I'm running Windows 11 from my main 4TB drive, and I added a secondary 2TB NVMe SSD about a year later. I recently noticed many subdirectories with short, two-letter names on the secondary drive. They appear to contain similar Windows-related files, possibly in different languages. What created these folders, and is it safe to remove them?
2 Answers
The two-letter folder names are probably language or locale codes. The repeated files look like Windows installation or internationalization resources that some installer or update process copied to the drive. Before deleting anything, confirm the exact parent directory and check whether the files are currently referenced by Windows or an installed application. If they’re just leftover setup files on the secondary drive and nothing uses them, they can generally be removed, but keep a backup first.
They may be installation files for the international edition of Windows, with each directory representing a different language. Don’t delete them blindly if they’re inside a Windows, recovery, or program installation directory. If they’re clearly leftover files in an unused folder on the secondary SSD, deleting the entire leftover set should be fine after confirming you don’t need the installer or recovery media.
Thanks! I’ll check the parent folder and make sure they aren’t part of an active Windows or application installation before removing them.