AppData what is this Windows folder? AppData is a lot: what is this folder, how to find and delete it.

Last time we have considered, and this time I will tell you how delete junk computer manually, by using Windows tools and programs.

1. First, let's consider where the garbage is stored in operating systems

On Windows XP

We go in and delete everything in the folders: Windows temporary files:

C: \ Documents and Settings \ username \ Local Settings \ History
C: \ Windows \ Temp
C: \ Documents and Settings \ username \ Local Settings \ Temp
C: \ Documents and Settings \ Default User \ Local Settings \ History

For Windows 7 and 8

Windows temporary files:

C: \ Windows \ Temp
C: \ Users \ Username \ AppData \ Local \ Temp
C: \ Users \ All Users \ TEMP
C: \ Users \ All Users \ TEMP
C: \ Users \ Default \ AppData \ Local \ Temp

Browser cache

Opera cache:

C: \ users \ username \ AppData \ Local \ Opera \ Opera \ cache \

Mozilla cache:

C: \ Users \ username \ AppData \ Local \ Mozilla \ Firefox \ Profiles \ folder \ Cache

Google Chrome cache (Chrome):

C: \ Users \ username \ AppData \ Local \ Bromium \ User Data \ Default \ Cache
C: \ Users \ User \ AppData \ Local \ Google \ Chrome \ User Data \ Default \ Cache

Or we drive in the address chrome: // version / and we see the path to the profile. There will be a folder Cache

Temporary Internet Files:

C: \ Users \ username \ AppData \ Local \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Temporary Internet Files \

Recent docs:

C: \ Users \ username \ AppData \ Roaming \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Recent \

Some folders can be hidden from prying eyes. To show them you need.

2. Cleaning the disk from temporary and unused files using

Standard Disk Cleanup tool

1. Go to "Start" -> "All Programs" -> "Accessories" -> "System Tools" and run the "Disk Cleanup" program.

2. Select a disk to clean up:

The disk scanning process starts ...

3. A window will open with information about the amount of space occupied by temporary files:

Check the boxes next to the sections that you want to clear and click "OK".

4. But this not all... If you installed Windows 7 not on a blank disk, but on top of a previously installed operating system, you probably have such space-consuming folders as Windows.old or $ WINDOWS. ~ Q.

Also, it might make sense to delete system restore checkpoints (other than the last one). To perform this operation, repeat steps 1-3, but this time click "Clean up system files":

5. After the procedure described in item 2, you will see the same window, but the “Additional” tab will appear at the top. Go to it.

Under System Restore and Shadow Copies, click Clean.

3. Files pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys

The files are located at the root of the system drive and take up quite a lot of space.

1. The pagefile.sys file is system swap file(virtual memory). You cannot delete it (it is also not recommended to reduce it), but you can and even need to move it to another disk.

This is done very simply, open "Control Panel - System and Security - System", select "Advanced system settings" in the "Performance" section, click "Settings", switch to the "Advanced" tab (or press the combination of the key win + R, the command will open run and type SystemPropertiesAdvanced there) and in the section “ Virtual memory"Click" Change ". There you can select the location of the paging file and its size (I recommend leaving the "Size as selected by the system").

4. Removing unnecessary programs from the disk

A good way to free up disk space (and as an added bonus to increase system performance) is to uninstall unused programs.

Go to Control Panel and select "Uninstall Programs". A list will appear in which you can select the program you want to uninstall and click "Uninstall".

5. Defragmentation

Defragmentation hard disk, carried out by the defragmenter program, allows you to organize the contents of the clusters, that is, move them on the disk so that clusters with the same file are placed sequentially, and empty clusters are merged. This leads to increase speed access to files, and hence to some increase in the speed of the computer, which at high level fragmentation disk may be quite noticeable... The standard disk defragmenter is located along the path: Start> All Programs> Standard> Utilities> Disk Defragmenter

This is what the program looks like. In which you can analyze disk, where the program will show a diagram of disk fragmentation and tell you whether or not you need to defragment. You can also set a schedule for when the disk will be defragmented. This is a program built into Windows, there are also separate programs for disk defragmentation, for example, which can be downloaded here:

Its interface is also quite simple.

