sundeck into a given [ski jump] formula," Hadid told Building magazine at the time. "The result is a rather unusual silhouette on Bergisel."The structure combines a ski jump with a cafe and viewpointDescribed by the studio as "a combination of a tower and a bridge", the structure is 50 metres high and 90 metres long. It has two distinct elements a tower topped with athletes facilities and a cafe, and the ski jump itself.The sections are supported by a seven-metre-by-seven-metre-square tower that contains two lifts along with stairs for skiers to reach the jump and visitors to reach the cafe.Very few buildings can stand up to the Alps without retreating into modesty Joseph GiovanniniWrapped entirely in stainless steel, the three-storey block has athletes' facilities on its lowest floor, a cafe with 360-degree views above and an outdoor viewing platform on its top floor.The distinctive ski jump seemed to achieve the impossible of both standing out and sitting harmoniously with the impressive surrounding landscape.The structure overlooks the city of Innsbruck. Photo via ShutterstockCritics praised the project, which was shortlisted for a Mies van der Rohe Award in 2003."It is the architectural incarnation of the sensations experienced by the ski-jumpers," wrote Lilli Hollein in Italian architecture magazine Domus at the time."In a region where almost everyone has a strong relationship with sport and with the natural landscape, it has become a new symbol of the evolving Tyrolean identity."Read: Herzog & de Meuron's Tate Modern was the most significant building of 2000Later it was described as "dynamic and lyrical" by architectural critic Joseph Giovannini in an essay to mark Hadid winning the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004."Very few buildings can stand up to the Alps without retreating into modesty, but Zaha Hadid's dynamic and lyrical Bergisel Ski Jump in Innsbruck, Austria, completed in 2002, confronts the surrounding mountains with an equivalent architectural majesty," wrote Giovannini.The structure has the swooping forms that Hadid later became famous forFollowing the opening of the ski jump, the studio completed a series of major projects in quick succession, securing Hadid's reputation as a creator of actual buildings.The Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, Ohio, opened in 2003, was her first major cultural building and was followed in 2005 by the Ordrupgaard Museum extension, BMW Central Building and Phaeno Science Center.As Dezeen founder Marcus Fairs wrote in UK magazine Building at the time, the Bergisel Ski Jump marked the "end of an era for Hadid".Did we get it right? Was Bergisel Ski Jump by Zaha Hadid the most significant building completed in 2002? Let us know in the comments. We will be running a poll once all 25 buildings are revealed to determine the most significant building of the 21st century so far.This article is part of Dezeen's 21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildings series, which looks at the most significant architecture of the 21st century so far. For the series, we have selected the most influential building from each of the first 25 years of the century.The illustration is by Jack Bedford and photographyis by Hlne Binet, unless stated.21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildings2000: Tate Modern by Herzog & de Meuron2001: Gando Primary School by Dibdo Francis Kr2002: Bergisel Ski Jump by Zaha HadidThis list will be updated as the series progresses.The post Zaha Hadid's Bergisel Ski Jump was the most significant building of 2002 appeared first on Dezeen.

Car brand Toyota has announced that the first phase of its Woven City in Japan, a smart city designed by architecture studio BIG as the "future of mobility", has reached completion.Woven City is currently being built near the base of Mount Fuji at the former 70-hectare site of Toyota Motor East Japan's (TMEJ) Higashi-Fuji Plant in Susono City, Shizuoka Prefecture.Woven City was designed by architecture studio BIGBuildings for the first phase have now been completed and approximately 100 residents are expected to move in around autumn 2025 or thereafter. Phase one will accommodate 360 people, Toyota said, with the official launch set for autumn.Projected to eventually house 2,000 people, the city features staggered wooden buildings by BIG flanking a central square and surrounded by a road.The city includes buildings with staggered formsThe houses, primarily built of wood, feature solar panels on their roof while the apartments have been designed so that residents have access to planted terraces.Woven City, which will have a mix of housing, business and retail, was designed to "demonstrate Toyota's long-term commitment to shaping the future of mobility".Its residents will be testing vehicles and products from companies including Toyota and its Woven by Toyota (WbyT) brand.Solar panels cover the roofs of buildingsOther brands that have been confirmed for Woven City are Nissin Food Products, which will create "food environments to inspire new food cultures" and air conditioning company Daikin, which will test "pollen-free spaces" in Woven City.BIG designed the city as a "woven grid" that is 150 metres wide. Streets will be used by vehicles, pedestrians and "other mobility types", the studio said.Read: Toyota redesigns its e-Palette vehicle for Tokyo 2020 Olympic athletesRoads will be divided into three sections, with one the primary street occupied by autonomous vehicles including the Toyota e-Palette.A secondary section will be used by bicycles, scooters and other personal modes of transport, while the third will be a "linear park" dedicated to pedestrians and plants.Roads will be divided into sections for different modes of transport"Connected, autonomous, emission-free and shared mobility solutions are bound to unleash a world of opportunities for new forms of urban life," BIG founder Bjarke Ingels said when the project was first announced."With the breadth of technologies and industries that we have been able to access and collaborate with from the Toyota ecosystem of companies, we believe we have a unique opportunity to explore new forms of urbanity with the Woven City that could pave new paths for other cities to explore."Buildings will be constructed from woodWork has begun on phase two and on the renovation of a former TMEJ Higashi-Fuji Plant facility into a manufacturing hub for Woven City.Elsewhere, BIG is also currently working on luxury residences for Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi and the overhaul of a 1950s power plant in Connecticut.The photography is courtesy of Toyota.The post BIG completes first phase of Toyota Woven City in Japan appeared first on Dezeen.

