Forum Discussion
Manually delete old .tmp files from hidden folder to free up disk space!
Just a house-keeping tip that I thought other people might find helpful:
I finally found the hidden folder that houses the auto-recover files created when Storyline 2 crashes and I was astounded to discover that there were more than 20GB of files in there! That explained why my virtual machine was always using up 3-4 times more space than I thought it should, based on the files and programs I had installed on there. It appears that, although Storyline automatically creates the .tmp files, it does not automatically delete them when newer files are created, so it is a good idea to check that folder on a regular basis and delete old versions that are no longer relevant to keep them from hogging all of your hard drive space.
For anyone who does not know how to find a hidden folder in Windows (I'm using Windows 7), open a folder window and click on the 'Organize' pull-down menu at the top-left of the window and choose, "Folder and search options". In the window that pops up, go to the 'View' tab and click the radio button beside "Show hidden files, folders and drives" under "Hidden files and folders", then click 'OK'.
Now, go back to your folder window and look for the path: /AppData/Roaming/Articulate/Storyline (it may differ for others but I found it under C:/Users/[my user name], then AppData/Roaming/ etc....).
Articulate staff member, Ashley Terwilliger, mentioned this path in another post about finding auto-recovery files (https://community.articulate.com/discussions/articulate-storyline/storyline-2-autorecovery-auto-save-where-do-i-find-the-file#reply-212826):
If there are unsaved pending changes, an auto recover file is created for the project under the /AppData/Roaming/Articulate/Storyline path. This auto recover file is named using a format like this:
<name of the file witout .story extension><creation time stamp of the file>.tmp
So if you were working on a file called "my sample story.story" the auto recovery name might look like "my sample story635502380729253410.tmp".
I deleted all of the old .tmp files except for the most recent one for each of my projects and it freed up a lot of room and made my whole system run a lot faster. I have now made a shortcut directly to that folder that I keep on my desktop so I can go to it on a regular basis and clear out whatever isn't needed anymore.
Hope that helps someone!
Ashley,
I am currently using the most recent build of Storyline 360. It appears this old issue of massive temp folders has resurfaced. I see in my hidden App Data folder it is growing over 20 gigs. I deleted them and it has built up again. My virtual machine continues to chew up hard disk space. Perhaps it is time to evaluate the newest version of Storyline 360?
This is still an issue with the latest version of SL2. I just cleaned up 64GB of tmp files that had been accumulating for the last 6 months. It's not fixed.
Not 100% sure but i believe this was fixed in an update and latest versions of Storyline2 should clean up after themselves.
Hi Mel,
Yes, as Phil mentioned this was fixed in Update 4 of Storyline and you can see that documentation here in the release notes. We're also on update 5 now, which included a number of fixes and new features!
Hi Phil and Ashley,
Thank you for pointing that out - it's good to know that it's fixed. I guess when I first accessed the folder, there were lots of .tmp files there that were saved while I was still using earlier versions of Storyline so there was a lot to delete. I'm also still having to do this because I regularly save my files with a new name in order to have a more recent backup in case a file corrupts, so there are still always files that I no longer need in there. Good to know that they won't pile up now, though!
Glad we could help Mel and feel free to let us know if you need anything else.
Hi Lee,
Thanks for popping in here to share that you're seeing the same thing. I haven't seen a lot of reports of this in SL360 so far, so I'd like to have you work with our Support Engineers so that we can pull a bit more information from your system. I've started a support case for you and you should get an email from Support@articulate.com soon!
Hi Ashley,
Are there any updates from the Support Engineers about this issue? I've just cleaned up my hard drive and removed 43 GB of old .temp files from it!
Hi Paul!
I've seen a couple cases started about it in Articulate 360 and so far there hasn't been anything specific or consistent in the error logs. We'd love to take a look at what you've got going on though! I'll open up a case for you and our team will be in touch shortly.
I opened a ticket on this, and I was told there were unable to replicate the problem. I've since had to remove temp files much more often.
I found using Preview in the Storyline 360 App seems to create lots of temp files. It seems using VMWare fusion is a part of the problem. As a result, I have been using Articulate Rise much more, and I find the entire experience to be enjoyable because I can fully develop my courses in the Mac OS without storage issues.
There is a feature in VMWare Fusion where you can reclaim disk space, and this has been a huge help for me.
Hi Lee,
Do you have your case number handy? I saw a few different cases for you but they were mostly about Rise.
I use VMWare and haven't run into any difficulty. I'm often opening and publishing a number of files, although not the same file as you may be which could connected.
Ashley,
Case #01039886