Here are its advantages over the standard program:

Analysis before disk defragmentation Perform disk analysis before defragmenting. After the analysis, a dialog box is displayed with a diagram on the percentage of fragmented files and folders on the disk and a recommendation for action. It is recommended to carry out the analysis regularly, and defragmentation only after the appropriate recommendation of the disk defragmentation program. It is recommended to perform disk analysis at least once a week. If the need for defragmentation is rare, the interval for performing disk analysis can be increased to one month.
Analysis after adding a large number files After adding a large number of files or folders, disks can become excessively fragmented, so it is recommended to analyze them in such cases.
Check for at least 15% free disk space To fully and correctly defragment using Disk Defragmenter, your disk must have at least 15% free space. Disk Defragmenter uses this space as an area for sorting file fragments. If the volume is less than 15% of the free space, Disk Defragmenter will only perform partial defragmentation. To free up additional disk space, delete unnecessary files or move them to another disk.
Post-installation defragmentation software or Windows installations Defragment disks after installing software or after performing an update or clean install of Windows. Disks are often fragmented after software installation, so running Disk Defragmenter can help ensure the best file system performance.
Save time on disk defragmentation You can save a little the time required for defragmentation if you delete garbage files from your computer before starting the operation, and also exclude the system files pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys, which are used by the system as temporary, spooled files and are recreated at the beginning of each Windows session. ...

6. Remove unnecessary from startup

7. Remove all unnecessary from

Well, what you do not need on the desktop, you think for yourself you know. You can read how to use it. , a very important procedure, so do not forget about it!

Users of the Windows Vista operating system were the first to find an unknown folder on their computer, and the question immediately arose: what is this folder AppData? Attention to it was caused due to the fact that it occupied a considerable part of the computer's memory, and sometimes its weight reached 10 GB or more.

Because there weren't many Vista supporters compared to users Windows 7, then the issue was not so global. Later, however, more and more questions related to the mysterious folder appeared.

The detection settings for this folder are slightly different in Windows 10, so it makes sense to analyze all the subtleties of the question. At the same time, it is important to remember the main rules of programmers and not to violate the operation of the entire system by cleaning seemingly "unnecessary" files or cause its complete destabilization.

In addition, it will be useful to find out what vulnerabilities are selected by one interesting virus associated with this very AppData folder to download and defeat the system. All this will help protect and secure your PC and extend its proper functioning.

Interesting?

Then we continue!

What's in the AppData folder

Speaking simple language, this folder contains all kinds of "necessary stuff", which is saved from the work of programs, games, settings. It also has history, bookmarks, and the like. This information is stored in the hope that all this may someday be needed by the user.

The more time the system works, the more the size of this folder increases due to new data and information, and the less remains free space on disk... If you get to this folder, then inside it you can see three more following folders, like:

"Roaming". The user can freely transfer the contents of this folder if necessary, for example, when reinstalling the entire system, to a removable disk and then return everything back to its place, keeping personal settings in their original form. It also stores all information from browsers and bookmarks that the user saves.
"Local". The contents of this folder are mainly local data that cannot be migrated along with the user profile. For example, you can find saved games or downloaded files here.
"LocalLow". The third folder contains the most protected from prying eyes data and files that cannot be transferred. These files function only in a well-protected mode, which guarantees an adequate level of security for their content.

The contents of the folder are shown in Figure 1.

Rice. 1. Contents of the Appdata folder

How do I find the AppData folder?

Finding a folder is not at all difficult, for this it is important to follow several simple instructions... Since this folder belongs to the category of hidden ones, first you need to configure display hidden folders on the computer... In Windows XP, the task is solved in the following way:

you need to click on the folder with the left mouse button;
then you should go to the properties of the folder;
then go to the "View" tab;
put a checkmark in front of the team Show hidden files and folders.

Rice. 2. How to install the command to display hidden folders on Windows XP

The settings can be changed just by opening the folder properties. When it comes to Windows 7 and Windows 8, then there is no such quick and easy access. The folder settings can be found in "Control panels"... There you need to select in the "folder options", as shown in Figure 3.

Rice. 3. Path to the search for the "Folder options" command.

Rice. 4. How to install the command to display hidden folders on Windows 7 and Windows 8

Deleting a folder

It is important to remember one important detail that can affect the correct operation of the entire system.

As for the Appdata folder, you need to make sure that it does not contain the files required for the operation of some programs. To do this, just go to the folder and see its contents.

In fact, a lot of "necessary stuff" from the AppData folder can be removed and, accordingly, increase the amount of free space... However, the entire folder cannot be deleted, because many system and user files use the contents of Appdata in their work.

If her data were deleted, it would immediately lead to a disruption in the system. Each user can analyze which files are not needed and which will not affect the correct operation of the OS, after which you can selectively clean up unnecessary data and only at the moment when they are inactive.

AppData on Windows 10

By by and large, the search for the AppData folder practically does not differ from the same path that must be done in the "seven" and "eight".

The only difference is that in order to open itself Control Panel, in which it will be possible to configure the properties of the folder, you need to do a little different steps. In this OS, there are two control panels: one classic, to which most PC users are accustomed, and the other - an abbreviated one.

The classic panel contains many more tools that the user can use to control. The abbreviated panel, in turn, opens the most frequently used commands, and with its help it is even easier to find the required section.