Ive never had the desire to have an indoor garden or a garden of any kind because Im too lazy to take care of anything and also anything I touch actually dies. But sometimes when I see my friends who can harvest their own herbs and vegetables, I get a little jealous. Now if there only was a way that I can keep a couple of plants alive that I can use for my kitchen while still being a lazy, low-maintenance person.Designer: PlantaformThe Plantafrom Smart Indoor Garden might just be the answer to my problem as it employs fogponics technology. The creators guarantee that this transformative way of growing food indoors is easy to use and maintain. Fogponics is a more water-efficient way of raising plants indoors compared to other systems like aeroponics or hydroponics and even traditional gardening. Its also supposed to develop roots faster and produce yields faster since it delivers water and nutrients directly to plant roots through an ultra-fine mist.Plantaform is an egg-shaped device that has a fully automated lighting and nutrient and water delivery. It also has a custom LED system that is able to mimic natural sunlight so plants can grow regardless of the season. The plant pods are also designed to be soil-free so theres no messy digging around. The system uses non-GMO seeds and is pesticide-free. You can also connect it to the app that can help you from setup to maintenance to harvesting. The device itself is minimalist in design and is small enough to fit in a small table or on your kitchen counter. You can choose between white or black. They say even if you dont have any experience in planting or if youre like me that has a black thumb, youll still be able to grow things in this indoor garden system. The post Plantaform lets you grow plants indoor hassle-free and eco-friendly first appeared on Yanko Design.

MPC's Audrey Ferrara explains why this one mattered.

Mark Zuckerberg has fully adopted the language of his former right-wing critics about what constitutes censorship.

As our week in Las Vegas winds to a close, here's a final look at the most clever, smart, and forward-looking tech at CES 2025.

Research and development is underway to create robots that can hunt for signs of life in the vast oceans that exist under the thick ice shells of bodies like Europa.

MacworldEven with 14-inch and 16-inch screens, many MacBook users have already upgraded to two larger desktop screens at home or in the officeoften using a laptop docking station to benefit from the extra video ports required for such a setup, plus extras such as multiple USB ports and Ethernet. Some hook up three monitors and there are even docks that support up to four external screens.At CES, accessory maker Plugable unveiled the first docking station that can support five external monitors. Through the use of DisplayLink technology this expanse of screen real estate is available even to owners of the plain M1 and M2 MacBooks previously limited by Apple to just the solitary one external display.The UD-7400PD is a hybrid docking station that uses two technologies to drive the connected displays: USB-C Alt Mode Video and DisplayLink (third-party software that the user downloads before setting up the dock). For more details, see our explainer on how to connect multiple external displays to a Mac using DisplayLink.Up to five high-resolution displays can be added: three 6K screens, or one 6K plus four 4K displays. For Windows PCs, the 6K screen can be upgraded to a full 8K one. This mega multi-screen support is made possible by the docks use of the DisplayLink DL-7400 chipset.PlugableDo you need five screens?Probably not. Very few people actually need or desire five monitors, but the UD-7400PD dock offers flexibility. Users can choose from the five video optionsone HDMI 2.1 for the highest 6K resolution, one HDMI 2.0 for 4K at 60Hz, and three 10Gbps USB-C ports with DisplayLink enabled for 4K at 60Hzwith any unused USB-C ports free for other devices with full data, video and power potential (up to 15W).Having the same and full USB-C options available for each port makes usage simple for the user, rather than having to select a particular one for video and others for power or data. The UD-7400PD dock offers PD 3.1 140W Power Delivery, meaning it can be used to fast-charge even the top-end 16-inch MacBook Pro.PlugableThe top-end specs continue with a 2.5Gb Ethernet port, which will dramatically speed up a network supported at the same speed. At the front is another USB-C port capable of outputting 30W of power, enough to fast-charge any iPhone. Two legacy but speedy 10Gbps USB-A ports (7.5W) and a combo 3.5mm audio socket round out the front ports.The UD-7400PD dock is expected to be available