How to install an application in the appdata folder. Where are the Users and AppData folders and what is stored in them?

Then, when performing the actions described there, you might notice an interesting AppData folder. That’s what this article will be about, namely, what kind of folder it is, how to find it, how to delete it (is it even possible?) and how to transfer it.

AppData folder (In Windows XP it is called Application Data) - what is it?
This folder contains all data from installed programs and games. In it they store settings, bookmarks, history, saves, etc. "necessary rubbish." Naturally, over time, the size of this folder increases, because... There are more installed programs, and when uninstalled, not all of them clean up their “tails”.

Where is and how to find the appdata folder?
This folder is on the way (disk_with_system):\Users\(user) .
I have it on the way C:\Users\1

Or you can paste %USERPROFILE%\AppData into the address bar of Explorer

This folder is hidden, so you need to know or use a file manager.

Is it possible and how to delete the appdata folder?
Based on the above, I think there is no need to explain that if it is deleted, all your saves, settings, parameters, etc. in games and programs will be deleted.
And the system will not allow you to completely delete the entire folder, because... some processes already “occupy” it when the system is running and even if no programs or games are running.
Therefore, if you delete it, you will only bring yourself a lot of trouble.

How to move the appdata folder
But this is a more interesting question.
Why do you need to move the folder at all? Yes, to make room!
You can try to transfer it using the method described in the article, but it won’t work because this folder doesn’t have a tab Location V Properties.
Therefore, you need to transfer all the folders inside (namely Local, LocalLow And Roaming) one by one, having previously created a folder AppData and subfolders Local, LocalLow And Roaming on another disk.

Happened? But it’s unlikely. Because the system will not allow you to transfer some files that are already occupied by processes (for example, running or).

Then you can try to transfer via .

On the disk where you want to transfer, create the Appdata folder and the Local, LocalLow and Roaming subfolders in it. Next, copy the contents of the system folders into them.

Then we go to the thread

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

and let's see what's there:

If you decide to make such a move, then think carefully and review the instructions, so that you don’t blame me later for something not working for you.

By the way, it is advisable to perform such manipulations with movement at the very beginning, when you have just installed Windows and there is practically no installed software.

That's all. Now you know what the AppData folder is and how to find it, what it is, how to delete and move it.

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

But even long-term use of the system for many users is not an opportunity to study all its “delights”, since almost no one wants to read literature about the Windows device; it is much more convenient for people to use a ready-made one, without delving into the essence and principle of operation 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. In fact this is a hidden file directory, which stores a lot of data about installed applications. Access to it may be needed under various circumstances, for example, changing the software components of some applications, or clearing accumulated “garbage” from installed applications that needlessly occupy the hard drive’s memory.

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 huge problem – the lack of this directory. Then the person begins to look for a solution to why he does not have this directory, and how he can find “AppData” on Windows xp, 7 or a higher version of the system.
To be honest, the “AppData” directory is present in all versions of Windows systems, and the location of the folder does not change. There are several ways to find it. The most basic one is to enter the following combination of English letters and symbols in the address bar of the standard Explorer: “%USERPROFILE%\AppData”. These values ​​for Windows Explorer will serve as the address to the desired directory. To open it yourself, in the usual way, you need to enable visibility mode for the “AppData” folder, because according to the initial, standard settings, this directory is in invisible mode. This 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 settings in the Control Panel, where you can change the visibility of system folders and files, but then be careful, because there is a risk of accidentally deleting or damaging previously hidden system files, due to which may affect the stability of the system. After you have configured the display of hidden folders on 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 hidden ones visible).

Start button—>Control Panel.
On the “View” tab, check “Show hidden files, folders and drives”

And click OK.

In Explorer, enter “%USERPROFILE%\AppData”.

And press Enter.

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

Hello everyone We have a lot of folders on our computer, and the difference between Windows XP and all subsequent ones is especially noticeable. In XP there seemed to be fewer user folders, but somehow everything was organized. There is still a Documents and Settings folder on the system drive, but if you go into it, you will see a message saying that access is denied... and so on with many folders...

