FolderRisk: Caution

Local C:\Users\<utilisateur>\AppData\Local

Per-user, machine-specific application data for the current user; it does not follow a roaming profile.

Updated on 12 November 2026 By AltF4 Formation

What it’s for

AppData\Local (%LOCALAPPDATA%, known folder ID FOLDERID_LocalAppData, by default %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local) holds application data tied to both the user and the machine. Unlike Roaming, it does not follow the user from one computer to another, which makes it the right place for caches, bulky data and machine-bound settings.

What it contains

Temp: the user’s temporary files.
Microsoft: local data of Microsoft components (Windows, Edge, OneDrive, Office).
Packages: data of Store apps (UWP/MSIX).
CrashDumps: memory dumps of the user’s applications, when enabled.
One folder per vendor or application (browsers, development tools, games), sometimes very large.

Risks and best practices

Deleting the whole folder wipes browser profiles, local databases and application settings. Target the cache subfolders or Temp instead, with the application closed, or use Disk Cleanup.
When migrating a profile, copy this folder only if you want to carry the caches and local databases along.
With roaming profiles it is not synchronized, so do not rely on it for data you need to keep.

Useful commands

# Actual folder and size of each subfolder (read-only)
$env:LOCALAPPDATA
Get-ChildItem $env:LOCALAPPDATA -Directory -Force | ForEach-Object {
  $b = (Get-ChildItem $_.FullName -Recurse -Force -File -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Measure-Object Length -Sum).Sum
  [pscustomobject]@{ Folder = $_.Name; 'Size (MB)' = [math]::Round($b / 1MB, 1) }
} | Sort-Object 'Size (MB)' -Descending | Select-Object -First 15

Folder contents

Folders 4

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