in March for approximately $265. For more options, check out our roundups of the best docking stations for Mac and best DisplayLink docks.PlugablePlugable USB-C Quad HDMI Graphics AdapterPlugable also announced a smaller video-only solution using the same DisplayLink DL-7400 chipset that supports four independent high-resolution displays via one USB-C cable but without the extra ports boasted by the fuller five-display docking station. The compact USB-C Quad HDMI Graphics Adapter (USBC-7400H4) uses the same DisplayLink technology as the UD-7400PD dock to drive four 4K 60Hz HDMI outputs from a single USB-C port, and allowing for up to 100W USB-C PD pass-through charging.The USBC-7400H4 will cost $125.

MacworldThe Mac Pro has garnered staunch criticism from the crowd that would usually buy onein most cases, its warranted. The Mac Studio is alarmingly good for much cheaper. I, too, bought into the critique of the Mac Pro being a bad buy. But the Mac Pro does have valuea lot of it. As a fan of the 2019 Intel Mac Pro, I tried the M2 Max MacBook Pro and Mac Studio but found that the Mac Pro has advantages that cant be overlooked.Hidden costs of other MacsWhen I tried to switch over to a MacBook Pro as my primary Mac, the problems started almost immediately as I attempted to mimic the hefty storage and port options that I had on my 2019 Mac Pro. I need more than the three Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports on the MacBook Pro so I required a Thunderbolt dock. The Mac Studio has more ports, so I fared better with it, but I still needed a Sonnet Thunderbolt 4 Dock to support all the external devices I use. The cost savings of the Mac Studio quickly start to dwindle when accounting for the expense of the external devices needed. Theres the hub, all the cables needed to connect to the hub, and the enclosures I had to buy to house the items that were internally installed in my Mac Pro. If no enclosure was available, I had to buy external replacements.The Mac Studio may be as fast as the Mac Pro, but it comes with a few extra friends on your desk.Thiago Trevisan/FoundryThose external replacements are where it really hits your wallet and the cost benefit of the Mac Studio shrinks substantially. More affordable USB-C external drives do not play nicely with MacsUSB performance is capped at lower speeds due to Macs not supporting USB 3.2 Gen 22 speeds. Youll be limited to USB 3.1 Gen 2 speeds of about 10Gbps, roughly half the theoretical speed on a PC with the same drive.That means that if you want faster performance, you must opt for more expensive Thunderbolt 4 external drives that can offer up to 40Gbps. (I cover the performance issues later in this article.)Youll likely need a Thunderbolt Dock to support more devices without a Mac Pro.Thiago Trevisan/FoundryGranted, if youre not a previous Mac Pro user and youre upgrading from an older MacBook Pro or a desktop Mac and already have an external device setup, your expense for setting up may be limited.Clutter- and noise-free (mostly)The Mac Studio and MacBook Pro may not occupy a lot of space, but they need a symphony of devices to replicate the capabilities of the Mac Pro on a desk. The horizontal space needed is multiplied by the heavy usage of raid arrays, docks, and PCIe external enclosures.MacBook Pro M3 Max is great, but it needs a supporting cast of devicesThiago Trevisan/FoundryIn addition to all the space the external devices take up, theres also cable managementeven if youre a pro at it, its a mess to deal with. You can daisy chain Thunderbolt devices to each other, but you will always have a large cacophony of cablesmost external devices need at least a power cable and their own Thunderbolt connection. Think of the Mac Pro like a large skyscraper, fitting most of these devices internally and verticallyno cable mess. The Mac Studio and MacBook Pro are silent machines, but the accompanying external devices can remove that magic because of their noisy fans for cooling. Most external Thunderbolt enclosures come packed with fansI have chased down Noctua fans to replace the stock fans in some external enclosures, adding to both cost and wasted time in trying to make a less-noisy workstation setup.With the Mac Pro, the large fans keep PCIe cards cool, and you rarely hear even a whimper from this elegant cheese-grater masterpiece.Cables quickly add up across needed devices.Thiago Trevisan/FoundryAppreciating PCIeYou dont have to be an audio engineer or YouTuber to benefit from the Mac Pros PCIe slots. You can skip many external Thunderbolt devices and use an internal PCIe-compatible option, instead. The Mac Pro has six PCIe gen 4 slotsits enough to free up the Mac Pros external ports, and