Many reviews suggest that such changes were surprising, but how to find AppData in Windows 10? To do this, again, you need to get into the section "Folders settings", which can be reached via "Control Panel"... The search process is as follows:

right-click on the "Start" menu;
select the required line for setting;

Rice. 5. How to find the "folder options" section through the classic control panel to display the Appdata folder.

After that, you need to do the same steps as in the seven and eight, to configure the properties of the folders and display hidden files... The AppData folder will then be visible to the user, and as a result, its contents can be cleaned or moved.

Deleting files in AppData folder with unnecessary program

To begin with, it is important to remember that deleting a system program will cause the most dire consequences for the entire OS. Therefore, if there are files of some system program in the AppData folder, it is better not to touch them.

However, if the file to be deleted is not a system file, then there are several options for deleting it.

In some cases, as soon as the user clicks the button "Uninstall the program", the system does not allow this action to be taken. This is due to the fact that in this moment it is active and in use.

Therefore, you first need to close the program itself by stopping its workflow, after which it will be guaranteed to uninstall it without hindrance. This is very important for cases when the user wants to remove something from the Appdata folder.

If the program to be removed is running in the background or invisible, then to stop it you need to:

press simultaneously "Alt", "Ctrl" and "Del";
go to the "Processes" section;
select the desired program by name;
press the button "end the process".

Rice. 6. Working with the task manager to complete the process of a certain program.

When you are completely sure that the program is no longer needed, you can search for it by name among the general list of programs installed on your computer and uninstall. After the done operation, the AppData folder can be cleared of all unnecessary information.

AppData and viruses

For many viruses, AppData is a favorite download location. Since the folder is hidden, it can be viewed using a common program such as Total commander... Only in this program you need to press the button "Show hidden / system files"... This will remove the virus.

Rice. 7. Button "Show hidden / system files" in Total Commander

It is almost impossible to see the virus by simply looking through the folders, since its name is well disguised and poorly recognized. That is why it is important to regularly scan your computer using antivirus software.

Folder "AppData" contains user information for various applications (history, settings, sessions, bookmarks, temporary files, etc.). Over time, it becomes littered with various data that may no longer be needed, but only take up disk space. In this case, it makes sense to clean this directory. In addition, if, when reinstalling the operating system, the user wants to save the settings and data that he used in various programs earlier, then you need to transfer the contents of this directory from the old system to the new one by copying it. But first you need to find where it is located. Let's find out how to do this on computers with operating system Windows 7.

Name "AppData" stands for "Application Data", that is, translated into Russian it means "application data". Actually, in Windows XP this directory had a full name, which in later versions was shortened to the present one. As mentioned above, the specified folder contains data that is accumulated during the operation of applications, games, and other applications. There may be more than one directory on a computer with this name, but several. Each of them corresponds to a separate user created account... In the catalog "AppData" there are three subdirectories:

"Local";
"LocalLow";
"Roaming".

Each of these subdirectories contains folders whose names are identical to the names of the respective applications. These directories should be cleaned to free up disk space.

Turn on the visibility of hidden folders

You should know that the directory "AppData"Hidden by default. This is done so that inexperienced users do not mistakenly delete important data contained in it or in its entirety. But in order to find this folder, we need to enable the visibility of hidden folders. Before moving on to detection methods "AppData", let's find out how to do it. There are several options for enabling the visibility of hidden folders and files. Those users who want to familiarize themselves with them can do so using a separate article on our website. Here we will consider only one option.

Show hidden folders will be enabled.

Method 1: "Find programs and files" field

Now let's go directly to the methods with which you can move to the desired directory or find where it is located. If you want to go to "AppData" current user, you can do this using the field Find programs and files located in the menu "Start".

Directly to the catalog "AppData" you can get there immediately by entering an expression in the field Find programs and files.

Method 2: Run Tool

The option of opening a directory is very similar in terms of the algorithm of actions. "AppData" can be done with the system tool "Run"... This method, like the previous one, is suitable for opening a folder for the account under which the user is currently working.

Similarly with the previous method, you can immediately go to the folder "AppData".

Method 3: Go through "Explorer"

How to find out the address and get into the folder "AppData", intended for the account in which the user is currently working, we figured it out. But what to do if you need to open a directory "AppData" for another profile? To do this, you need to make the transition directly through "Conductor" or enter the exact location address, if you already know it, into the address bar "Explorer"... The problem is that for each individual user, depending on the system settings, the location of Windows and the name of the accounts, this path will be different. But the general pattern of the path to the directory where the required folder is located will look like this:

(system_disk): \ Users \ (username)

There are several options to get into the folder "AppData" and find out its location in Windows 7. This can be done as a direct jump method using "Explorer", and by introducing command expressions into the fields of some system tools. It is important to know that there can be several folders with a similar name, in accordance with the names of the accounts that are created in the system. Therefore, you need to immediately understand which directory you want to go to.

