<p>You cannot skip downloading the blockchain, but you can skip storing it.</p>

<p>If you run Bitcoin Core with the <code>-prune=N</code> or put <code>prune=N</code> in the bitcoin.conf file, only at most N megabytes worth of blocks will be stored on disk. N has to be at least 550 currently.</p>

<p>Pruning does not reduce the validation or security at all, but does prevent your node from serving historical blocks to other peers.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-21T13:13:50.587Z
But are the latest blocks downloaded this way?
Kostas662
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-21T14:08:12.077Z
All blocks are still downloaded and verified like before. They're just not kept on your disk forever.
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-11T11:53:13.457Z
@PieterWuille: Do you perhaps know the answer to this follow-up question? http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/52030/what-happens-if-you-set-prune-n-to-a-value-between-0-and-550
Murch
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-19T10:24:45.803Z
2016-06-19T10:24:45.803Z
Pieter Wuille
<p>I have a machine with ~40GB in storage. The Bitcoin block chain is ~75GB in size, is there any chance to run bitcoind in my system? I mean, can I somehow skip downloading some part of the block chain?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any answers.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-19T11:28:37.387Z
possible duplicate of [How can I run bitcoind in pruning mode?](http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/37496/5406)
Murch
<bitcoind><pruning>
Running bitcoin core in a low storage system
Kostas662
# Running bitcoin core in a low storage system

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-06-19)

I have a machine with ~40GB in storage. The Bitcoin block chain is ~75GB in size, is there any chance to run bitcoind in my system? I mean, can I somehow skip downloading some part of the block chain?

Thanks in advance for any answers.

**Tags:** bitcoind, pruning

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: possible duplicate of [How can I run bitcoind in pruning mode?](http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/37496/5406)  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-06-19. Score: 9 | Accepted answer

You cannot skip downloading the blockchain, but you can skip storing it.

If you run Bitcoin Core with the `-prune=N` or put `prune=N` in the bitcoin.conf file, only at most N megabytes worth of blocks will be stored on disk. N has to be at least 550 currently.

Pruning does not reduce the validation or security at all, but does prevent your node from serving historical blocks to other peers.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: But are the latest blocks downloaded this way?  
> **username_2**: All blocks are still downloaded and verified like before. They're just not kept on your disk forever.  
> **username_1**: @PieterWuille: Do you perhaps know the answer to this follow-up question? http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/52030/what-happens-if-you-set-prune-n-to-a-value-between-0-and-550  

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