Microsoft game taking up disk space, but not showing as installed.

I have done everything you have said and yet the “missing” storage has not been removed or revealed as to what is taking up the space. I have since installed the game again and have it up and running, but am still wondering why the first install was cancelled yet the 171GB of data then filled up my drive. Any further ideas would be a great help. I apologise for taking your time for what seems to just be a glitch but i’ve seen many other posts regarding this and majority of them fixed it through simple ways or through Treesize.

Hi Logan Davison,

Thank you for your reply.

This space may be temporarily occupied by temporary files, like sometimes when you are trying to download something, if the download does not finish, it will be saved in the download path as a temporary file in the folder.

The operation of "install application" is essentially a process of unpacking - extracting files - copying to the computer - verifying file integrity and whether it needs to be updated - updating files - completing the installation.

There are many possible causes for a download failure. Network fluctuations, insufficient storage space, or third-party software interference are possible. Some downloads that do not support resumable files may be saved in the path as temporary files due to these reasons, which consumes storage space.

But now it seems that the game is installed and can be played normally.

Best regards,

Mitchell - | Microsoft community support expert from MSFT

Hello Logan Davison,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

I have read the thread you posted here in full and it seems that you have some doubts about the space usage of the disk and think that the system's file Explorer is displaying incorrect information, so you use a third-party disk space management tool (TreeSize) to check the storage space of the entire disk. The result of the detection is not the same as the result displayed in the file Explorer.

However, Ark: Survival Evolved is not an app developed by Microsoft.

I could probably try to give you some advice, but please note that TreeSize is not a Microsoft app and we don't know much about it, so the test results are for reference only.

1. Check the recycle bin:

Make sure to empty the recycle bin. Deleted files are usually moved to the recycle bin, where they may still take up space until you delete them permanently.

2. Clear temporary files:

Run the built-in disk cleanup tool for Windows to delete temporary files. To do this, search for "Disk Cleanup" in the Start menu, select your drive, and then select the type of files you want to delete, including temporary files.

3. Check storage Settings:

In Windows Settings, navigate to "System" and then "Storage." Here, you can run the "Free Space Now" tool, which helps you clean up unnecessary files, including files related to previous installations.

4. Check disk errors:

Run a disk check to identify and fix potential disk errors. Open the command prompt as an administrator and run the command chkdsk /f /r. You may need to restart your computer to complete the scan.

Disclaimer: Running chkdsk can check the file system and file system metadata of a volume for logical and physical errors. To avoid any trouble for you, please follow them step-by step ,do not cancel or interrupt chkdsk, and back up important data.

More information please refer to thischkdsk article.

After these steps, the overall disk usage will theoretically be updated. Check whether File Explorer's identification of storage space has changed.

Best regards,

Mitchell - | Microsoft community support expert from MSFT