AppData folder - can you explain something?

Question

I have Windows Vista on my wife's computer, and I've cleaned up a lot of unnecessary files and programs.  I'm still looking to save some disk space, so I've been exploring where the waste is coming from.

Over 46 GB of space is being used inside an "AppData" folder.  I did some more digging and found that 43 GB is all due to one folder:  C:&#92;Users&#92;PDQ&#92;AppData&#92;Local&#92;Microsoft

Here's the strangest thing - When looking inside that folder, I only found 5 subfolders.  NONE of those folders held anything more than 111 MB!  There were a few other files that were all quite small in size.

2 questions - First, WHERE are the 43 GB that are supposedly inside this folder?!?  More importantly, can I delete this folder without causing havoc?

Thanks for any information you can provide.

Divide By Zero · Accepted Answer

App Data has files used by installed programs. I agree with Shawn, I wouldn't delete anything in there unless I had a specific reason or knew its function. And yep if the folders aren't showing that means they're hidden and that you haven't set folder properties to show hidden folders. Also agree that hidden folders should not be deleted willy nilly.

I do find the size of your folder strange though. I'm on XP whose equivalent folder is Application Data. It doesn't have a subfolder "Local" but it has Microsoft. However, my Microsoft folder is only about 2 MB. I don't know if your bloated folder is just a Vista thing or what. My admin account's entire Application Data folder is 120 MB.

For freeing space: if you haven't thought of it already, decrease the size of the Recycle Bin capacity.

Also if you use bloaty software, consider lighter-weight alternatives. For instance instead of Adobe reader, use Sumatra (which is better anyway imo).

Anonymous · Answer

You don't want to delete anything in that folder but they are likely hidden files and hidden for a reason :P

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AppData folder - can you explain something?

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