The downloading folder
Updated: 2026-08-25
How it works
| Staging, one folder per app | <library>\steamapps\downloading\<appid> |
|---|---|
| Scratch space | <library>\steamapps\temp |
| Linux and Steam Deck | ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/downloading |
Downloaded chunks are written here and assembled. Only when everything has arrived and verified does Steam move the files into common, and the staging folder is emptied.
This is also why a large update needs roughly twice the game's size in free space to install — the reason Steam refuses an update on a drive that looks like it has plenty of room.
Why a folder is left behind
The move never happens, so the staging folder stays. Usually one of:
- A download was cancelled part-way.
- The game was uninstalled while an update was queued.
- Steam was closed or crashed mid-download, and the queue did not survive.
- The download failed repeatedly and was abandoned.
A leftover here can be tens of gigabytes, and it is invisible on Steam's storage screen — that screen reports installed games.
What clearing it costs
The reliable test is the manifest: if there is no appmanifest_<appid>.acf for that app id in the same library, there is nothing Steam can resume into and the folder is dead weight. If there is one, the download is still resumable.
It also explains a case that looks alarming: a game downloading right now has an empty install folder, because the bytes are landing here instead. That is not a ghost install, and deleting the "empty" folder in common would take a live download with it.
Act on it
Vapor Storage Manager only offers a downloading folder whose app id has no manifest anywhere — a download Steam could not resume even if you asked it to. Anything still resumable is left alone and not shown.
Download Vapor Storage Manager