QuestionAccepted answer
OK to delete Windows.db file on PC?
RobertF
17 May 2026, 23:12 UTC
131.8K views1
Recently I've been having issues with my personal laptop's hard drive running out of space.
After scanning my PC with WinDirStat I noticed a file named "Windows.db" (located in C:/ProgramData/Microsoft/Search/Data/Applications/Windows) taking up 116 GB(!) of memory on my hard drive. I believe it's a Windows search index database.
Is it safe to delete this file to free up space?
NOTE: My PC is running on Windows 11.
1 answer
Accepted answer · original discussion
Destroy666
Permalink19 May 2026, 04:00 UTC
It is the database for Windows search indexing indeed. You can either safely:
- Rebuild it. Do that by either searching
Indexing optionsor launching them through Control Panel after showing all icons. Then go toAdvancedand clickRebuild. Doing that might reduce its size heavily. It will grow later though. - Disable indexing or choose less locations to index. Again go to
Indexing optionsbut clickModifythis time. Choose only folders that have files that need to be found quickly. Or don't choose anything if you use app like Everything which is generally faster and less space-consuming. Rebuild index after that to make sure it applies the new settings. - Disable Windows Search service temporarily and then delete the file manually. First two options are much more recommended though.
3 question comments
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DaiPermalink
20 May 2026, 08:48 UTC
Before deleting it, try using some tools to see what's inside of it (I think it's an ESE (JET Blue) database, so any ESE database viewer should work), that way you might be able to prevent it from growing that big again (e.g. if because it got stuck in an infinite symlink loop, or started indexing temporary files, etc).
DaiPermalink
21 May 2026, 13:36 UTC
Also, I think you mean
Windows.edb, not Windows.db (EDIT: Ah, I'm wrong: it looks like in Windows 11 they changed it to Windows.db, and it's now a SQLite database, not JET Blue/ESE, hence the filename extension change)