Gw2.dat size increase after launching alts

[22Mx]

Hello,

Recently I noticed my gw2.dat file was taking around 10-12gb more space than it should. I deleted the file and let the launcher/game redownload it, which gave me a gw2.dat of 62gb instead of 73gb. Everything stayed that way until I started opening alt accounts, which had to update even after my main account worked perfectly, that lead to the gw2.dat file increasing back up to 72gb. I know multiple people running the same settings and number of accounts or more, and none of them have a gw2.dat file this big. What is causing this, and is there any way I can stop it from happening and/or save some space?

[Healix]

Your alt accounts are likely set to a different language, so GW2 is having to download the voices for that language.

When you create a new Local.dat file, GW2 will automatically select which language to use based on your system. If what you want isn't the same as your system, you'll need to always copy from an existing Local.dat file that already has the language set whenever you need a new file.

To change the language, first disable automatic logins (Selected > Disable automatic logins), then launch each account using Selected > Launch (normal). You'll find the language selector on the top left of GW2's launcher.

Alternatively, change each account's Local.dat file to either share or copy the Local.dat file from your main account, depending on what you want. Local.dat is where GW2's saves your remembered login, launcher, BLTC, some graphics and sound settings.

[22Mx]

Thank you for the reply.

Changing the language on every account seems to have mostly fixed it. However, the size remains 2-3gb greater than it should be, which is a great improvement compared to the 10-12gb previously. Any idea where the remaining could be coming from?

Also, would moving the Gw2Launcher folder in AppData/Roaming to another drive, then drop a junction/symlink in the original location to save additional space cause any issues? Alternatively, could I relocate the folder in any way?

[Healix]

The language is the only reason why it would download extra files. Note that changing the language doesn't remove any files that were downloaded for other languages, so you'll need to delete Gw2.dat if you want to remove them.

Creating a junction shouldn't be a problem, but first (or after moving it) delete all of the folders in the Gw2Launcher\data folder.

[zupzypap]

Hello, I also might have a question in regards to the big sizes. Deleting the folder data/temp will not harm any instance at all right? That is the cache folder? Thank you!

[Healix]

Hello, I also might have a question in regards to the big sizes. Deleting the folder data/temp will not harm any instance at all right? That is the cache folder? Thank you!

The temp folder can be deleted whenever you want. It's where GW2 is storing any temporary files it creates, notably the cache files used by CEF. These files are normally found in the %temp% folder when not using Gw2Launcher.

Note old files are automatically cleared every few days and there are options to always clear it if you want to minimize space (Settings > Guild Wars 2 > Management > Clear cache on account exit).