Where are the Users and AppData folders located, and what is stored in them. Where is the AppData folder and why is it needed?

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

Since there were few Vista OS supporters compared to Windows 7 users, the issue was not so global. However, later more and more questions appeared related to the mysterious folder.

The detection settings for this folder are slightly different in Windows 10, so it makes sense to look into all the intricacies of the issue. At the same time, it is important to remember the main rules of programmers and not to disrupt the operation of the entire system or cause its complete destabilization by clearing seemingly “unnecessary” files.

In addition, it will be useful to learn about what vulnerabilities one interesting virus associated with this very AppData folder chooses to download and infect the system. All this will help protect and secure your PC and prolong its proper functioning.

Interesting?

What's in the AppData folder

In simple terms, this folder stores all sorts of “necessary junk”, which is saved from the operation of programs, games, and settings. There's also history, bookmarks, and the like. This information is saved in the hope that the user may need all this someday.

The more time the system runs, the more the size of this folder increases due to new data and information, and the less free space remains on the disk. If you get to this folder, then inside it you can see the following three 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, preserving the personal settings in their original form. Also, all information from browsers and bookmarks that the user saves is saved here.
"Local". The contents of this folder are primarily local data that cannot be migrated with the user profile. For example, you can find saved games or downloaded files here.
"Local Low". The third folder stores the most protected data and files that cannot be transferred from prying eyes. These files operate only in well-protected mode, which guarantees an adequate level of security for their contents.

The contents of the folder are shown in Figure 1.

Rice. 1. Contents of the Appdata folder

How to find the AppData folder?

Finding the folder is not at all difficult; to do this, it is important to follow a few simple instructions. Since this folder is classified as hidden, first you need to configure the display of hidden folders on your computer. In Windows XP, the problem is solved this way:

you need to left-click on the folder;
then you should go to the folder properties;
after that, go to the “View” tab;
check the box next to the “Show hidden files and folders” command.

Rice. 2. How to set the command to show hidden folders on Windows XP

Settings can be changed by simply opening the folder properties. When it comes to Windows 7 and Windows 8, there is no such quick and easy access. Folder settings can be found in the Control Panel. There you need to select “folder options”, as shown in Figure 3.

Rice. 3. Path to search for the Folder Options command.

Rice. 4. How to set the show hidden folders command 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.

Important: If a folder or file takes up a lot of disk space and you want to quickly get rid of it, freeing up a decent amount of free space, you need to be completely convinced that it is unnecessary and unimportant. This also applies to the Appdata folder.

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

In fact, a lot of “needed junk” can be deleted from the AppData folder and, accordingly, the amount of free space can be increased. However, this 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 they can selectively clear unnecessary data and only at the moment when they are inactive.

Hint: The analysis is quite simple - if you constantly use some program, the files from which are in the Appdata folder, you do not need to delete them. Everything else can be removed.

AppData on Windows 10

By and large, searching for the AppData folder is practically no different from the same path that needs to be taken in the “seven” and “eight”.

The only difference is that in order to open the Control Panel itself, where you can configure the folder properties, you need to do slightly different steps. This OS has two control panels: one is classic, which most PC users are used to, and the other is shortened.

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

Many reviews indicate that these changes were amazing, but how to find AppData in Windows 10? To do this, again you need to go to the “Folder Options” section, which can be accessed through the “Control Panel”. The search process is as follows:

right-click on the “Start” menu;
select the desired line to configure;

Rice. 5. How to find the Folder Options section through the Classic Control Panel to display the Appdata folder.

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

Deleting files in the AppData folder with an 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.

Hint: It’s very easy to recognize the system program - in the “Task Manager”, on the “Processes” tab in the “Description” column it will be written “Microsoft” or “Windows”. We'll talk further about how to open this same dispatcher.

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

In some cases, as soon as the user clicks the “uninstall program” button, the system does not allow this action to be carried out. This happens because it is currently active and in use.

