The latest articles on DEV Community by will will (@will_will_61d81dcc371f802). https://dev.to/will_will_61d81dcc371f802 https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3988001%2F95834ae9-7f38-44bc-8bad-1d106277ba53.png https://dev.to/will_will_61d81dcc371f802 en will will Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:58:27 +0000 https://dev.to/will_will_61d81dcc371f802/i-built-a-free-tool-to-find-the-steam-games-eating-your-ssd-1296 https://dev.to/will_will_61d81dcc371f802/i-built-a-free-tool-to-find-the-steam-games-eating-your-ssd-1296 <p>My 1TB SSD was permanently full. Not because I play that many games — because I'd installed 40 of them, played each once, and never uninstalled. Steam can move a game, but nothing told me <em>which</em> games across my whole library were dead weight.</p> <p>So I built <strong>GameCleaner</strong>.</p> <h2> What it does </h2> <ul> <li> <strong>Scans your Steam library</strong> and ranks every game by how long since you last played it.</li> <li>Shows exactly how much space is reclaimable <em>before</em> you touch anything.</li> <li>Frees space three ways: clear shader caches, uninstall stale games, or move them between drives.</li> <li> <strong>Backs up your saves first</strong> — reclaiming space never risks your progress.</li> </ul> <h2> The stack </h2> <ul> <li>Pure-Python engine (stdlib only — <code>scanner</code> / <code>actions</code> / <code>backup</code>, parses Steam's <code>.vdf</code> by hand).</li> <li> <strong>Tkinter</strong> GUI so it ships with Python and needs zero extra deps, on Windows and Linux.</li> <li>Packaged to a single <code>.exe</code> with PyInstaller for non-technical gamers.</li> </ul> <p>Free tier scans + cleans shader caches. That alone reclaimed ~200GB on my drive.</p> <p>Try it: <a href="https://gamecleaner.netlify.app" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://gamecleaner.netlify.app</a></p> <p>It's an early build — I'd genuinely love feedback on the scan heuristics and what other stores (Epic/GOG/Xbox) you'd want covered. What would make you actually trust a tool to uninstall your games?</p> showdev python gamedev windows will will Tue, 16 Jun 2026 22:41:16 +0000 https://dev.to/will_will_61d81dcc371f802/i-built-a-tool-to-reclaim-disk-space-from-steam-games-you-forgot-you-installed-2pga https://dev.to/will_will_61d81dcc371f802/i-built-a-tool-to-reclaim-disk-space-from-steam-games-you-forgot-you-installed-2pga <h2> The problem </h2> <p>Every few months my SSD hits 95% full. The culprit is always the same: AAA games I installed, played for a week, and never opened again. Steam's storage view shows size per game — but not how long since I last played. So cleanup was always guesswork.</p> <h2> What I built </h2> <p>GameCleaner scans your Steam library and:</p> <ul> <li>Sorts every game by size on disk</li> <li>Flags titles you haven't touched in months ("stale")</li> <li>Estimates total reclaimable GB</li> <li>Backs up saves (userdata + Proton compatdata) <strong>before</strong> any removal</li> <li>Lets you uninstall, clear shader caches, or move games between drives — dry-run by default, path-contained deletes</li> </ul> <h2> How it works under the hood </h2> <p>It parses Steam's <code>libraryfolders.vdf</code> and each <code>appmanifest_*.acf</code>, reads <code>SizeOnDisk</code> and <code>LastUpdated</code>, and walks the shader cache. Move actions copy → verify size → then delete the source, so a transfer can't leave you with a half-broken install.</p> <h2> Status </h2> <p>Early. Steam on Windows/Linux for now; Epic/GOG next. Landing + waitlist while I package the app.</p> <p>Try it / join early access: <a href="https://gamecleaner.netlify.app" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://gamecleaner.netlify.app</a></p> <p>Feedback welcome — especially on per-game save locations I should cover beyond userdata/compatdata.</p> showdev gamedev python webdev