If I uninstall or delete a Steam game on my computer, will it give me back the space/usage it took to download?
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possible duplicate of How do I remove a Steam game from my library? – Mathias711 Sep 07 '15 at 10:33
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but yes, it will free up space from your computer as it will be deleted – Mathias711 Sep 07 '15 at 10:39
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3@Mathias711 False duplicate. Deleting a game from your PC and removing it from your library (ie. your account) completely are different things. – DJ Pirtu Sep 07 '15 at 10:40
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4"Usage it took to download" - assuming you mean storage space on your drive, yes. If you happen to mean anything to do with broadband usage caps, no it won't change that at all. I'm hoping that's not what you mean, but... – Jeeva Sep 07 '15 at 10:48
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Deleting the local files of a game (via right-clicking a game and selecting 'Delete Local Content) will free up all the space that that game is using on your hard drive. For large games like TF2 this can be more than 15 GB.
However, it will not free up any internet data that it took to download (if that is what you are referencing to in the space/usage it took to download). If your data cap has run out, I suggest you contact your ISP (internet service provider) or look on their website to purchase more data.
Please note that deleting some games will delete your savedata, it depends on the game. If your savegames are stored in your Users folder (My Documents etc) they should be fine, otherwise, it would be a good idea to check.
angussidney
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2@Gigala Yes it does, so back them up if you are going to use them again. – angussidney Sep 07 '15 at 11:32
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6@Gigala Actually, it depends on the game, but it's better to be on the safe side. – angussidney Sep 07 '15 at 11:39
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4Games like TF2 might share some content with other Source based games like Half Life 2 so about 1 gb might still left unless you uninstall all. Also, steam sync supported games should backup and restore savegames automatically. – Furkan Omay Sep 07 '15 at 11:57
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1@FurkanOmay's point should definitely be added to the answer, especially since TF2 itself has been used as an example here… – o0'. Sep 07 '15 at 13:01
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@FurkanOmay Not any more they don't. The HL2 files are now installed separately for each game. This change happened during the SteamPipe update in 2013. – Powerlord Sep 07 '15 at 20:04
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If you don't believe me, look inside TF2's C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\hl2\ directory. Then look in the hl2 directory for CS:S, DoD:S, or HL2:DM and notice the same files are there. – Powerlord Sep 07 '15 at 20:08
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@Powerlord Ah true. I remember converting each game to the new directory structure and breaking mods. – Furkan Omay Sep 08 '15 at 05:39
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Some games will store files in places Steam won't go, like %APPDATA%. This is normally not a lot of space, but can reach into gigabytes. also some games require clients like uplay, gfwl, etc. – TZHX Sep 09 '15 at 07:47