deleting empty folders in these dirs; safe?

So I had some games i recently uninstalled and they had left remnants strewn about. it was mostly save folders and the like. Understandable and easy for me to locate and remove.

In my perusal of my appdata and programdata directories i happened across some other folders which were empty. several of them I was hesitant to delete. I installed windows 11 not long ago and the last thing I want to do is break it in any way shape or form. im already invested for the long haul lol.

anyhow in my search for what had created said folders and the safety of their removal i came across a software Remove Empty Directories (aka RED) which looks like its been around quite some time and seems like it could potentially make a manual job not only much more automated, but do a better job too.

before I run it I just wanted a bit of confirm or deny from people with more knowledge in the area than I. Is it safe for me to run that against %programdata% %appdata% and %localappdata% or do empty folders exist in those directories that have to be there?

my first instinct is that any necessary folder would be recreated, full stop. unfortunately assumptions like this have bitten me in the ass far too many times over the years so its easier for me to defer to the reddit pros on this one

What I'd do is create a new Folder in a USB Thumb drive and Copy all those empty Folders into it then delete the ones in question. If any issues show up just copy them back to the original location.

Well, most of empty folders would be safe to delete, but you're never sure about all of them. Not necessarily all are leftovers...

Instead of apps like RED I suggest you to use a program like REVO uninstaller. It will check for any leftover of uninstalled software. Very good at that. Even free version is powerful.

What I'd do is create a new Folder in a USB Thumb drive and Copy all those empty Folders into it then delete the ones in question. If any issues show up just copy them back to the original location.

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yea thats kind of the basic premise i was going with. the software itself allows you to delete to the recycling bin so it wont be a perma delete unless i say so. that being said, sometimes issues dont crop up for weeks, months etc until you run a particular software or use a particular feature etc so its not my first choice in modus operandi

AndreTen said:

Well, most of empty folders would be safe to delete, but you're never sure about all of them. Not necessarily all are leftovers...

Instead of apps like RED I suggest you to use a program like REVO uninstaller. It will check for any leftover of uninstalled software. Very good at that. Even free version is powerful.

Download Revo Uninstaller Freeware - Free and Full Download

Free fully functional download of Revo Uninstaller Pro, Pro Portable and Revo Uninstaller Freeware. Quick and fast download here.

www.revouninstaller.com

Click to expand...

yea thats what has me concerned. i mean, good programming.. id argue even basic programming would and should have that check in place but it wouldnt be the first time.... or the second.. lol.