Windows 11 Creates Thousands of Empty Folders. How to Get Rid of them?

Does your Windows 11 create hundreds of thousands of empty folders in the system drive? Many Internet users are reporting a glitch that causes Windows 11 to suddenly create a large number of empty folders in the C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local directory.

Use the Clean Empty Folders tool in Clone Files Checker to delete bulk empty folders with a single click. The process is fast, safe, and gives accurate results.

Use Clone Files Checker to delete empty folders

Clone Files Checker follows Google Software Principles

 

Why does Windows 11 create empty folders in large numbers?

These empty folders are being created by the Provisioning Package Runtime Processing Tool (ProvTool.exe). This issue was first reported in 2019 on the Windows 10 operating system. Many users have started reporting the same issue now on Windows 11 machines as well.

The following directory is flooded with hundreds of thousands of empty folders:

C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local

 

Why do empty folders need to be deleted?

Over time, your computer gets cluttered with disorganized files and empty folders. Many empty folders are left behind by applications you’ve already uninstalled. As more and more such directories are added, it impacts your system performance and your computer runs terribly slower. In addition to that, such disorganized data requires you to drill down through dozens of folders to find files that you actually need to access.

 

Is it safe to delete these empty folders?

Yes, it’s absolutely safe to delete the empty folders. Deleting the empty folders will not cause any harm to the operating system.

 

How to delete the empty folders?

There are two ways of deleting empty folders- First, a manual method that requires a lot of time and effort. Second, automatically delete empty folders using specialized software.

 

Method 1: Manually Delete Empty Folders

1. Click on File Explorer.
2. Click on View > Show > Hidden items.
   
   
3. Delete the empty folders from this directory:

• • C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local

 

Important: This directory might also contain many folders that house some crucial files. It is recommended to keep such folders unchanged, otherwise, it could cause problems in the functioning of the Provisioning Package Runtime Processing Tool.

 

Method 2: Automatically Delete Empty Folders Using Specialized Software

A better way to deal with empty folders in Windows 11 is to use empty folder cleaning software.

1. Download Clone Files Checker and install it.
2. Click on Remove Empty Folders.
   
   

   

3. In the Clean Empty Folders dialog box, click on Add Path.
4. Select the path that contains empty folders you want to delete:
   • C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local
     
5. Click on the Delete Empty Folders button.

 

Features:

• Delete empty folders automatically without fearing of accidentally deleting folders containing your files.
• Search for duplicate documents, photos, videos, music and more.
• Gives an option to backup your duplicate files before deleting (optional feature).
• Fix Wizard: Automatically take action on all duplicate files with a step-by-step wizard. The wizard prompts you which files to retain and what action to take on all duplicates.
• Review & Fix: Get a list of all duplicate files and use a variety of file selection criteria. For example: Newest files in each group, oldest files in each group, select files by their location, etc.
• History: Displays a history of all duplicate files found in your previous scans. You can restore your backups with One-Click (if you ‘ve enabled the Backup option before deleting the duplicates).