Hello everyone. I'll tell you right away that I have Windows 7, but everything I write here, I think all this applies to newer versions of Windows. So the Roaming folder is a very important folder and trust me if you delete it, you will have decent problems. But what kind of folder? What's the catch, why is it so important? The thing is that all programs store their settings in this folder. Exactly almost everything, here are the browsers, all your Photoshop and Google Chrome, it's all there. The programs themselves are not put there, they only keep the settings there.

But why is this all? Well, I don't know to be honest. But I think my knowledge will be enough to assume that this is ... in general, where are the programs placed? To the Program Files folder, and therefore any user can use them. But in order for each user to have their own settings, then the Roaming folder is needed. After all, it is located in the user's personal folder

This is all done so that each Windows user can have their own personal settings. All right, I think it's clear?

To quickly get into this folder, that is, such a trick, you see you hold down Win + R and write the following command there and click OK:

The Roaming folder will open, and this is what I have in it:

As you can see there are many folders, all of them have only settings. By the way, I seem to have seen some programs that are exactly installed in this folder, but it seems that this is wrong .. and it seems that they do it to make them more difficult to remove ..

To see the folder itself, and not its contents, then first go up one level:

And then you will see the folder itself:

By the way, for interest, I right-clicked on it, selected the properties of the willows from how much space it takes from me:

Well, that is, not so much by modern standards.

Some programs are not entirely decent and, when uninstalled, leave their settings in the Roaming folder. Some do this on purpose in case you install the program again, so that in the end it will pick up the existing settings. Well, I think you get the idea.

Nevertheless, I will remind you that you cannot delete system folders, but if you really need it and you are sure that you need it, then here's a program for you. She is a specialist in deleting non-removable folders!

So, I think we can draw a conclusion. Never delete the Roaming folder just like that, and others, too, that are nearby. If you do this, then you will firstly delete all settings for all programs, as well as some system settings. In this folder, only portable programs do not store settings, they store them right where they sit.

Well, that seems to be all. I wrote everything in detail, I think you understand everything. I wish you good luck and good mood

18.07.2016

For a long time now, Windows has been used as the most reliable and stable OS for managing computers, both private and commercial. Users often have to work with system resources - edit files, transfer them to free up space on the hard drive, edit to change functionality or increase performance.

But even long-term use of the system for many users is not an opportunity to explore all its "charms", since almost no one wants to read literature about a Windows device, it is much more convenient for people to use a ready-made one, without delving into the essence and principle of the device.

What is the appdata folder?

It is for these reasons that many users do not know where "AppData" is located in Windows OS. Actually this is a hidden directory of files, which stores a lot of data about installed applications. Access to it may be required under various circumstances, for example, changing the software components of any applications, or clearing the accumulated "garbage" of installed applications that wastefully occupy the memory of the hard drive.

Access to this folder may be needed when installing mods for games or programs. When it comes to accessing "AppData", many are faced with one gigantic problem - the absence of this directory. Then the person begins to look for a solution why he does not have this directory, and how you can find "AppData" on Windows xp, 7 or higher version of the system.
To be honest, the "AppData" directory is available in all versions Windows systems and the folder location does not change. There are several ways to find it. The most elementary is to specify such a combination in the address bar of the standard conductor english letters and symbols: "% USERPROFILE% \ AppData". This value for Windows Explorer will serve as the address to the directory you are looking for. To open it yourself, in the usual way, you need to turn on the visibility mode for the "AppData" folder, because according to the initial, standard settings, this directory is in invisibility mode. That is why many people cannot find the "AppData" directory on their computer. To activate the visibility of hidden folders on a computer running Windows, you need to find the folder setting in the control panel, where you can change the visibility of system folders, as well as files, but be careful then, because there is a risk of accidentally deleting or damaging previously hidden system files due to which may compromise the stability of the system. After you have configured the display of hidden folders in the system, you can open the "AppData" folder by following this path: start / administrator / AppData.

Find and open the folder

First, we make the folders visible (we make the hidden ones visible).

Button "Start" -> "Control Panel".
On the "View" tab, check "Show hidden files, folders and drives"

And click OK.

In the explorer, enter "% USERPROFILE% \ AppData".

And press Enter.

In addition to standard changes to the parameters to open the visibility of the "AppData" folder, you can use third-party applications, with which you can freely open access to certain files in Windows OS. A striking example of such software is Total Commander - a utility specially created for the convenient implementation of various manipulations with files and directories in the Windows system. In addition to the regular explorer, Total Commander without any settings can open you access to any resource in the Windows file system. It is made in a convenient format, displaying the file system under the guise of two separate windows, which allows you to very quickly and efficiently perform the necessary actions.