Free PC house is a treasured commodity, particularly in the event you’re a cussed bastard like me and refuse to only purchase a brand new SSD when you must. Spending cash on a modest storage improve? That is the coward’s method. As an alternative, I unfold backups throughout a drawer stuffed with previous USB sticks, and spend an hour each month or two clearing out my PC’s inner storage to make room for no matter I am making an attempt to obtain.
Though it pains me to delete even essentially the most trivial file (what if I want that Garfield gif later?), a lot of the knowledge that accumulates on my inner SSDs will be despatched to the digital afterlife with out consequence.
Throughout my common PC storage clearing sprees, I’ve often saved psychological notes of what I eliminated and the place I discovered it for future reference. Now I am publishing these notes right here with the hope that this map of my very own deletable knowledge will assist others uncover and filter the web sediment clogging up their very own PCs.
Persons are typically extra comparable than not: Once I requested my colleagues at PC Gamer for recommendations on what to delete, it turned out that we had most of the identical knowledge hoarding issues. I used to be mildly shocked, nevertheless, when Affiliate Editor Tyler Colp admitted to storing over 70GB of Closing Fantasy 14 screenshots. That’s too many Closing Fantasy 14 screenshots, so that is the onerous drive area the place we’ll begin.
1. Shadowplay highlights that are not as cool as I assumed they had been on the time (150GB)
Once I smash my Nvidia Shadowplay immediate replay hotkey to avoid wasting the final minute of gameplay as an mp4, it at all times seems like I simply captured the primary convincing proof of Bigfoot. Once I watch the clip later, although, it simply appears like anybody taking part in an FPS—wow, three kills, cool—or scoring a Rocket League purpose that is value, at greatest, a pat on the again. I additionally discover a number of random crap in my Shadowplay folder: Simply now I deleted clips from Wreckfest, Neon White, Descenders, Chivalry 2, and a recreation referred to as Turbo Golf Racing that I performed one time. Deleted.
2. Movies of my desktop that I by chance captured (10GB)
One other straightforward one to begin with: I often hit the moment replay hotkey I arrange for Shadowplay whereas doing issues that don’t name for immediate replays, reminiscent of writing an electronic mail. If you have not seemed by means of Shadowplay’s “Desktop” folder just lately (or wherever your recording software program stashes movies of your desktop), it is a good place to search for junk.
3. Video games I put in outdoors of Steam after which forgot about (8.33 GB)
When was the final time you opened up Origin and logged in? Are you positive you uninstalled Battlefield 4? How about Mass Impact 3? It is value a glance. After which there’s Uplay, Battle.web, the Epic Video games Retailer, your GOG obtain folder, and game-specific launchers. Whereas engaged on this text, I remembered that I performed Valorant for a number of months when it launched in 2020, after which forgot I would ever put in it. 8.33GB reclaimed.
4. All the things in my Downloads folder (270MB)
I haven’t got my net browser set as much as robotically ship information to Home windows’ formally designated Downloads folder, preferring to manually choose a hastily-named folder on my desktop each time I obtain one thing, as God supposed. Nonetheless, a rogue utility or misclick will typically stuff one thing in there: I discovered and deleted 270MB value of installers, pictures, and PDFs that most likely weren’t vital.
5. Outdated Home windows replace information (2.18GB)
Windirstat
Protip: WinDirStat (opens in new tab), quick for Home windows Listing Statistics, is a free program that may scan your drive and generate a visible illustration of all of your information, which makes it straightforward to determine what’s taking on essentially the most house in your drives.
If you replace Home windows, the OS holds onto a replica of the replace so as to roll again if wanted. If you wish to eliminate them, you may. Discover the Disk Cleanup app by trying to find it from the Begin menu or taskbar, then run it and choose the drive you will have Home windows put in on. Hit the “Clear up system information” button and it will ask you to pick a drive once more after which load some new cleanup choices. The one you need is “Home windows Replace Cleanup.” I had over 2GB of previous updates hanging round on my C: drive, and I’ve by no means had a cause to roll again but, so I wiped ’em. A few of us simply dwell on the sting.
6. The Home windows.Outdated folder (12GB)
If you improve to a brand new model of Home windows, it retains the previous model in your major drive in a folder referred to as Home windows.Outdated in case you need to roll again. Home windows removes this folder robotically after some time, and that had already occurred by the point I seemed. If you happen to upgraded just lately and wish the house again immediately, although, the Disk Cleanup device can maintain it. The strategy is identical as within the earlier entry: Run Disk Cleanup, hit “Clear up system information,” after which choose “Earlier Home windows set up(s).”
7. A bunch of Home windows thumbnails (355MB)
Home windows shops thumbnails of the pictures and movies in your folders in order that it may well shortly show them while you’re shopping File Explorer. That is one other cache of knowledge that may be wiped with the Disk Cleanup utility, in the event you’re actually scrounging for additional house. Home windows will autogenerate new thumbnails, however I most likely did not want the 355MB value of tiny pictures that had constructed up on my Home windows drive.
8. Pre-installed Home windows apps and different junk applications (1GB)
Why did I’ve Sweet Crush Buddies put in? 256MB. What the hell is Farm Heroes Saga? 276MB. I do not understand how these King.com video games ended up on my PC, however they’re gone now, and I am going to sleep higher now that such grossly pointless knowledge is not uglying up the quantum fields round my PC. Browse the “Add or take away applications” part of the Home windows management panel for your self and you might also discover some bizarre packages which have been deposited in your PC. It will not unlock a lot house, however you can even eliminate Microsoft apps you may by no means use like 3D Builder, Blended Actuality Portal, and Groove Music.