Therefore, you first need to close the program itself, stopping its working process, after which its unhindered removal will be guaranteed. This is very relevant for cases when the user wants to remove something from the Appdata folder.

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

press “Alt”, “Ctrl” and “Del” at the same time;
go to the “Processes” section;
select the desired program by name;
Click the “end process” button.

Rice. 6. Working with the task manager to end the process of a specific program.

When you are completely sure that a program is no longer needed, you can find it by name among the general list of programs installed on your computer and delete it. After the operation has been completed, 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 click the “Show hidden/system files” button. This way you can remove the virus.

Rice. 7. “Show hidden/system files” button in Total Commander

When simply browsing folders, it is almost impossible to see the virus, since its name is well masked and difficult to recognize. This is why it is important to regularly scan your computer using an antivirus.

There are many secrets hidden in the Windows operating system. Some of them are more interesting than others. If you take on the task of unraveling them, you can gain enormous benefits and invaluable experience.

Need to know

As an example, we can take the AppData directory. What is this folder? It first appeared in the Vista operating system. Few people suspect its existence. And the reason is that this directory is hidden from user eyes, because it contains extremely important system files. But understanding the nature of this folder can help significantly save such precious hard disk space and, possibly, improve the performance of the entire system as a whole.

Catalog description

So, the AppData directory: what is it? The full name of the folder is Application Data. This is a system directory hidden by default, which is a subdirectory of the Users folder, which stores the personal files of all users registered on this computer.

AppData contains all the information generated by the software installed on the computer. Such data is invisible to the user, since all these files, in theory, should be of absolutely no interest to him.

Possible problem

But the reality, however, often differs from what Microsoft originally intended. If the operating system is actively and continuously used without reinstallations, the size of the AppData folder will begin to grow rapidly. Windows 7 will soon inform the user that there is too little free space left on the system partition. This problem especially applies to relatively small SSD devices, since on them every megabyte is worth its weight in gold.

Making the folder visible

It is necessary to take a closer look at the structure of the AppData folder. What will this give? It will become clear which of the files stored in the directory are very important and which are not so important.

As already mentioned, it is hidden by default, so in order to get to it, you will need to change some operating system settings. To do this, you need to open and then go to the “Design and Personalization” section. The next thing to do is to open the folder options dialog box and in the “View” tab, find in the list of options the option responsible for drives and folders. All that remains is to simply change the default settings to the opposite - “Show hidden files”.

Now not only the AppData folder will be visible. What does it mean? The user will have access to other system directories and files, as well as those files that may have been hidden by other users.

Directory structure

The directory in question is located on the system disk in the Users folder, but you need to pay attention to the fact that each user registered in the system has its own AppData directory. What does it mean? Windows 7 and other versions of the operating system mean that each user will install their own programs, so there is no point in dumping everything into one directory. That's why you need to find a directory in the folder with your own username. By default, the folder has three subfolders: Local, LocalLow, Roaming. Each of them stores data from different profiles.

The Local folder contains files that were created during the operation of the installed software. All this information is specific only to a specific computer user and cannot be moved to another PC. Here you can find a folder called Microsoft, which contains a history of all operating system activity. There is also a folder here, the full path to which looks like this: AppData/Local/Temp. What kind of directory is this? It contains temporary files that are created during the operation of various applications. All of its contents can be deleted without worry, since often all entries are completely unnecessary and simply take up space on your hard drive.

The Roaming folder stores specific user files that can be transferred from one computer to another.

The purpose of the LocalLow folder is to store buffer data that is generated by programs from Adobe, the IE and Java browser.

Cleaning up unnecessary files

Quite often, all these directories accumulate a large number of software waste, which over time grows to obscenely large sizes. In order to get rid of all this file garbage, it is not at all necessary to delve into the depths of the AppData folder. You can get to the directory with temporary files that need to be deleted in an easier way.

