When you need this

The hard drive is the storage inside your computer, where the system, your programs and your files live. When it gets full, everything slows down, updates fail, and a warning keeps popping up at the worst moment. When it starts to fail, the problem is bigger, because your files might go with it.

For a full drive, the language is about making room: free up space, delete old downloads, empty the trash, move big files somewhere else. For a failing drive, it's about acting fast: back up now, stop using it, and call the help desk. A clicking or grinding sound from a laptop is not a sound to ignore. Tell someone the same day, and say when it started.

Phrases

the main storage inside a computer

nearly full, with little storage left

there's no storage left at all

delete or move files to make room

permanently delete the files you threw away

a unit of storage; people often say "gig"

save copies of files somewhere safe

a sign that a hard drive may be failing

it's starting to break and may lose data

take out an old part and put in a new one

the amount of space for files

Say it out loud

Tap a sentence to hear it. Say it after the voice.

Practice · 3 min

Say the line that fits. Situation on the left, one natural line on the right.

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Say it today

Use it once in a real conversation before tomorrow. Out loud counts, even to yourself.