Docker Desktop and WSL 2 can place a large virtual-disk file under your Windows profile. The file may contain active Linux data, unused Docker images, stopped containers, or build cache, so its size alone does not tell you what can be removed.
Start with the owner, not just the VHDX file
Scan the Windows drive and open SizeTrend's Overview pane. Docker storage that the local Docker Desktop engine reports as reclaimable appears under Space You Can Reclaim. Registered WSL distributions appear under Review to Free Up Space with the distribution name and physical VHDX location.
SizeTrend keeps Docker Desktop separate from ordinary WSL distributions. That distinction matters because Docker objects should be managed by Docker, while files inside Ubuntu or another WSL distribution should be managed with Linux tools inside that distribution.
Let Docker describe its own storage
When Docker Desktop and its command-line tool are available, SizeTrend asks the local engine for image, stopped-container, and build-cache usage. Expand the rows to see what Docker reported before choosing a cleanup action.
For a selected category, SizeTrend asks Docker to prune only that category after explicit confirmation. Running containers and Docker volumes are not included. An unused image may need to be downloaded or rebuilt again, and filesystem changes stored only in a stopped container will be lost if that container is pruned.
A WSL virtual disk is not a reclaimable-space estimate
WSL 2 stores a Linux filesystem in a dynamically expanding VHDX, commonly named ext4.vhdx. SizeTrend reports the physical Windows footprint of that file. It does not claim that the same amount can be reclaimed safely.
Open the distribution and remove unwanted files with its normal Linux package, log, cache, and file-management tools first. Do not delete or edit the VHDX from Explorer. SizeTrend never deletes or compacts a WSL virtual disk automatically.
Deleting Linux files may not shrink the Windows file
A dynamically expanding virtual disk can grow as data is added without automatically returning all of that physical space after files are deleted. Confirm that the Linux data is no longer needed, shut down the distribution as directed, and use a supported Microsoft procedure if compaction is still necessary.
The exact WSL storage commands can change with the installed WSL version. Follow Microsoft's current WSL disk-space guidance rather than copying an old command from an unrelated forum post.
If the virtual disk grows again
Save a SizeTrend scan and compare it after another development cycle. Repeated growth may come from pulled images, package downloads, build layers, application logs, databases, or generated project data rather than from the VHDX format itself.
Use the comparison to establish when the growth occurred, then use Docker or Linux tools to identify the content responsible. Compacting a disk without controlling the producer only hides the symptom temporarily.
Find what owns the virtual disk before trying to shrink it.
SizeTrend separates Docker's reclaimable objects from WSL distribution storage that needs review.