C:\Users\<you>\AppData is where every third-party Windows app stores its working data — game saves, Spotify offline downloads, Chrome profile, mail attachments. A 50–100 GB AppData folder is normal.
Short answer: never delete the whole AppData folder — you will wipe every app's state and sign-ins. You may safely delete individual subfolders under AppData\Local that belong to apps you have already uninstalled, plus the contents of AppData\Local\Temp.
Local vs Roaming vs LocalLow
Three subfolders live under AppData:
- Local (
AppData\Local) — heavy, machine-specific data: game saves, Spotify/Discord caches, browser history, email attachments. Almost always the biggest one. - LocalLow (
AppData\LocalLow) — low-integrity sandbox data written by restricted processes (browser plugins, sandboxed installers). - Roaming (
AppData\Roaming) — small settings and profiles that would "roam" with you across a domain network: preferences, dictionaries, license tokens.
Safely clearing AppData bloat
- press Windows + R, type
%localappdata%, press Enter - sort by size (View > Details, then the Size column — or right-click > Properties on suspicious folders)
- identify folders named after uninstalled apps (old games, removed software) — delete those to the Recycle Bin
- for apps you still use, clear cache from inside the app, not by hand
- press Windows + R, type
%temp%, press Enter - select all, press Delete, skip locked files — see the Temp folder guide for the full safe flow
Deleting AppData itself or AppData\Roaming wholesale will log you out everywhere, wipe saves, and can destroy local app databases.
Better next routes
For Windows-wide cleanup, continue with How to Free Up Space on C Drive Windows 11 Natively.
For the Temp subfolder specifically, read Is it Safe to Delete the Temp Folder in Windows?.