Storage is half full of updates?!

[Chekoté]

I have the 512GB model, and I tried to install a bunch of games, but it ran out of storage very quickly. When I checked the drive in settings, it says over 200GB is taken up by “updates”?! I can’t see how to delete these to free up space. I don’t understand why there is so much!

[davidprieto]

+1

[darrenphillips666]

Are they Game updates or system updates?
You can't remove game updates, they're part of the game.
I Don't have my deck yet, but I'd suggest getting a big SD Card.

[Chekoté]

So it seems that “updates” wasn’t updated after all. It was all the pending games that were in my install queue.

I deleted all of them and the storage came back. I’m installing them one by one now to determine which game it was because I’m pretty sure I didn’t have 200GB+ of games pending to be installed.

I’m pretty sure one of them is janked and was planning to install waaay to much stuff,

[retrogunner]

tl;dr - my experience - the steam client pre-allocates entire games for installs and second copy when updating (to replace the first copy regardless of duped files).

I don't have my Steam Deck yet, however, I experienced a similar situation on my PC's SSD used for games.

My Halo:MCC wouldn't update as I had installed *everything* (Game, DLC, Multiplayer) - it was huge. When it went to update, Steam tried to pre-allocate all the incoming files regardless if they checksum matched. It literally needed double the size of the game install so I could move the whole replacement over the current install.

Just recently, I moved select games from my kid's Steam install on their (my old) PC to their new gaming laptop. Plenty of space for the chosen, no worries.

But, at the same time, I had copied over all the appmanifest_*.acf files which define what games are installed -- doh -- I didn't want to take the time to [linux] grep the files for what's-what nor look up each file's game ID number.

Their laptop validated all the games who's steamapps/common/DIRECTORIES I copied over. But then it started pre-allocating the queued installs due to extra *ACF files - until Steam said it couldn't install a bunch due to lack of space. uhg. So I paused the downloads, and started right-clicking each one > manage > uninstall. Then all was clear.

I makes sense. If you half-ass an update over the existing install, it could break the item (game, os, app, etc.). It's safer to make a second copy, then swap it out/move over it. It's how appliances like consoles work.

In the end, lesson learned - the tl;dr says it all.

[@R+5]

Originally posted by Chekote:

I’m installing them one by one now to determine which game

do you own one or more games that have many mods in the workshop?

[SockDog]

I could be wrong but doesn't Steam download an "archive" of the game, unpack/install from that and then delete the archive once installed? This, in my experience, accounts for the downloader often stating 2x the actual download size as required space.

I'd assume if you are downloading a ton of games at the same time it would allocate that double space across all those games until they install.

[Prezidentas]

Just had the same issue. Deck filled its SSD completely due to a 7.5GB update to apex legends. Had to delete Apex Legends to regain space. The "updates" storage expanded to 33GB, completely filling all remaining space.

[Prezidentas]

Coming back to this, I can't install 80GB game because I only have 150GB space free.

[stinky [3090Ti K|NGP|N] [SLI]]

Sounds like an NVMe issue with over provisioning. The hard drives will "over provision" to preallocate cache space. It could be an issue with Linux and over provisioning.

[Mahjik]

Depending on the game and how it does installs and updates, you typically need 2x the game size for installs.

Games that use binary updates will usually require 3x the game space to perform an update. The reason for this, is that the update process will make a copy of the the game files to be patched. Then it creates patched versions of the duplicated game files. Once all files are successfully patched, it will copy those overtop the existing game files and then delete the two extra version of the game files.

If you have no bandwidth caps, it's usually easier to uninstall and then re-install for a large game that has a patch. The new install will just come down with the new files and avoid the whole binary patching process. The reason binary patching is used is to make the patch download size smaller for those who do have bandwidth caps.

[Prezidentas]

Originally posted by Mahjik:

Depending on the game and how it does installs and updates, you typically need 2x the game size for installs.

Games that use binary updates will usually require 3x the game space to perform an update. The reason for this, is that the update process will make a copy of the the game files to be patched. Then it creates patched versions of the duplicated game files. Once all files are successfully patched, it will copy those overtop the existing game files and then delete the two extra version of the game files.

If you have no bandwidth caps, it's usually easier to uninstall and then re-install for a large game that has a patch. The new install will just come down with the new files and avoid the whole binary patching process. The reason binary patching is used is to make the patch download size smaller for those who do have bandwidth caps.

well valve will need to do something about it, I can't imagine how fun running any games on the 64GB model gets

[Yistaan]

Out of curiosity are these issues prevalent if you're installing only to, say, a 1TB SD card on a 512GB model

[Mahjik]

Originally posted by Red Star Gopnik:

well valve will need to do something about it, I can't imagine how fun running any games on the 64GB model gets

It's not really a Valve problem. It more dependent on how the developer package/install/update their games. The developers have to tell Steam the data for their install and update requirements.

Originally posted by Yistaan:

Out of curiosity are these issues prevalent if you're installing only to, say, a 1TB SD card on a 512GB model

Those processes work the same regardless of drive size. More drive size just means you aren't as concerned about the install/update requirements.

[Prezidentas]

Originally posted by Yistaan:

Out of curiosity are these issues prevalent if you're installing only to, say, a 1TB SD card on a 512GB model

it might use the internal storage as the initial "stop" for the files, though I haven't tested anything

[Prezidentas]

Originally posted by Mahjik:

Originally posted by Red Star Gopnik:

well valve will need to do something about it, I can't imagine how fun running any games on the 64GB model gets

It's not really a Valve problem. It more dependent on how the developer package/install/update their games. The developers have to tell Steam the data for their install and update requirements.

Originally posted by Yistaan:

Out of curiosity are these issues prevalent if you're installing only to, say, a 1TB SD card on a 512GB model

Those processes work the same regardless of drive size. More drive size just means you aren't as concerned about the install/update requirements.

Just as Valve made proton to remove developers from the mix, there could be something that would work for downloads too