Thread: Windows 10 AppData directory -- Junk files?

  1. #1
    Android geek@02's Avatar
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    Windows 10 AppData directory -- Junk files?

    Hi!

    I just scanned my C: Drive with SpaceSniffer and found out that the biggest directory that eating space is the AppData Dir. (And, Uninstaller indicates that I have 114 programs installed). I don't know if all those data in AppData are required to function my Apps, or just junk data eating up memory. For example, Spotify takes like 4GBs in AppData folder, and I found numarous old temporary files in there. So I clean up the junk files both via the built in windows disk cleaner and another system maintainance app. But they don't seems to touch this directory. Is there a way to saftly clean the AppData directory?

    Thanks for any input!
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  2. #2
    null pointer Structure's Avatar
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    Basically...

    if you delete Appdata folder then it might cause problem with application installed on the computer. However while navigating to that folder if you find any folder that exists left by an application that you have already uninstalled, in that case go ahead and delete that folder.
    If you are going to delete anything back it up first so you can revert in case of a problem.
    "without goto we would be wtf'd"

  3. #3
    Guest
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    You'd have to know what you're doing (i.e. know what the program needs to function) and then manually delete those files. If you have enough disk space, save yourself the time and don't let it bother you, bloated apps are the norm these days.

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    Android geek@02's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Structure View Post
    Basically...



    If you are going to delete anything back it up first so you can revert in case of a problem.
    Thanks! Yes, I found one directory which was a leftover, and I deleted it -- freed up like 10GBs. Spotify is the next space eater, I donno what it's storing to become that big.
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    Android geek@02's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Guest View Post
    You'd have to know what you're doing (i.e. know what the program needs to function) and then manually delete those files. If you have enough disk space, save yourself the time and don't let it bother you, bloated apps are the norm these days.
    Thanks for the input! Since I deleted some data, I now have like 160GB free on C:.

    Anyways, is it probable that when more free space you have on C:, less laggy your Windows become?
    GameJolt: https://gamejolt.com/@KasunL
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  6. #6
    and the hat of int overfl Salem's Avatar
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    > Spotify takes like 4GBs in AppData folder,
    How many songs have you downloaded / listened to?

    Download procmon from sysinternals.com, and set a filter to watch for files being opened in appdata\spotify

    Listen to a new song.
    Listen to a song you've previously listened to.

    Study spotify's usage of files in it's appdata directory.

    Study the directory structure, figure out what are necessary data files (like your passwords, licences whatever) and what are just leftover audio fragments from stuff you've heard before.

    If they're in a directory called 'cache', then you can usually delete them - at the expense of having to download them again at some future time if you listen to the same thing over and over.
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    Android geek@02's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Salem View Post
    > Spotify takes like 4GBs in AppData folder,
    How many songs have you downloaded / listened to?

    Download procmon from sysinternals.com, and set a filter to watch for files being opened in appdata\spotify

    Listen to a new song.
    Listen to a song you've previously listened to.

    Study spotify's usage of files in it's appdata directory.

    Study the directory structure, figure out what are necessary data files (like your passwords, licences whatever) and what are just leftover audio fragments from stuff you've heard before.

    If they're in a directory called 'cache', then you can usually delete them - at the expense of having to download them again at some future time if you listen to the same thing over and over.
    Thanks for the reply!

    I dont download songs, I just listen to a lot (and record while listening, which is not relevent to Appdata storage). Yes, Maybe it's storing stuff that I'm listening to. I'll do what you're suggesting with procmon. I suppose deleting data in cache is probably ok, since I don't download songs.

    I'll update after doing above mentioned things.

    Thx.
    Last edited by geek@02; 09-16-2019 at 11:24 PM.
    GameJolt: https://gamejolt.com/@KasunL
    Game Development Youtube:
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    Amateur IT Blog: http://everything-geeky.blogspot.com/



    (and, sorry for my amateur English)

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