9. Outdated betas hiding in EA and Battle.web folders (18GB)
Did you strive the Battlefield 2042 open beta again in 2021? Or Name of Responsibility: Trendy Warfare 2 this yr? Did you put in the general public testing server model of an MMO in some unspecified time in the future after which overlook about it?
These folders are a dream discover for house hunters: They’re often large, and deleting them is completely with out consequence, since no matter beta interval they had been for ended months or years in the past. I did not discover any beta builds in my most up-to-date hunt, however I did discover a tech demo I’ve no cause to maintain round: The Unreal Engine 5 CitySample demo that I checked out in April. 18GB taken again from The Matrix.
10. Outdated mods I do not use anymore (1GB)
This may take some looking out, as a result of mods find yourself all over and are available in many types: Steam Workshop subscriptions, executable installers, compressed zip and rar information, directories organized by mod managers, and folders stuffed into recreation set up directories. Video games which have built-in mod browsers is perhaps dumping them into your Paperwork folder, too. Mods that embrace plenty of textures, audio, and different belongings will be big, so remembering that you just downloaded and by no means performed an The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion whole conversion in 2015 may very well be a clutch house reclamation transfer.
11. Junk recreation knowledge within the Paperwork folder (118MB)
Talking of the Home windows Paperwork folder, it is ineffective as an precise place to retailer paperwork, as a result of video games fill it up with save information, settings presets, and sometimes heftier packages of knowledge. I discovered that Baldur’s Gate 3, which I do not even have put in on Steam anymore, had stashed 118MB within the Larian Studios subfolder. I additionally discovered 271MB value of Rocket League replay information, however I saved these, in fact, as a result of who is aware of after I’ll have to rewatch a purpose I scored in 2017?
Watch out with this one, in fact: You do not need to by chance delete a treasured save recreation that is not backed up within the Steam cloud or elsewhere.
12. Backups I may put within the cloud (3GB)
I am horrible about backing up knowledge: I often simply let mildly vital pictures and different data construct up on my inner drives till I’ve no alternative however to dump it onto no matter house I can scrounge up on my varied exterior backup drives. It will by no means cease retaining my very own sloppily organized bodily backups, however contemplate primarily backing up your telephone and different vital knowledge within the cloud, which is way much less prone to fail you than an SSD or HDD. (In fact, Google Drive and iCloud and different web storage companies replenish, too. It is a wrestle.)
13. Junk I discovered within the AppData folder (1.75GB)
One time I made a decision I ought to change into aware of the ideas of machine studying, so I began tinkering with Python programming and Google’s TensorFlow library. After a number of days of struggling to do something fascinating with it, I concluded that type of getting the fundamental thought behind machine studying was ok. Why ought to I’ve to study if machines are doing it for us now anyway? I deserted the venture, however it seems that the venture didn’t abandon my AppData folder, the place I simply discovered a 750MB Python library file.
The AppData folder will be present in your consumer folder on Home windows (eg, C:UsersTylerAppData), however it’s hidden, so to see it you must open the Folder Choices menu in Home windows (you will get there from any File Explorer window) and beneath the View tab, choose “Present hidden information, folders, and drives.” You may as well kind %appdata% within the search bar.
It is a mildly dangerous place to go attempting to find undesirable information, since you may wind up deleting one thing a program wants and trigger minor messes. If you happen to discover a large file related to a program you do not use anymore, it is higher to uninstall this system correctly somewhat than simply deleting its cached knowledge. However not all the things will be disposed of by the e book: Whereas shopping my AppData folder, I additionally discovered a complete gig of Nvidia Broadcast crash dumps. That is the value of RTX-powered nnoise cancellation, I suppose.
14. The earth (2GB)
One other hidden Home windows folder value poking round in is ProgramData, which is discovered within the root listing of your predominant drive. It is mainly the identical as AppData: a hiding spot for vital program-specific knowledge which is not at all times cleared out when it ought to be. For example, in some unspecified time in the future I attempted out Google Earth VR, thought it was mildly cool, after which removed it, and but the earth remained on my PC as a 2GB database file stashed in C:ProgramDataGoogleVREarthearthdata.
Goodbye, Gaia. I’ll now use the opening left by your absence to retailer clips of me taking part in Name of Responsibility.
You won’t get to take pleasure in liberating up 2GB by deleting the planet all of us dwell on, however maybe you may discover another long-forgotten knowledge hiding right here. Once more, watch out in system folders, and keep away from deleting something that may be eliminated by uninstalling a program correctly.
15. Video games I have not uninstalled as a result of they’re tiny and hardly taking on any house, however now there’s like 100 of them sitting forgotten on the backside of my Steam library
This final one is a visitor entry from Information Lead Andy Chalk, as a result of I truly hold a really tidy Steam library: Rocket League, Rainbow Six Siege, and Ratz Instagib are at all times put in, and only a few different video games are allowed to rotate out and in at a time. However I am guessing lots of people can relate to Andy, who writes:
“I have not performed Edith Finch since November 2017, however it’s nonetheless consuming up 2.4GB of drive house. Tiny and Massive: Grandpa’s Leftovers has gone untouched since Might 2018, and that is one other 2.4GB. Kentucky Route Zero: PC Version, which I nonetheless have not completed, has been ready for me to come back again to it since September two-thousand-goddamned-thirteen. There are dozens of video games like this mendacity round. They’re like water: It would not appear to be a lot while you’re holding it in a glass, but when I throw you into the ocean, you’ve got received an actual downside.”
