Hi, I had this problem during 2 phase of Dragonflight pre-patch. I have low bandwidth internet, so redownloading +80GB of data takes whole day(25hours), and 99% of the time it is not the problem anyway, not WTF folder, it is Cache almost everytime.
with this guide you will redownload like 500-1000MB
Guide:
Deleting Cache in WoW
- in Battle.net app/program click on the cogwheel (located right from the play button) => Show in Explorer => now you are in your World of Warcraft folder through windows explorer
1.b If you have your World of Warcraft folder in Program Files it is recommended to move it out of Program Files, because from Windows Vista Program Files is OS protected folder, and it restrict programs from editing files inside, so for example it doesn’t save the setting files properly (possible example: you turn off WoW, and your addon settings will not save), or it can restrict updating game data.
You don’t need to reinstall WoW, you can grab World of Warcraft folder and move it somewhere else, of course you need to turn off Battle.net app before, after when you move WoW folder turn on Battle.net app, on bottom left there will be “Already installed? Locate the game.” you click on the locate the game, choose the new path the to WoW folder and it is done
for examples: you can move it toC:\World of Warcraftor create folder “Games” and have it inC:\Games\World of Warcraft - Deleting Cache : in WoW folders there are folders like retail or classic click on them => and delete Cache folder(or the content of Cache folder)
so in address bar looks like this
World of Warcraft\_retail_\Cache
World of Warcraft\_classic_\Cache - Deleting data cache : Go back to World of Warcraft folder => Click on “Data” Folder => delete folders “config” and “indices” (located in World of Warcraft\Data)
World of Warcraft\Data\config
World of Warcraft\Data\indices - Deleting
.battle.netfolder : Go back to base World of Warcraft folder where the first folder should be.battle.net(because it starts with dot) and delete it
Hidden not needed steps(did keep it in, if needed in future)
- deleting small data files which can be corrupted and aren’t big: Then click on data folder again(so you are in World of Warcraft\Data\data) => change explorer view into details so you will see file sizes => with
Ctrl + Shift + 6orin empty space in the folder right click with mouse =>view=>Details=> scroll down and delete last Data files , which are in 1KB-10000KB(0.001-10MB) range
Example
Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/H2hDwvA.png (Text below is from 2022, Screenshot is from 2025)
How many Data files you have, depends on how many WoW version do you have installed (Retail, Classic, PTR, Classic PTR, BETA, Classic ERA)
for example in my folder:
Data.101 is 1KB,
Data.102 is 1KB,
Data.103 is 1033KB,
Data.104 is 1KB,
Data.105 is 10609KB
=> so I will delete Data.101 to Data.105
World of Warcraft\Data\data
- Deleting *.idx files:
6.a 2024.03.26 update: WARNING sometimes when their serveres are overloaded(for example new patch day), Battle.net app doesn’t download fully*.idx, only partially and tries to redownload everything, instead of deleting*.idxmaybe move then out of folder, so you can return it if battle.net app doesn’t download new proper*.idx, or do it on days when servers are not overloaded.
6.b In folder Data(World of Warcraft\Data\data) use shortcutCTRL+Fand write*.idxand press enter to search for those files=> delete all found *.idx files (.idx files are like cache for “scan and repair” process)
World of Warcraft\Data\data
Deleting all settings for Battle.net app/program
- Now you delete/uninstall Battle.net app/program
- open windows explorer (Winkey+E) and delete folders/all content of folders written below, copy paste the lines into address bar of windows explorer :
%programdata%\Battle.net
%programdata%\Battle.net_components
%programdata%\Blizzard Entertainment
%localappdata%\Battle.net
%localappdata%\Blizzard
%localappdata%\Blizzard Entertainment
%appdata%\Battle.net
%appdata%\Blizzard Entertainment
%temp%
(%temp% doesn’t have anything with WoW, but can free space between 1-10GB, they are temporary files which Windows doesn’t delete)
Example
Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/GKelfY8.png
Copy %programdata%\Battle.net => paste into file explorer adress bar => delete all content in Battle.net Folder
=> Copy %programdata%\Blizzard Entertainment => paste into file explorer adress bar => delete all content in Blizzard Entertainment Folder
=> etc
- install Battle.net=>Congratulation, you have now true clean Battle.net installation
- “scan and repair” WoW of your choice from the cogwheel
Deleting only cache for Battle.net app/program
- on taskbar (right corner) right click on the Battle.net app icon => Exit => wait like a 60seconds, it take some time to
Agent.exeto close - open windows explorer (Winkey+E) and delete folders/all content of folders written below, copy paste the lines into address bar of windows explorer :
%programdata%\Battle.net\Agent\data
%programdata%\Blizzard Entertainment\Battle.net\Cache
%localappdata%\Battle.net\BrowserCaches
%localappdata%\Battle.net\Cache - delete one file
CachedData.dbin%localappdata%\Battle.net - delete folder:
.battle.netit is located in your Battle.net app folder (default should beC:\Program Files (x86)\Battle.net), that folder should be on top because the first character of that folder is a dot - Open Battle.net app and “Scan and Repair”
EDIT 2024.03.26 : Removed indices folder as clearing cache
My folder indices have 27GB, my guess is, that indices files are hashes to check if the downloaded files are not corrupted, so deleting those files would not be helpful to redownload/fix corrupted data files.
When I did write this guide, indices wasn’t even 200MB, looks like after that flower wrist corrupted update files (first 3D bracer transmog), they started to using hash files to be sure they don’t push corrupted files in small updates.
Added about Program Files
Added warning about *.idx
EDIT 2025.09.13 : readded indices folder, hide part 4.+5.
indices same as other cache files they don’t get deleted and only cumulate, with “scan and repair” are recreated anyway. Before I started to delete this again, that folder was 40GB, now it is around 260MB.
because of the hash checking part 4.+5. is not needed
EDIT 2025.09.15 : added to 1.b what to do when you move your WoW folder
EDIT 2025.10.04 : added screenshots in examples
EDIT 2025.10.22 : added only cache guide for Battle.net app/program, so you don’t need to log in/reinstall again
EDIT 2025.10.28 : added .battle.net folders