Freeing space in a full profile folder

When the profile folder is reaching its limits, the following error message appears:

"You have exceeded your profile storage space. Before you can log off, you need to move some items from C:\Documents and settings\USERNAME -folder's subfolders to network or local storage"

When the profile is full, to free up your disk space you can delete files located under the profile or transfer them to, for example, your home drive (Z drive).

Take extra care when deleting files so that you do not delete anything important. Contact the Helpdesk if you are unable to free up enough space.

Click the warning icon in the bottom right corner of the desktop to open a dialog box showing the files taking up the most profile space.

This icon shows that the profile is about to fill up:

This icon shows that the profile has been filled up:

Click the warning icon to open a dialog box. Use the dialog box to check what is causing the biggest load in the profile. To stop the running list, click the Size menu, for example. The list will stop after a short delay:

Some of the most typical reasons for exceeding the profile storage space are listed here. Please note that this is not a complete list. If you can't determine the cause of the error message, contact the Helpdesk.

Downloaded files (from the Internet)

By default, the downloaded files are located in folder C:\Users\username\Downloads. Move the files from this folder to the Z drive of your home directory, for example, or on staff computers to folder C:\LocalData\username.

Office applications

such as Word, PowerPoint, or Excel, may create temporary files which fill up the profile storage space. The files may be deleted when you close the application. If closing the application doesn't help, move the files elsewhere. The profile folders of Word, PowerPoint and Excel, for example, are located in the following folders:

C:\Users\username\Appdata\Roaming\Microsoft\Word

C:\Users\username\Appdata\Roaming\Microsoft\PowerPoint

C:\Users\username\Appdata\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel

Corel Videostudio

If you are using a roaming profile, this software fills up the profile with cache files when it starts up. The cache directory is usually emptied when you close the software. If the cache files are not removed, remove them from the directories

C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Ulead Systems\Corel VideoStudio Pro\16.0\

en-US\ukMgrCache

C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Ulead Systems\Corel VideoStudio Pro\14.0\

en-US\ukMgrCache

OneDrive for Business sync

If you are using OneDrive for Business sync with the default settings, it creates a storage folder in the profile directory C:\Users\username.

We recommend specifying the storage folder into a different directory (such as C:\LocalData\username). Do the following:

• To stop synchronisation, right-click the OneDrive for Business icon and choose Stop syncing a Folder.
• Click Exit to close the synchronisation software.

• When you start OneDrive for Business again, you can click Change to change the location of the synchronisation folder.

• Copy the contents of the old synchronisation folder into a new directory and then delete the copied files from the old synchronisation folder.

Open Windows Explorer.

Type %appdata% and press Enter

NB! Some profile folders are hidden.

You can view the hidden files by opening folder settings in the top corner of the Windows Explorer Tools > Folder Options and by choosing Show hidden files, folders and drives on the View tab.

Search for large files in the Roaming folder and its subfolders and transfer them to your home drive, for example, or delete unnecessary files.

WinDirStat is an efficient tool for searching files that take up a lot of space.

1) Start WinDirStat by writing the following search phrase in the Search Programs and files field of the Start menu:

\\atkk\apps\exec\HY\Windirstat\windirstat.exe (1).

Click the search result in the top of the window (2).

2) Select the directory C:\Users\KTUNNUS (1) and click OK (2).

3) WinDirStat shows the directory content as an illustrative image.

You should especially go through AppData\Roaming. Do not pay attention to the AppData\Local and AppData\LocalLow directories, as they do not belong to the roaming profile.

There is a separate tool for clearing the roaming profile. Instructions for using the tool are in a separate instruction.