Arondight Nov 3, 2016 @ 12:17pm
Is it possible to move the steam cache folder?
Hello there, as title says I would like to know if it's possible to move that folder located in appdata in a different location. Thanks in advance for help

Something went wrong while displaying this content. Refresh

Error Reference: Community_9708323_
Loading CSS chunk 7561 failed.
(error: https://community.fastly.steamstatic.com/public/css/applications/community/communityawardsapp.css?contenthash=789dd1fbdb6c6b5c773d)
< 1 2 3 4 >
Showing 1-15 of 49 comments
ReBoot Nov 3, 2016 @ 12:34pm 
Just move the entire Steam folder.
Arondight Nov 3, 2016 @ 12:38pm 
Originally posted by ReBoot:
Just move the entire Steam folder.
Thanks for the answer but this folder is not in the actual steam folder. In fact I do have steam already installed in another hard drive. This cache folder is in appdata in a ssd and i want to move it
Glimmer Nov 3, 2016 @ 12:50pm 
Originally posted by ReBoot:
So there's a folder AppData\Cache?
The HTMLCache folder is in Appdata\Local\Steam

To the best of my knowledge there's no Valve/Steam supported method but a junction/symlink would allow you to functionally move it elsewhere.
But why do you want to move the folder "C:\Users\???\AppData\Local\Steam\htmlcache" away from your SSD? A cache folder is ideally placed on a fast drive. I don't think that wear&tear is a realistic worry nowadays.
Seven7 Nov 3, 2016 @ 1:10pm 
"city legend" about SSD - "writing caches on SSD killed it"
Satoru Nov 3, 2016 @ 1:12pm 
Originally posted by Arondight:
Originally posted by ReBoot:
Just move the entire Steam folder.
Thanks for the answer but this folder is not in the actual steam folder. In fact I do have steam already installed in another hard drive. This cache folder is in appdata in a ssd and i want to move it

You cannot move the appdata folder as that's a windows system folder where apps put temp data. Nearly every program you run will use it.
Arondight Nov 3, 2016 @ 8:03pm 
Originally posted by God, owner of the Universe:
But why do you want to move the folder "C:\Users\???\AppData\Local\Steam\htmlcache" away from your SSD? A cache folder is ideally placed on a fast drive. I don't think that wear&tear is a realistic worry nowadays.
Mostly for space reasons, also I saw no difference in performance while having my chrome cache on ssd to be honest.


Originally posted by Satoru:
Originally posted by Arondight:
Thanks for the answer but this folder is not in the actual steam folder. In fact I do have steam already installed in another hard drive. This cache folder is in appdata in a ssd and i want to move it

You cannot move the appdata folder as that's a windows system folder where apps put temp data. Nearly every program you run will use it.
I know that but I think that somehow it's possible to change where the program dumps the files I believe, at least it worked for chrome after adding some commands in the exe
ReBoot Nov 4, 2016 @ 6:54am 
Nope, that's not possible.
MrL0G1C Dec 10, 2017 @ 8:48pm 
For any else who wants to save space:

I recovered 700 to 800 MB by deleting 2 "htmlcache" folders, restarted steam, it took a few seconds extra to start but it works fine. Size now under 5MB, many of the files were over a year old so probably weren't in use.
kunsight May 29, 2018 @ 8:43am 
It's possible. Use mklink windows command.
Move (not Copy) folder Steam (for example, or htmlcache) to location or drive you want (D:\links\Steam for example), run CMD as administrator and type:
mklink /d "C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Steam" "D:\links\Steam"
Thats all.
In C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\ was created shortcut "Steam" leads to D:\links\Steam all new files will be created there.
MKLINK is very usefull command to move all crap out of SSD.
Last edited by kunsight; May 29, 2018 @ 11:57am
MrL0G1C May 29, 2018 @ 8:45am 
Originally posted by prime:
It's possible. Use mklink windows command.
Move folder Steam (for example, or htmlcache) to location or drive you want, run CMD as administrator and type:
mklink /d "C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Steam" "D:\links\Steam"
Thats all.
In C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\ was created shortcut "Steam" leads to D:\links\Steam all new files will be created there.
MKLINK is very usefull command to move all crap out of SSD.

Awesome, thanks :104:
Arondight May 29, 2018 @ 9:59am 
Originally posted by prime:
It's possible. Use mklink windows command.
Move (not Copy) folder Steam (for example, or htmlcache) to location or drive you want, run CMD as administrator and type:
mklink /d "C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Steam" "D:\links\Steam"
Thats all.
In C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\ was created shortcut "Steam" leads to D:\links\Steam all new files will be created there.
MKLINK is very usefull command to move all crap out of SSD.
what do you need to delete when doing a cleanup maintenance? The original files in C or the ones in D?
kunsight May 29, 2018 @ 10:26am 
Originally posted by Arondight:
what do you need to delete when doing a cleanup maintenance? The original files in C or the ones in D?
There are no files in C, its just a link, like a shortcut on desktop (with arrow on the icon). Open it and you'll find yourself in D. So files to cleanup are in D.
Last edited by kunsight; May 29, 2018 @ 10:27am
Arondight May 29, 2018 @ 10:31am 
Originally posted by prime:
Originally posted by Arondight:
what do you need to delete when doing a cleanup maintenance? The original files in C or the ones in D?
There are no files in C, its just a link, like a shortcut on desktop (with arrow on the icon). Open it and you'll find yourself in D. So files to cleanup are in D.
would i need to creat a link again if i delete them?
kunsight May 29, 2018 @ 10:36am 
Originally posted by Arondight:
would i need to creat a link again if i delete them?
No, just do not delete link C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Steam
and target folder for it D:\links\Steam, any file or folder inside D:\links\Steam could be deleted
< 1 2 3 4 >
Showing 1-15 of 49 comments
Per page: 1530 50

Date Posted: Nov 3, 2016 @ 12:17pm
Posts: 49