If you write shell:history in the address bar of the operating browser, the folder with the history of the IE browser will open. The shell:cache command opens the directory containing the browser's cache files. The shell:cookies command displays all stored login information files for websites. Finally, the shell:sendto command will help you remove or add shortcuts to the Send menu.

If you want to study the contents of the AppData folder in more detail, then a small but very powerful utility called WinDirStat, which can quickly scan your hard drive and then visually distribute all the files recorded on it in an extremely attractive graphical form, can be of great benefit. It will be very easy for the user to navigate it, even if one or a whole group of files of the same type takes up too much space.

Well, the simplest and best way to clean both the AppData folder and all other unnecessary contents of hard drives is to periodically scan the system with the wonderful CCleaner program, which, thanks to its algorithms, removes all unnecessary garbage from the computer.

Let's summarize. AppData: what is it? Windows 7 and other operating systems of this family store files that are created by the software in this directory. Using special software, the folder can be cleaned, but all its contents cannot be deleted.

The AppData or Application Data folder is a system folder hidden by default that stores all information about registered users, as well as installed programs. According to the developers, this folder should not be of interest to the system owner, and therefore is hidden. However, when actively using Windows 10? The size of this folder can grow rapidly. As a result, the user may experience insufficient free space on the hard drive. In addition, it is impossible to make changes about a PC user without access to the files in this folder.

Where is the Appdata folder located in Windows 10?

If you need to find the Appdata system folder in Windows 10, you first need to enable the display of hidden folders and files. To do this, perform the following steps:

Open Explorer and click on the “View” tab, select “Options”.

A new window will open. Go to the “View” tab, check the “Show hidden files” checkbox and uncheck the “Hide protected system files” checkbox.

After that, go to the address: drive C, folder “Users” or “Users”, folder with your nickname and “Appdata”.

You can also get to the Appdata folder using the “Run” line. To do this we do the following:

Press “Win+R” and enter “%appdata%”.

The required folder will open.

It is worth noting that not all files in this folder can be moved or deleted. For example, the Local folder contains files that appeared as a result of installed programs. These files cannot be transferred to another computer. There is also a Temp folder here. Here you can delete it. It stores temporary files that are not needed for the system to function.

The second Roaming folder contains user files that can be moved, deleted, and performed various operations.

The LocalLow folder stores files that were created as a result of browsers and extensions.

On computers running the Windows operating system, the user has access to all system folders if he is authorized as an administrator. Many system folders in Windows 10 take up quite a lot of space, which can raise questions for the computer user. One such example is the AppData folder, which weighs a lot, but not everyone knows whether it can be deleted and how to do it. In this article, we will look at what kind of folder this is, what information is stored in AppData, why this folder was created, and whether it can be deleted.

Table of contents:

Where is the AppData folder in Windows

The AppData folder has the full name Application Data, which can literally be translated as “Application Data”. This is a hidden system folder that is available in the Windows operating system starting with Windows 7.

Each computer user has his own AppData folder, which is located in the user profile. You can find the AppData folder at:

(System_Drive):\Users\(User_Name)\AppData

Please note: By default, the AppData folder is hidden. In order for it to be displayed when you go to the above address, you need to enable the display of hidden files and folders in the system.

AppData: what kind of folder is this, what information is stored in it

The AppData folder stores information about the working files of installed applications. These are various configuration files with information about application settings, temporary files for proper operation of the program, application logs, information about saved application users and sessions. Almost all applications installed on the system have their own folder in AppData, in which they store various data.

To make it clearer, we can give several examples. Office applications, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and others, store page templates, dictionaries, autocorrect data and other system information in the AppData folder, which may differ for each computer user. Browsers, such as Google Chrome, store information about installed extensions, browsing history, cached logins and passwords, and much more in the AppData folder.

You can go to the AppData folder either from Explorer or from the “Run” line if you enter “AppData” as a command.

The AppData folder contains 3 other folders - Local, LocalLow and Roaming. Each of these folders contains its own information:

This folder stores temporary application files and their local data, such as user settings.
This folder contains application buffer data.
Folder with user data of various applications.

