Clearing up Disk Space on a SharePoint Server

If the SharePoint Server is running out of disk space, it is probably because the logs are filling up. You can clean these up by following these steps.

  1. Navigate to the log directory on the affected SharePoint server (i.e. ” C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\15\LOGS” on SharePoint 2013 and “C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\14\LOGS” on SharePoint 2010.
  2. Highlight all the files in the log directory and delete (logs that are in use will not be deleted). When a file says it is in use you can choose to skip it (and check the box that will skip all the other ones in use).
  3. Navigate to the recycle bin and empty it.

If most of the log files are in use you will probably need to recycle the Timer Service and then do the previous steps again. You can do this by following these steps.

  • Navigate to Services on the affected SharePoint server.

Find the “SharePoint Timer Service” (properties are shown below).

  • Click “Restart” on the left hand nav or you can click “Stop” and then “Start” on the properties dialog box shown above.

Note: This can be done during production hours without any adverse effects.