I thought removing a 500 MB indie game would be simple. After “uninstalling” Stardew Valley through Steam last week, I still found save files, mod folders, and scattered registry keys eating almost 300 MB. Here’s why the game lingers and the exact routine I used to purge it without harming my other titles.
1. Why Stardew Valley refuses to disappear
- Multi-location saves: Steam Cloud, Xbox Game Pass, and DRM-free builds drop saves in different folders.
- Mod hooks: SMAPI and content-patcher DLLs survive a basic uninstall.
- Cache & settings:
startup_preferences,error_logs, and shader caches hide in%APPDATA%.
2. Hands-on removal (what actually worked)
Step 1 – Back up your farm
Copy %APPDATA%\StardewValley\Saves to a USB drive or OneDrive.
Step 2 – Native uninstall
- Steam: Library → right-click Stardew Valley → Manage → Uninstall.
- Xbox/MS Store: Settings → Apps → Stardew Valley → Uninstall.
- GOG Galaxy: Installed → More → Manage → Uninstall.
Let the launcher finish; it only removes the core 500 MB.
Step 3 – Manual sweep
Delete these folders if they exist:
%APPDATA%\StardewValley(saves, error logs)%PROGRAMFILES(X86)%\Steam\steamapps\common\Stardew Valley(leftover mods)%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\ConcernedApe.StardewValley*(MS Store)
Registry keys:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ConcernedApe\StardewValley
After this, I was down to 48 KB of orphaned SMAPI entries that I couldn’t remove manually.
3. Finish with Perfect Uninstaller
- Download the portable build, run a scan.
- Select Stardew Valley → choose Force Uninstall + Deep Registry.
- Perfect Uninstaller found the SMAPI service, two empty registry branches, and a hidden Xbox package stub.
- Click Delete, reboot—0 bytes left, no game tile in any launcher.
Summary
Stardew Valley is tiny but spreads its tentacles across saves, mods, and storefront caches. Remove it via the launcher, manually nuke the folders above, then let Perfect Uninstaller polish off the leftovers. Follow the three-step routine and you’ll reclaim every megabyte without a trace.
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