As noted above, by default the AppData folder is hidden from users. It is not intended that the average user of the operating system should carry out various manipulations with it. However, it is important to know about the existence of this folder and the information stored in it. If you want to transfer user information about an application from one Windows-based computer to another, you can use the data in the AppData folder. Simply copy the information from the desired folder in this section and transfer it to a new computer in the appropriate folder. In a similar way, it is convenient to import and export settings, templates, bookmarks, and other things. Many applications do not support the ability to export data by default, but this can be done through AppData.

Why does the AppData folder weigh a lot?

If you go to the AppData folder immediately after installing the Windows operating system, you will notice that its size is quite small - a few hundred megabytes. But with each new application installed and used, the size of the AppData folder becomes larger. The more programs and games there are on your computer, the larger the size of the AppData folder.

Please note: There is no size limit for the AppData folder. Windows itself does not control the size of this folder; accordingly, it can “grow” up to tens or even hundreds of gigabytes.

However, deleting a program or game from a computer does not always delete information from AppData. Most applications, when uninstalled through the standard Windows utility, do not erase their data from the folder in question. It turns out that AppData stores data about a program that is no longer on the computer, and it takes up space on the system storage.

Please note: If you remove applications from your computer using specialized software, in most cases it erases data about the program from AppData.

How to delete the AppData folder

As discussed above, AppData is an important system folder that simply cannot be thrown into the trash without creating problems for the operation of applications in the operating system.

Read also: What to do if all the folders on the flash drive become shortcuts?

Where is the Appdata folder located in Windows 10?

If you need to find the Appdata system folder in Windows 10, you first need to enable the display of hidden folders and files. To do this, perform the following steps:

Open Explorer and click on the “View” tab, select “Options”.

A new window will open. Go to the “View” tab, check the “Show hidden files” checkbox and uncheck the “Hide protected system files” checkbox.

After that, go to the address: drive C, folder “Users” or “Users”, folder with your nickname and “Appdata”.

You can also get to the Appdata folder using the “Run” line. To do this we do the following:

Press “Win+R” and enter “%appdata%”.

The second Roaming folder contains user files that can be moved, deleted, and performed various operations.

The LocalLow folder stores files that were created as a result of browsers and extensions.

SoftikBox.com

Where is appdata located on windows 10

Not all files on Windows 10 can be found and opened in the usual way, although they are “very close”, for example, the appdata folder - they are hidden.

Hidden ones store personal information of users or system files that are dangerous to change.

Over time, the AppData folder may contain a lot of unnecessary files, and if the hard drive is small, there may not be enough free space.

Also in Windows 10, as in seven or eight, sometimes you need to make changes to personal files, and for this you often need to find and open the appdata folder.

To find the place where it is located, you first need to make hidden files visible in Windows 10.

You can find out how to do this in Windows 10 by watching this post (it is described there with pictures).

After that you can see her. The appdata folder is located in the following path:

Drive C => Users or Users => your name => “AppData” folder.

As you can see, after making simple changes, you can now find and open many files and folders that were previously “undercover”. Good luck.

vsesam.org

Where is the “Appdata” folder located on Windows 10 and several ways to open it

Over time, the AppData folder may contain a lot of unnecessary files, and if the hard drive is small, there may not be enough free space. We will show you where the “Appdata” folder is located on Windows 10 and how easy it is to find it.

Also in Windows 10, as in seven or eight, sometimes you need to make changes to personal files, and for this you often need to know where the “Appdata” folder is located in Windows 10.

"Appdata" where is it located on Windows 10

To find the location where the “Appdata” folder is located on Windows 10, you first need to make hidden files visible in Windows 10.

After that you can see her. The "Appdata" folder is located in the following path:

Drive C => Users or Users => your name => “AppData” folder.

As you can see, after making simple changes, you can now find and open many files and folders that were previously “undercover”.

