<blockquote>
<p><strong>Can I put the datadir on an external hard drive?</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>How would that work?</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>By configuration. Either directly by using a text editor on 'bitcoin.conf' or by using the menus in the GUI (bitcoin-qt)</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>If I did that, whenever I want to run bitcoin core would I need to wait for the blockchain to sync back up again every time?</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>No</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Is there a better way to run bitcoin core on a laptop with limited disk space?</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="/questions/tagged/pruning" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;pruning&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;pruning&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="tag-pruning-tooltip-container">pruning</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-09-14T09:45:33.693Z
2023-09-14T09:45:33.693Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>If you do not want to configure more storage but still want to run a node you may choose to use pruning.</p>
<p>Pruning as documented in the default bitcoind bitcoin.conf:</p>
<pre><code>Reduce storage requirements by enabling pruning (deleting) of old
blocks. This allows the pruneblockchain RPC to be called to
delete specific blocks and enables automatic pruning of old blocks if a target size in MiB is provided. This mode is
incompatible with -txindex. Warning: Reverting this setting
requires re-downloading the entire blockchain. (default: 0 =
disable pruning blocks, 1 = allow manual pruning via RPC, &gt;=550 =
automatically prune block files to stay under the specified
target size in MiB)
prune=&lt;n&gt;
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-09-14T21:43:56.537Z
2023-09-14T21:43:56.537Z
Poseidon
<p>I strongly recommend setting it up this way. It not only accelerates the synchronization process but also alleviates the load on the drive housing the operating system. I would advocate for external SSD instead of HDD  to not wait too long time for the  initial synchronization completion.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-10-08T03:19:20.127Z
Include the following entries in the bitcoin.conf file.

dbcache = <M>
* where M equals to 1/4 RAM, for instance if you RAM = 8Gb then dbcache=2048

blocksonly=1
https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node#reduce-maximum-connections
* this will increase the sync  speed as it  disables node listening and "stop requesting and relaying transactions unless they are part of the block". 
datadir=<path to directory on external drive where Bitcoin Core will keep its data>
* For instance my path looks like this datadir=F:/ BitcoinData. BitcoinDta is fungible
Mani T
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-10-08T03:18:18.750Z
2023-10-08T03:18:18.750Z
Mani T
<blockquote>
<p>Is there a better way to run bitcoin core on a laptop with limited disk space?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If you install the latest version of GUI Bitcoin-qt, as of this time version 25.0., on the welcome screen it asks if you want to use default location for blockchain data. You can change it.</p>
<p>Also, it asks if you want to limit the space of blockchain data. You can specify the amount in Gbs. This is modifiable later, as RedGrittyBrick wrote earlier.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-09-14T12:21:51.460Z
2023-09-14T12:21:51.460Z
Laticslomugy
<p>I want to run bitcoin core on my laptop, but I don't have enough disk space to do the initial blockchain download. Can I put the datadir on an external hard drive? How would that work? If I did that, whenever I want to run bitcoin core would I need to wait for the blockchain to sync back up again every time? Is there a better way to run bitcoin core on a laptop with limited disk space? Thanks.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-09-14T03:34:23.460Z
Does https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/37496/5406 answer your question?
Murch
<bitcoin-core>
Not enough disk space to do initial download for bitcoin core
Tre_AG
# Not enough disk space to do initial download for bitcoin core

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-09-14)

I want to run bitcoin core on my laptop, but I don't have enough disk space to do the initial blockchain download. Can I put the datadir on an external hard drive? How would that work? If I did that, whenever I want to run bitcoin core would I need to wait for the blockchain to sync back up again every time? Is there a better way to run bitcoin core on a laptop with limited disk space? Thanks.

**Tags:** bitcoin-core

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Does https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/37496/5406 answer your question?  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-09-14. Score: 1

> **Can I put the datadir on an external hard drive?**

Yes

> **How would that work?**

By configuration. Either directly by using a text editor on 'bitcoin.conf' or by using the menus in the GUI (bitcoin-qt)

> **If I did that, whenever I want to run bitcoin core would I need to wait for the blockchain to sync back up again every time?**

No

> **Is there a better way to run bitcoin core on a laptop with limited disk space?**

[pruning](/questions/tagged/pruning "show questions tagged 'pruning'")


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2023-09-14. Score: 1

If you do not want to configure more storage but still want to run a node you may choose to use pruning.

Pruning as documented in the default bitcoind bitcoin.conf:

```
Reduce storage requirements by enabling pruning (deleting) of old
blocks. This allows the pruneblockchain RPC to be called to
delete specific blocks and enables automatic pruning of old blocks if a target size in MiB is provided. This mode is
incompatible with -txindex. Warning: Reverting this setting
requires re-downloading the entire blockchain. (default: 0 =
disable pruning blocks, 1 = allow manual pruning via RPC, >=550 =
automatically prune block files to stay under the specified
target size in MiB)
prune=<n>

```


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2023-10-08. Score: 0

I strongly recommend setting it up this way. It not only accelerates the synchronization process but also alleviates the load on the drive housing the operating system. I would advocate for external SSD instead of HDD to not wait too long time for the initial synchronization completion.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Include the following entries in the bitcoin.conf file.  dbcache = <M> * where M equals to 1/4 RAM, for instance if you RAM = 8Gb then dbcache=2048  blocksonly=1 https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node#reduce-maximum-connections * this will increase the sync  speed as it  disables node listening and "stop requesting and relaying transactions unless they are part of the block".  datadir=<path to directory on external drive where Bitcoin Core will keep its data> * For instance my path looks like this datadir=F:/ BitcoinData. BitcoinDta is fungible  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2023-09-14. Score: 0

> Is there a better way to run bitcoin core on a laptop with limited disk space?

If you install the latest version of GUI Bitcoin-qt, as of this time version 25.0., on the welcome screen it asks if you want to use default location for blockchain data. You can change it.

Also, it asks if you want to limit the space of blockchain data. You can specify the amount in Gbs. This is modifiable later, as username_2 wrote earlier.


---

