I have a fast 512 GB SSD C drive and a slower mechanical HD that I use for my data.
The problem is that the hidden AppData folder is taking up almost 150 GB of my C drive. (It was 200 GB last week, not sure where the 50 GB went!)
Is there any way to clean up this folder? Does CCleaner work on it? Is there another program that can help?
When old programs are removed, are remnants in the AppData folder removed with it?
Hello Pauleduc and welcome to the Piriform community forums.
I would be extremely cautious here. There is a reason this folder is kept hidden. Microsoft does not want you to mess with it. If you delete anything in AppData, you might find that Internet Explorer no longer works. Or Firefox. Or any of the other applications you have installed. If you have a large number of applications installed, then it stands to reason that the size of the AppData folder will also be large. It's size will change as you install or uninstall any applications/programs.
That being said, there is one very specific folder in AppData whose contents are safe to delete. It lies in the path C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Local\Temp. Just be sure to delete only the contents of this folder and not the folder itself.
as a general rule, AppData shouldn't be that huge.
mine for example is 4gig.
so I'm wondering if maybe you have Apple devices that are getting backed up to C:\Users\Pauleduc\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync
also, get yourself a good, free program called WizTree from here; https://antibody-software.com/web/software/software/wiztree-finds-the-files-and-folders-using-the-most-disk-space-on-your-hard-drive/
install it, run it, hit the Scan button and it'll show where all your space is being used.
Damn, you ninja'd me again mta, but I spotted your post this time.
I was thinking along the same lines. 150gb is big as mine is only 350mb. I'm wondering if there may be some program which isn't cleaning up after itself, such as video/audio converting software using that location for it's temporary converting process and associated data, and then leaving it behind.
I've had software like that and a folder can get big real quick if you do a lot of stuff and aren't aware of what is being left behind.
That WizTree is good. Very fast and better than the one I was gonna suggest.
Another thing worth mentioning is that not all software cleans up properly after itself when uninstalled. Usually appdata and local appdata folders are left behind but sometimes even Program Files (XP name) stuff is left behind, which is why dedicated "Install Tracker" and "Uninstaller" programs exist.
A good free Install Tracker is ZSoft Uninstaller available here ...
http://www.zsoft.dk/index/software_details/4
A good Uninstaller is Revo Uninstaller. The free version is available here ...
http://downloads.tomsguide.com/Uninstaller-Revo-Pro,0301-10196.html
Care needs to be taken with Revo, but it does have a variety of Uninstall levels which means you can stay safe if you aren't too experienced.
And please call back for advice if you need any.
EDIT: Just discovered that Revo Free isn't compatible with 64bit systems if that's what the OP has.
2012 topic worth a read on Unistallers/Trackers ...
Mine which is in the 'All Users' profile folder (XP) is 336 MB for one reason: Anti-virus and anti-malware software signature files
For instance on my system the installed ant-virus and anti-malware software are using 322 MB in that folder and it's signature files needing that space, everything else in there is just using 14 MB.
Revo Free isn't compatible with 64bit systems
According to their website it is (bottom right of the page):
http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html
Revo Uninstaller Free is fully compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 and Windows Server
According to their website it is
Right. That's one mistake I'm happy to make then.
I read that on here and didn't check their site.
@paul,
using WizTree I found Spotify is using 3gig of my AppData folder.