<p>Per the Jenkins documentation:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Cleanup per project/job is performed after that job runs.</p>
  
  <p>As of v2.221, cleanup will also periodically run using the new Global Build Discarders (even if a job has not recently been run).</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="https://support.cloudbees.com/hc/en-us/articles/215549798-Best-Strategy-for-Disk-Space-Management-Clean-Up-Old-Builds" rel="noreferrer">Source</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-16T22:26:53.037Z
Thank you for the reply - I can confirm it cleans up after the job is run.
Avner
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-03T20:04:34.443Z
Any idea what "periodically" means for the global build discarders though?
GJP
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-10T10:40:59.067Z
The global cleanup period is set to hourly: https://github.com/jenkinsci/jenkins/blob/master/core/src/main/java/jenkins/model/BackgroundGlobalBuildDiscarder.java#L77-L79
Luminger
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-16T17:02:06.297Z
2020-04-16T17:02:06.297Z
jayhendren
<p>I have existing Jenkins (2.90) jobs that are taking up disk space. When I enable the "Discard Old Builds" option I don't see any cleanup going on in the folder on the builds older than 7 days.</p>

<p>When does Jenkins do this cleanup? Or does it only apply for new builds after I apply the setting?</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/5uI2R.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/5uI2R.png" alt="Jenkins discard build option"></a></p>

<jenkins>
When does Jenkins clean up old builds?
Avner
# When does Jenkins clean up old builds?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-04-15)

I have existing Jenkins (2.90) jobs that are taking up disk space. When I enable the "Discard Old Builds" option I don't see any cleanup going on in the folder on the builds older than 7 days.

When does Jenkins do this cleanup? Or does it only apply for new builds after I apply the setting?

[![Jenkins discard build option](https://i.sstatic.net/5uI2R.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/5uI2R.png)

**Tags:** jenkins


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-04-16. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

Per the Jenkins documentation:

> Cleanup per project/job is performed after that job runs.
>
> As of v2.221, cleanup will also periodically run using the new Global Build Discarders (even if a job has not recently been run).

[Source](https://support.cloudbees.com/hc/en-us/articles/215549798-Best-Strategy-for-Disk-Space-Management-Clean-Up-Old-Builds).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you for the reply - I can confirm it cleans up after the job is run.  
> **username_2**: Any idea what "periodically" means for the global build discarders though?  
> **username_3**: The global cleanup period is set to hourly: https://github.com/jenkinsci/jenkins/blob/master/core/src/main/java/jenkins/model/BackgroundGlobalBuildDiscarder.java#L77-L79  

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