<ul><li>Docker on Windows with WSL 2 can unexpectedly consume large amounts of disk space on the C: drive due to VHDX files like ext4.vhdx and docker_data.vhdx.</li><li>Deleting data inside VHDX files doesn't automatically shrink them. Docker images, containers, and volumes within VHDX files grow dynamically, leading to bloating.</li><li>Using Docker's pruning commands may help recover some space, but manually compacting the VHDX files using Optimize-VHD is necessary to release the internally freed space back to the Windows OS.</li><li>Compacting the VHDX files resulted in a significant space reclamation, with ext4.vhdx going from 377.7 GB to 117.2 GB and docker_data.vhdx shrinking from 145.2 GB to 52.0 GB, totaling over 353 GB reclaimed on the C: drive.</li></ul>

Docker on Windows: Eating Your C: Drive? How I Reclaimed Over 350GB from Bloated VHDX Files!

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