suddenly the need for a pricey Thunderbolt 4 dock goes away.Beefy heatsinks on PCIe cards equates to silence, with only the Mac Pro fans needed.Thiago Trevisan/FoundryA minor win for the Mac Pro is that its internal Apple SSDs are upgradable, whereas the Mac Studios are not. If you bought 1TB and later want 8TB, you can have it. You may want to add PCIe cards for a better price-to-performance ratio, but the option is there.If you do need to connect external devices, the Mac Pro has eight Thunderbolt 4 ports and two USB-A ports. It also has two HDMI ports, two gigabit-ethernet ports, and a 3.5mm audio jack. You wont need to buy a dock.The Mac Pro has six PCIe slots.Thiago Trevisan/FoundryIf you only need a few terabytes of storage that can be accomplished with a simple external SSD and no PCIe cards, then the Mac Pro has no real benefit to you. If you do need more storage, using the Mac Pros PCIe slots can make a lot of sense.Mac Pro PCIe performanceWhile cost, noise, and clutter are important for many, the real bread-and-butter is in the hardware performance. While the Mac Pro does have its bandwidth limitations with its PCIe lanes, it still beats out external devices. You can use external devices on the Mac Proit also makes for a great shelf.Thiago Trevisan/FoundryWith a fast Thunderbolt 4 external drive, such as the SanDisk Pro G40, you will hit rated speeds of about 3000MBps read and 2500MBps write. Even with an external RAID 0 NVMe setup such as the SanDisk Pro-Blade Station, the limitations of Thunderbolt limit the speed.You dont have to rely on Apples PCIe offerings, either. You can get an $800Sonnet M.2 84 Silent Gen4 PCIe Cardand then add 32TB of very fast NVMe storage, and it will be about the same price as the $2,800Apple 8TB SSD Upgrade Kitthat fits into a PCIe slot. Spend more on NVMe storage and you can fit 64TB onto the Sonnet card.The Sonnet card in one of the Mac Pros 16x PCIe slots can theoretically reach a whopping 30,000MBps read and 18,000MBps write. All of this comes in a silent package that relies on the fans of the Mac Pro to quietly keep it cool.Blackmagicdesigns Disk Speed Test benchmark of four Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe SSDs in a Raid 0 array on a Sonnet PCIe card. IDGEven a more mundane PCIe Gen 3 raid 0 of fourSamsung 970 EVONVMe SSDs results in an impressive 12,632MBps write and 9,634MBps read.An OWC Accelsior 4M2 NVMe RAID 0 array with four Samsung 980 Pros installed in an 8x lane on the Mac Pro still reached 6,622MBps write and 5,558MBps read.Do you want SSD and hard drive raid arrays for backup? You can have them, but youll pay more per terabyte for external Thunderbolt enclosures marketed toward MacBook Pro and Mac Studio users. They will typically be much slower than internal PCIe cards, too.PCIe Gen 3 performance can still be impressive with the OWC Accelsior 4M2 cardFoundryThere are limits to the PCIe bandwidth of the 2023 Mac Pro, of course. Even with this in mind, the overall utility and performance can make this cheese grater a potent sleeper workstation.Nuances of PCIe on the Mac ProWhile the numbers are impressive, there are some very important caveats to know about how the Mac Pro handles its PCIe lanes. An OWC Accelsior 4M2 NVME PCIe card in an 8x lane.Thiago Trevisan/FoundryHeres a list of PCIe hardware that I moved over from a 2019 Mac Pro to a 2023 model. Everything below works and is visible in macOS when installed. I simply moved it over from my new Mac Pro and it all workedthats a big bonus. This includes:Sonnet 44 NVME PCIe card in the bottom 16x laneSonnet 84 NVME PCIe card in the top 16x lane OWC Accelsior 4M2 NVME PCIe card in an 8x laneSonnet Fusion SSD PCIe card in 8x lane number 6 Apple supplied I/O Card in the top slot The PCIe lanes are shared and limited so you cannot use them all at once and expect uncompromised performance. I use multiple large arrays for sequential backups (such as with Time Machine), so drops in theoretical speed are acceptable. Theyre still faster than any external Thunderbolt drive.It looks scary, but it still works and automatically adjusts bandwidth.FoundryThe built-in Expansion Slot Utility in macOS shows my Pool A Allocation at a whopping 181 percent, and Pool B at 59 percent. It dynamically adjusts bandwidth between each pool for the best performance. You can also manually assign different PCIe cards to different Pools, but I found that keeping it the Automatic Bandwidth Configuration worked best.It may look scary, but it all functions fine, just with reduced speeds if you attempt to use more than one lane at a time. The 2019 Intel Mac Pro had a more generous allotment of bandwidth, but it also had to accommodate lane-hungry GPUs in its 16x