<p>The quide you followed is 3 years old. Since then, there was an option added called <code>prune</code> - add it to a line in your <em>bitcoind.conf</em>, like so:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>prune=50000</p>
</blockquote>

<p>And restart <code>bitcoind</code>. This would effectively limit your blockchain size to only 50Gb of recent blocks.</p>

<p>In case you need to have a full blockchain available for research &amp; analysis, there is no other way but to buy a bigger HD.</p>

<p>In case you don't need the local blockchain at all, then there is very little reason not to use a lightweight client like <code>Electrum</code> which does not store anything on your HD but instead relies on proprietary servers.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-16T12:22:03.707Z
I am now happily using Electrum.
Luís de Sousa
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-15T20:19:43.470Z
2016-07-15T20:19:43.470Z
kibitzer
<p>I am trying to create a wallet on my computer with <code>bitcoind</code> following <a href="https://scottlinux.com/2013/09/09/how-to-setup-bitcoin-wallet-headless-on-debian-or-ubuntu-linux/#comment-1724" rel="nofollow">this guide</a>. I installed it, ran it, and monitored the process with <code>bitcoin-cli</code>. It went on for about 15 hours, at which it failed with an error message: "Error: Error: Disk space is low!". <code>bitcoind</code> had taken up the whole 160 Gb available in my home disk.</p>

<p>How can I safely free up the space taken by <code>bitcoind</code>? Should it be uninstalled? Or delete files (which?) will suffice?</p>

<bitcoind>
How to free up the space taken by bitcoind?
Luís de Sousa
# How to free up the space taken by bitcoind?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-07-15)

I am trying to create a wallet on my computer with `bitcoind` following [this guide](https://scottlinux.com/2013/09/09/how-to-setup-bitcoin-wallet-headless-on-debian-or-ubuntu-linux/#comment-1724). I installed it, ran it, and monitored the process with `bitcoin-cli`. It went on for about 15 hours, at which it failed with an error message: "Error: Error: Disk space is low!". `bitcoind` had taken up the whole 160 Gb available in my home disk.

How can I safely free up the space taken by `bitcoind`? Should it be uninstalled? Or delete files (which?) will suffice?

**Tags:** bitcoind


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-07-15. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

The quide you followed is 3 years old. Since then, there was an option added called `prune` - add it to a line in your *bitcoind.conf*, like so:

> prune=50000

And restart `bitcoind`. This would effectively limit your blockchain size to only 50Gb of recent blocks.

In case you need to have a full blockchain available for research & analysis, there is no other way but to buy a bigger HD.

In case you don't need the local blockchain at all, then there is very little reason not to use a lightweight client like `Electrum` which does not store anything on your HD but instead relies on proprietary servers.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I am now happily using Electrum.  

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