Windows 11, a bug that could occupy up to 500 GB of disk space has been fixed

Microsoft has released a fix for one of the most unusual bugs that emerged in recent months on Windows 11. Some users reported a drastic reduction in free space on their PCs due to the abnormal growth of the file CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal, which in some cases reached sizes exceeding 500 GB.

The fix was introduced with the optional update KB5095093 in June 2026. In the release notes, Microsoft simply states that the update "improves disk space usage for the file CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal," without providing further details about the causes of the problem.

The affected file belongs to the Capability Access Manager, a component of Windows 11 responsible for managing permissions granted to applications to access privacy-sensitive features, such as camera, microphone, location, contacts, and screen capture. In addition to controlling these permissions, the service logs events related to access requests made by applications.

The anomaly does not directly concern the permissions system, but rather the file CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal, which is the "write-ahead log" associated with the component's database. Under normal conditions, a WAL file is used to temporarily log changes and is subsequently consolidated into the main database, reducing its size. However, on systems affected by the bug, this process does not seem to occur correctly, allowing the file to grow progressively to take up an enormous amount of disk space.

According to reports collected in recent months, the file sizes have varied widely: some users reported sizes between 12 and 70 GB, others between 200 and 500 GB, while one documented case showed a file of about 513 GB detected via TreeSize. According to Windows Latest, this behavior could be due to the continuous logging of events related to access requests for the system's protected features, such as geolocation and other privacy checks, although Microsoft has not officially confirmed this explanation.

Users can check if their system is affected by reviewing the Settings > System > Storage > Show more categories section. If the System and reserved item, or more specifically the System files, occupies hundreds of gigabytes, it is possible that the problem is present.

For a more precise check, users can also use the Command Prompt with administrative privileges to run the following command, which simply lists files without modifying them:

robocopy "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\CapabilityAccessManager" "%TEMP%\CAMCheck" /L /B /R:0 /W:0 /BYTES /NP

In the results, it is sufficient to locate the CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal file. If its size is a few megabytes, the behavior is considered normal, while sizes of several gigabytes, especially if consistently growing, likely indicate the presence of the bug.

The solution involves installing the optional update KB5095093, available through Windows Update in the advanced optional updates section. Those who prefer to wait will not need to intervene manually: the fix is scheduled to be more widely distributed with the next release of the monthly updates on July's Patch Tuesday.