slots, such as the Radeon W6800X Duo. The 2019 Mac Pro also only supported PCIe Gen 3; the 2023 Mac Pro supports Gen 4 speeds. This helps to balance some of the bandwidth differences, but the limits remain on Apple silicon. Thunderbolt connectivity is independent now with this Apple silicon Mac Pro, whereas in the 2019 Mac Pro Thunderbolt also shared available bandwidth. That is why I keep at least a single Thunderbolt SanDisk Pro-Blade Station with four NVMe drives, to balance the internal PCIe slots bandwidth out. Even 2.5-inch SSD drives can be added to a Mac Pro. With the Sonnet J3i or Promise Pegasus J2i, it is a simple drop-in upgrade. Hard drives with massive amounts of storage are likewise easy to add. Some PCIe cards, such as this Sonnet Fusion card with two WD Blue SSDs, must be used in specific PCIe slots.Thiago Trevisan/FoundryASonnet Fusion Dual 2.5-inch SSD RAID cardworks but only in the number 6 8x PCIe in the 2023 Mac Pro. (This is noted by Sonnet, who guides users to install it in this specific slot only for this Fusion card.)It played nicely with the other installed NVMe PCIe cards in both the 16x and 8x slots.Dont overlook the Mac ProOn paper, the Mac Pro seems like a bad deal. But for users who need tons of storage, its a sleeper pick. Adding PCIe cards is still cheaper per terabyte than adding external Thunderbolt solutions. Youll appreciate the noise reduction, the practicality, and the fast performance that fits neatly inside a Mac Pro. The Mac Pro is an excellent combination of power and beautiful design.

Want to free up space on your computer? With the right tools, you can quickly eliminate gigabytes of unnecessary files and get back to work or whatever else you use your computer for.Ive long argued you dont need a PC cleaner app. You mostly just need the tools built right into Windows. Theyll do the job, whether youre using a workplace PC or a home computer.But I do have some useful free downloads to recommend that might speed things up.Get more Windows knowledge with my free Windows Intelligence newsletter. Plus, get free Windows Field Guide downloads as a special welcome bonus!Windows space-freeing step #1: Use Disk CleanupFirst things first: The classic Disk Cleanup tool built into Windows is still the quickest way to free up space. If your PC recently installed a big Windows update, you might be surprised to see that this tool can free up more than 10GB of storage space in just a few clicks.To launch it, open the Start menu, search for Disk Cleanup, and click the Disk Cleanup shortcut.When it opens, select your C: drive, and click OK. After it finishes a quick scan, click the Clean up system files button and select your C: drive once again.Youll see how much space you can free up here. Look through the list and check whatever you want to remove.You generally shouldnt run into any issues with removing most of this stuff. However, watch out for the Recycle Bin option if you check this, Windows will empty your Recycle Bin, and you wont be able to recover files in it. Also, watch out for the Previous Windows installations option. If you see this option here and check it, youll free up space but you wont be able to roll back to the previous Windows update if you ever experience a problem.When youre done, click OK and youll see a good chunk of space used by temporary files and other clutter freed up for other use instantly.The Disk Cleanup tool can often free up gigabytes of space in a few clicks.Chris Hoffman, IDGWindows space-freeing step #2: Think bigSome programs use quite a bit of space, without any of your own data even playing into the picture. To see just how much each installed application is using, open the Windows Settings app and select Apps > Installed Apps (on Windows 11) or Apps (on Windows 10.)Tell Windows to sort the apps by Size, and it will show you the largest applications at the top of the list. You can uninstall applications from here to free up space.Bear in mind that this isnt perfect, though. Many applications dont show storage space here at all theyll have a blank entry in the storage column, even though they may be using lots of space. But its still a smart place to start getting a general idea of whats eating up space and where you can turn to free up precious room.The storage space numbers in the Apps window arent always accurate, but theyre a good place to start.Chris Hoffman, IDGWindows space-freeing step #3: Lean on WizTreeWith temporary files cleaned up and a few big applications uninstalled, the next best way to free up space is to see whats actually using it. I recommend using a free application called WizTree. Itll give you an overall birds eye view of exactly whats using space on your