<p>You can delete them just fine, as long as you delete blkindex.dat too. They will be downloaded and processed again. This will take a while, these days, though.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-30T17:30:49.617Z
Thanks! A while meaning hours... or weeks? :-)
Josh
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-30T20:38:38.187Z
@Josh: YMMV but may be about a day. For this purpose you should consider trying a lightweight client.
Meni Rosenfeld
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-30T17:27:13.007Z
2012-08-30T17:27:13.007Z
Pieter Wuille
<p>I have a Bitcoin installation on an SD card, and the blockchain files (<code>blk0001.dat</code> specifically) take up nearly 4 GB of disk space.</p>

<p>Can the <code>blk0001.dat</code> and <code>blk0002.dat</code> files be safely deleted to free up space on my SD card? Will the blockchain just be downloaded again next time I run my bitcoin client?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-11-19T07:41:27.567Z
It's a bad idea to symlink wallet.dat! If your client ever shuts down non-cleanly, you may end up with a corrupt wallet.
Luke Dashjr
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-31T08:23:37.770Z
You can use a symlink to put the wallet.dat on your SD card while the rest of the data files are including the blockchain are on your hard drive, if you wish.
Stephen Gornick
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-31T11:49:38.397Z
Good idea @StephenGornick!
Josh
<blockchain>
Can the blk0001.dat and blk0002.dat files be deleted?
Josh
# Can the blk0001.dat and blk0002.dat files be deleted?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-08-30)

I have a Bitcoin installation on an SD card, and the blockchain files (`blk0001.dat` specifically) take up nearly 4 GB of disk space.

Can the `blk0001.dat` and `blk0002.dat` files be safely deleted to free up space on my SD card? Will the blockchain just be downloaded again next time I run my bitcoin client?

**Tags:** blockchain

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: You can use a symlink to put the wallet.dat on your SD card while the rest of the data files are including the blockchain are on your hard drive, if you wish.  
> **username_0**: Good idea @username_2!  
> **username_1**: It's a bad idea to symlink wallet.dat! If your client ever shuts down non-cleanly, you may end up with a corrupt wallet.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2012-08-30. Score: 8

You can delete them just fine, as long as you delete blkindex.dat too. They will be downloaded and processed again. This will take a while, these days, though.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks! A while meaning hours... or weeks? :-)  
> **username_4**: @username_0: YMMV but may be about a day. For this purpose you should consider trying a lightweight client.  

---

