<p>Running a pruning node simply means enabling the prune setting.</p>

<p>In Bitcoin Core, that can be done either in the bitcoin.conf file by adding a line "prune=N" (where N is a number in megabytes), or through the Qt GUI in the settings screen.</p>

<p>Electrum is not a full node, and never downloads or verifies blocks at all, so there is nothing to prune.</p>

<p>There is no difference in security, only in features. A pruned node cannot serve old blocks to other peers, and can't be used to rescan old wallets (because the block data is not available).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-13T00:49:40.660Z
thx! is your explanation related to Windows machine? if not could you answer again for Windows please (where is this bitcon.conf file located?) thanks  @Pieter-Wuille
johnsmiththelird
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-13T01:03:03.403Z
My answer applies to all platforms. You can find other answers on this site about configuring Bitcoin Core and the location of the config file
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-11T22:46:13.497Z
2020-01-11T22:46:13.497Z
Pieter Wuille
<p>can you explain please how I can run a "pruned" node instead of storing all 300GB of data? Is there a difference how you turn your btc client into "pruning" mode among the different clients, bitcoin core, bitcoin QT, electrum? </p>

<p>If i run one of those 3 mentioned btc clients, I would like to know how to turn that program into "pruned mode"? </p>

<p>Any security factors to keep in mind when using pruned node mode?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<bitcoin-core><wallet><client><pruning>
Bitcoin full node - how to run a pruned node, explaining pruning?
johnsmiththelird
# Bitcoin full node - how to run a pruned node, explaining pruning?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-01-11)

can you explain please how I can run a "pruned" node instead of storing all 300GB of data? Is there a difference how you turn your btc client into "pruning" mode among the different clients, bitcoin core, bitcoin QT, electrum?

If i run one of those 3 mentioned btc clients, I would like to know how to turn that program into "pruned mode"?

Any security factors to keep in mind when using pruned node mode?

Thanks

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, wallet, client, pruning


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-01-11. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Running a pruning node simply means enabling the prune setting.

In Bitcoin Core, that can be done either in the bitcoin.conf file by adding a line "prune=N" (where N is a number in megabytes), or through the Qt GUI in the settings screen.

Electrum is not a full node, and never downloads or verifies blocks at all, so there is nothing to prune.

There is no difference in security, only in features. A pruned node cannot serve old blocks to other peers, and can't be used to rescan old wallets (because the block data is not available).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: thx! is your explanation related to Windows machine? if not could you answer again for Windows please (where is this bitcon.conf file located?) thanks  @Pieter-Wuille  
> **username_1**: My answer applies to all platforms. You can find other answers on this site about configuring Bitcoin Core and the location of the config file  

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