GTA V Won’t Leave Your SSD? The No-BS Guide to Erasing Every Last Rockstar File

I freed up 110 GB this weekend after “uninstalling” GTA V three times using Windows’ own tools. Here’s why the game kept haunting my drive, the exact order I finally nuked it, and how Perfect Uninstaller finished the job without breaking Rockstar Launcher for other titles.

---

Why a simple “Uninstall” isn’t enough

Rockstar’s monolithic install is glued together with:

• Social Club services that reinstall on reboot if bits are missing
• Shader & cloud-sync caches scattered across LocalAppData, ProgramData, and Steam’s depot cache
• Anti-cheat & overlay drivers (BattlEye, Social Club Overlay) that register as system components

After a standard uninstall, 8–12 GB often remain—enough to trigger auto-repair the next time the launcher opens.

---

Step-by-step: the routine that actually worked

1. Back up saves & settings
   Documents\Rockstar Games\Profiles and Documents\Rockstar Games\GTA V\settings.xml → copy to external drive.
2. Kill Rockstar processes
   Task Manager → end GTA5.exe, PlayGTAV.exe, RockstarService.exe, SocialClubHelper.exe.
3. Native uninstall

• Steam: Library → right-click GTA V → Manage → Uninstall.
• Rockstar Launcher: Settings → My Installed Games → GTA V → Uninstall.
• Epic/MS Store: Library → … → Uninstall.
  Let it finish; this removes the 90 GB core.

1. Manual sweep
   Delete these folders if they still exist:

• C:\Program Files\Rockstar Games\Grand Theft Auto V
• %LOCALAPPDATA%\Rockstar Games\GTA V (shader cache)
• %PROGRAMDATA%\Rockstar Games\GTA V (launcher repair files)
• %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Steam\shadercache\271590 (Steam-specific cache)

1. Registry cleanup
   regedit → delete:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Rockstar Games\Grand Theft Auto V
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Rockstar Games\Grand Theft Auto V

Still found 3.2 GB of orphaned BattlEye drivers and Social Club overlay DLLs.

---

Perfect Uninstaller: the final sweep

1. Download Perfect Uninstaller (portable build).
2. Scan → highlight Grand Theft Auto V → choose Force Uninstall + Deep Registry Scan.
3. Review the list (BattlEye service, leftover overlay DLLs, empty Steam depot keys).
4. Click Delete Selected, reboot. Drive went from 98 GB used to 0 GB related to GTA V; Rockstar Launcher still launches Red Dead Redemption 2 without complaint.

---

Bottom line

GTA V’s tentacles run deeper than most games. Do the manual purge above, then let Perfect Uninstaller erase the invisible hooks. Your SSD gets its space back, and the Rockstar Launcher keeps working for other titles—clean break, no ghosts.