computer.Install WizTree, launch it, and click Scan. WizTree is very fast at scanning your drive faster than other tools Ive used and recommended in the past, including the classic WinDirStat.Just be ready: WizTree will give you a lot of information. Use the visual view at the bottom of the window, though, and you can mouse over areas and see which folders and files are taking up the most room. Perhaps youll find an old backup folder you dont need, or you could discover some apps are using more space than you expect.From there, you can make informed decisions about which files to move off your computer and which programs to uninstall.A disk space analyzer is a must-have Windows PC utility.Chris Hoffman, IDGWindows space-freeing step #4: Turn to the cloudTheres a good chance you have a lot of files in cloud file storage services like OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, or iCloud Drive. Thats especially true with OneDrive, as OneDrive is built right into Windows, and you get 1TB of cloud storage if you pay for Microsoft 365.Once you have all that stuff stored safely in such a remote location, theres a reasonable argument that you no longer need it also taking up space on your own local PC (unless you simply want the redundancy as an extra fail-safe and backup, of course).You can address this in several ways: First, you can hide certain folders so they dont sync to your PC. For example, in OneDrive, right-click the OneDrive cloud icon in your system tray, select Settings, click the Account option, and then click Choose folders. You can then uncheck certain folders, and they will never sync to your PC.OneDrive also downloads files on demand as you use them. You can right-click big files in File Explorer and select Free up space to save space on your computer. The next time you open that file, OneDrive will automatically redownload it but it wont exist in both places and take up room in the meantime.Windows space-freeing step #5: Seek out Storage SenseOn Windows 10 and 11, the Storage Sense interface is the more modern replacement for the Disk Cleanup tool. It offers a variety of unique features that can help you free up space.You find it by opening the Settings app from your Start menu, clicking System, and then Storage.Once you do, on Windows 11, you can select the Cleanup recommendations option under Storage Management to see things Windows recommends you remove. Beware: Windows will recommend you delete the contents of your Downloads folder! Depending on how you use that folder, you might not want to check that box.To allow the service to automatically free up space in the background, meanwhile, click the Storage Sense option (on Windows 11) or Configure storage sense or run it now (on Windows 10). Use the options there to configure how you want Storage Sense to work. For example, you could have Storage Sense automatically empty your Recycle Bin and delete old files in your Downloads folder whenever your PCs available disk space gets low.The Storage Sense tool is powerful, but be careful if you use it to empty your Recycle Bin or Downloads folder.Chris Hoffman, IDGWindows space-freeing step #6: Delete duplicatesIf you suspect you have duplicate files just wasting space on your PC, its a good idea to try a duplicate file-finding tool. You can pin down whether you have duplicate files and exactly where they are.I recommend using the classic (and free) dupeGuru tool to scan for duplicates. However, there are a variety of good duplicate file finders out there. Once youve identified the unnecessarily cloned files, you can decide what to do with them.Other ways to get more spaceIf youre still seeking digital breathing room after all of that, dont give up! A little creative thinking about your specific setup can help you find more ways to save space.For example, if you have a modern Copilot+ PC and are using the AI-powered Recall feature, you can control how much space Recall uses for snapshots from Recalls settings.If youve looked through all of your apps for similar space-saving opportunities and are still coming up short, the final answer is easy: You should consider getting more storage space. Life is too short to spend endless time micromanaging exactly whats on your computers local storage!On a desktop PC, you could just buy an external storage drive and plug it in or upgrade the internal storage. Even on a laptop, you might even be able to insert a microSD card for some extra room for files without adding any extra bulk.Want to make the most of your Windows PC? Sign up for my free Windows Intelligence newsletter. Youll get three new things to try every Friday and free copies of Paul Thurrotts Windows Field Guides as a special welcome gift.