If I install Steam games on my second drive, do I need the folder that was created on the main drive?

Question

If I install Steam games on my second drive, do I need the folder that was created on the main drive?

For example, while I was searching for gigabyte-sized files to clean up my C drive, I found huge Cyberpunk 2077 files in the "Program Files (x86)" directory, despite the fact that I install my games on my second one and they're not even installed at the moment. If not the whole folder, are there any that are safe to delete?

Answer 1

Yes, you need C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam (default Steam installation directory), as that contains the Steam program itself aside from the game files. If you delete it, you'll need to reinstall Steam along with your games installed on drive C if you want to play a Steam game.

Games files in drive C are installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\ by default, and it should be safe to delete them. However, it is better to use Steam's uninstaller instead: Library → Right-click the game → Manage → Uninstall, to also remove game files outside of C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\.