A quick way to find "Appdata"

The easiest and fastest way to open the AppData folder is to use the Start menu. To do this, you must first press the Windows button on your keyboard.

In order to find the “Appdata” folder, you need to enter the command %appdata% (with percent signs) and press the enter key. After this, the “Appdata” folder will immediately open in front of you.

What is the “Appdata” folder for?

The Appdata folder is used by many programs and computer games to store their settings and other data that they need to work.

For example, when installing the Opera web browser, the program itself is installed in the Program Files folder, but the user profile is located in the AppData\Roaming\Opera folder. At the same time, the Google Chrome web browser is completely installed in the AppData\Local\Google folder. The situation is similar with many games. For example, the popular computer game Minecraft stores its settings and mods in the AppData\Roaming\.minecraft folder.

In this article you can find out where the appdata folder is located in Windows 10. The article will be relevant for all modern versions of Windows.

How to find the Temp folder in Windows 10

The Temp folder in Windows 10 is designed to store temporary files that are necessary for the operation of the system or some application. Unfortunately, the contents of this folder are not always cleared automatically after completing a specific task. Therefore, users often clean this folder manually. However, in order to delete unnecessary files from this folder, you need to know how to find the Temp folder in Windows 10.

Read also: How to delete temporary files in Windows 10

How to get to the Temp folder on Windows 10?

There are several Temp folders in Windows 10. All of them are stored in different places, namely:

C:\Temp;
C:\Windows\Temp;
C:\Users\YOUR_USERNAME\AppData\Local\Temp\.

To get to these folders, you can manually go to the specified addresses or perform a few simple steps.

Method number 1. Using the Run line

Press “Win+R” and enter “%TEMP%”.

A folder with temporary files will open.

Method number 2. Using the Explorer address bar

In order to get to the Temp folder in Windows 10, you should open Explorer and enter “%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp” or “%TEMP%” (without quotes) into the address bar.

How to clear Temp folder on Windows 10?

You learned where the Temp folder is located in Windows 10. Now you can clean it. To do this, you should use the following recommendations.

Method number 1. Standard cleaning Temp

Open Explorer. Right-click on drive C and select “Properties”. A small window will open. Click "Disk Cleanup".

Place a check mark next to the “Temporary files” item and click “Clear”.

We are waiting for the folder to be cleaned up.

Method number 2. Using a .bat file

To create a .bat file, you should do the following:

Click “Start” and select “Notepad”.
In Notepad, paste the line “rd %temp% /s /q md %temp%”.

Save the file as “%appdata%\microsoft\windows\start menu\programs\startup\cleantemp.bat”. So you create a batch file, cleantemp.bat, in the Startup submenu of your Start Menu. The created bat file will be downloaded automatically.

Method number 3. Using the Task Scheduler

Launch the Task Scheduler. To do this, go to “Control Panel”, “Administration” and select “Task Scheduler”.

A new window will appear. Select “Create a simple task”. We set any task name, and in the actions we indicate “forfiles.exe /p “%TEMP%” /s /m * /d -3 /c “cmd /c del /F /Q /A @file”” and “forfiles. exe /p "%TEMP%" /s /m * /d -3 /c "cmd /c rd /S /Q @file"".
Set the task execution time. The Temp folder will be cleared automatically.

It is important to note that the last two methods are suitable for cleaning the temporary files folder of only one user. If your PC has several profiles, then cleaning must be done for each profile separately.

How to move Temp folder in Windows 10?

In order not to go to the address: C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Temp\ every time, the folder with temporary files can be moved to a top-level directory, for example, to the C:\Temp folder. To do this we do the following:

Calling up the system properties. A new window will open. In the menu on the left, select “Advanced system settings”.

A new window will open. Go to the “Advanced” tab and click on the “Environment Variables” button.

A new window will open. You can see two variables in it: TEMP and TMP. For both variables, click “Change” and enter a new value for the variable: “C:\Temp”.

After completing the above steps, the location of the folder with temporary files will change.