Well, that's not the point. If you go to the Users folder on the system drive, and then go to the folder that is the name of your account, then you will then see the AppData folder. It stores important data, so don’t even think about deleting it, because you will have serious problems...

So, this is my folder:

If we go into it, we will see three folders:

Just in case, I’ll give you the address where the AppData folder is located (this applies to both Windows 7 and newer operating systems):

C:\Users\UserName

So what is stored in the AppData folder? All program settings are stored there. Each program stores settings in a separate folder. And these folders, in turn, are located in AppData, or, more precisely, in Roaming. In other folders, that is, LocalLow and Local, programs also store their data, but I won’t lie, I don’t know what kind of data it is. But obviously not the main settings. It is possible that there is some kind of official information.

By the way, browser profiles, that is, all your browser settings, history, cookies, passwords, etc., all this is also stored in AppData in the folder with the name of a particular browser. Well, I hope it's clear

I right-clicked on the AppData folder and selected Properties from the menu. Here's how much space this folder takes up:

As you can see, it’s not so little... But I began to wonder what weighs so much? And then I found out. Inside there is a Local folder, and the Google and Yandex folders turned out to be quite significant in it. These folders contain browser data, this is understandable. The fact that browser folders are large is a normal phenomenon. There the cache weighs a lot, and a little bit of everything else...

I once did an incredible thing, but it was on Windows XP. In general, I don’t remember how I did it, but I deleted all the folders except Windows! Ah, I remember how I did it. I booted from the Live CD and calmly deleted it. But I’ll say right away that I did this as an experiment, well, it was very interesting whether it would load or not. Yes, Windows XP has booted! But it’s clear that my profile no longer existed; in this case, as I understand, XP has the option to create a profile by default. As a result, a new profile was created, seemingly with the name Administrator, the desktop was empty, there was no screensaver, there was a black screen... But the devices worked, that is, the drivers were not removed... But it was XP, I’m not sure that such a trick would work with Windows 7 or newer operating system.

The Application Data system folder is a directory that accumulates a huge amount of program settings, data, as well as files related to games, applications, and so on. Over time, the size of this folder begins to grow, so it takes up a decent amount of space on your hard drive. This directory has three sections by default. In Local you can find saves for various installed games. Even those that were deleted long ago. Data about protected programs accumulates in the LocalLow folder. The Roaming directory stores all temporary information: browser history, tabs, settings of some utilities.

Where to look?

Now let's figure out where AppData is located on Windows 7 and all subsequent Microsoft operating systems. By default, this directory is hidden. In Windows XP, the path to it looked like this: system drive:\Documents and Settings\"User name"\Application Data.

In all modern operating systems, starting with Windows 7, you can find the desired directory on the system partition of the hard drive in the Users\"Username"\AppData folder.

What should be removed?

Once you find out where it is in Windows 7, you will probably rush to erase its contents from your hard drive, because it takes up so much precious space! However, we do not recommend rushing to remove it. In case of complete destruction, you will lose your settings, saves and other temporary files. Carefully review the contents of the folders and decide what you will never need again. The OS itself will not allow you to delete some files, since they are already involved in the computer’s operation. Where AppData is located on Windows 7, you can see third-party folders that you can safely delete.

A large amount of "garbage" accumulates in the Temp folder. You cannot delete the directory itself, but all its contents must be erased periodically. To do this, many users install special programs. For example, CCleaner, which can perform the described actions automatically when launched.

How to open access?

Initially, the place where AppData is located on Windows 7 is hidden from the user. To make a directory visible, you must:

1. To get started, launch "Explorer", then click on the "Arrange" button on the top panel of the interface.
2. In the menu that opens, select "Folder and Search Options."
3. In the "View" tab, find the line "Show hidden files and folders", mark it and close the window with the OK button.
4. Now open the above path and start working with the files in Application Data.

You can also skip searching for where AppData is on Windows 7 and just use the Run app. Open it using the Win+R key combination and enter the query %appdata%, then click OK.

As you can see, it is not difficult to find the Application Data system folder on your computer.