Stale Electron Updater Packages
Many Windows apps built with Electron download installer payloads and differential update packages into root-level updater folders under %LocalAppData% while using Squirrel, NSIS-based auto-updaters, or electron-updater. Those folders can accumulate stale .nupkg packages, downloaded .exe installers, blockmap files, and partially retained previous update payloads after a successful upgrade or a superseded release. Kudu removes only old root-level Electron updater packages that are no longer needed for installation, while leaving pending updates, nested files, and anything newer than 14 days untouched; app data, settings, accounts, and passwords are not affected.
Why clean Stale Electron Updater Packages?
- Superseded .nupkg and installer files stay behind after an app updates, so %LocalAppData% grows unexpectedly and you notice several hundred megabytes or more consumed by updater folders
- Interrupted or retried electron-updater downloads can leave old package payloads beside newer ones, leading to duplicate version files and confusingly large per-app storage use in Windows settings
- Failed differential updates often fall back to full installers, and the obsolete blockmap and package files remain afterward, so disk space keeps increasing even though the app is already on the latest version
- Security software and backup tools repeatedly scan leftover updater executables in LocalAppData, which can show up as longer scans or backups because old installer payloads are still present
- Roaming profiles, cloud backup, or profile migration take longer when root-level updater caches contain abandoned release packages, causing noticeably larger user profile transfers
- Some Electron apps keep multiple generations of downloaded update artifacts at the updater root, so users see no change in the app itself but steadily shrinking free space on the system drive
Cache paths Kudu targets
Windows
%LocalAppData% |
Common questions about Stale Electron Updater Packages
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