<p>The 17 GB of data in your <code>blocks</code> folder is the <em>blockchain</em>. This is the public ledger of all transactions in the Bitcoin network, from day one. A full node needs all this data to check each new block that arrives from the network. As time goes on, the size of the blockchain will only increase.</p>

<p>There exist other clients such as <a href="https://multibit.org/" rel="nofollow">MultiBit</a> which do not require the full blockchain download. These are called SPV or <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Scalability#Simplified_payment_verification" rel="nofollow">Simplified Payment Verification</a> clients.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-07T00:14:02.600Z
is MultiBit safe/good?
dynamic
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-06T18:35:21.130Z
2014-03-06T18:35:21.130Z
Greg Hewgill
<p>There's no way to make this smaller. Deleting the files here will cause your node to crash. If space is a problem use a lite client like Electrum or Multibit which does not require a blockchain download.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-07T00:15:02.363Z
Electrum or Multibit? which is better?
dynamic
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-07T19:12:38.793Z
Electrum is a lot friendlier, and the backups are safer.
user13413
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-06T17:29:28.970Z
2014-03-06T17:29:28.970Z
user13413
<p>So I have downloaded Bitcoin-QT v0.8.6-beta.
It has downloaded everything and now this folder:</p>

<pre><code>C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin\blocks
</code></pre>

<p><strong>is 17GB</strong></p>

<p>Anyway to prune/delete something?</p>

<block>
Bitcoin/blocks folder up to 17gb
dynamic
# Bitcoin/blocks folder up to 17gb

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-03-06)

So I have downloaded Bitcoin-QT v0.8.6-beta.
It has downloaded everything and now this folder:
C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin\blocks

is 17GB
Anyway to prune/delete something?

**Tags:** block


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-03-06. Score: 4

The 17 GB of data in your `blocks` folder is the *blockchain*. This is the public ledger of all transactions in the Bitcoin network, from day one. A full node needs all this data to check each new block that arrives from the network. As time goes on, the size of the blockchain will only increase.

There exist other clients such as [MultiBit](https://multibit.org/) which do not require the full blockchain download. These are called SPV or [Simplified Payment Verification](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Scalability#Simplified_payment_verification) clients.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: is MultiBit safe/good?  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2014-03-06. Score: 3

There's no way to make this smaller. Deleting the files here will cause your node to crash. If space is a problem use a lite client like Electrum or Multibit which does not require a blockchain download.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Electrum or Multibit? which is better?  
> **username_2**: Electrum is a lot friendlier, and the backups are safer.  

---

