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How to reduce size of huge folders in AppData Packages for BingNews and IE ?

Anonymous
2015-11-27T13:23:06+00:00

I have been checking out the space usage on my system drive of my Windows 8.1 machine and noticed two package folders that are taking up unexpectedly large amounts of space.

On one user

C:\Users<user 1>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.BingNews_8wekyb3d8bbwe at 11 GB

C:\Users<user 1>\AppData\Local\Packages\windows_ie_ac_001 at 8.4 GB  (mostly in a hidden sub-folder INetCache )

On the other main user the BingNews directly is smaller, around 7GB, and the windows_ie_ac_001 is a lot smaller at 0.5GB

This space usage seems excessive given the apps they support.  Does anyone know of a way to limit or reduce the space used in the package directory for these applications?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-11-29T20:15:12+00:00

    Thanks for the suggestions Ankit,

    The folders I am concerned about are data files for Windows Store applications that are stored in the folder %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Packages{PackageId}.   Modifying Windows System Protection does not remove the data for Windows Store applications.  Similarly, Disk Cleanup has no effect on these folder sizes,

    An investigation of the folder

    %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.BingNews_8wekyb3d8bbwe

    Showed total of 18 GB across 2 users on one PC and similarly large multi-gigabyte folders on others machines.  One temporary solution is quite simple, uninstall and reinstall the Microsoft News application.  The folder grows in size over time so you need to do this periodically

    An investigation of the folder

    %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Packages\windows_ie_ac_001

    Showed that there were some copies of large DVD ISO I downloaded several years ago in hidden folders.  I simply deleted them with no apparent ill effects.

    In both cases I would expect the Microsoft written applications to clean-up the disk space they use themselves rather than expect users to manually clean-up after them.

    Regards, David

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-11-28T12:05:32+00:00

    Hello,

    Thank you for visiting Microsoft Community.

    As per the description, I understand that you would like to reduce the size of the folders taking up huge space. I will certainly help you with the issue.

    I would suggest you to follow the steps mentioned below and check if it helps:

    Method 1:

    Check to see how much disk space is being used by System Protection:

    1. Press Windows key + X and selectSystem.
    2. Click onAdvanced System Setting.
    3. Select Configure
    4. Make adjustments under 'Disk Space usage'

    Method 2:

    If the issue persists, I suggest you to delete files using Disk Cleanup

    If you want to reduce the number of unnecessary files on your hard disk to free up disk space and help your computer run faster, use Disk Cleanup. It removes temporary files, empties the Recycle Bin, and removes a variety of system files and other items that you no longer need.

    You can refer the article mentioned below to perform disk cleanup.

    Delete files using Disk Cleanup

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/delete-files-disk-cleanup

    Note: When you run the disk clean up you may lose some files which are unused for long time and old restore points.

    Hope this information helps.

    Reply us with the status of the issue.

    Sincerely,

    Ankit Rajput

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