What the WER archive stores and why it grows
When an app crashes or hangs, Windows collects a report — the .wer file plus, sometimes, a minidump and a few support files — and first parks it in ReportQueue, then moves it to ReportArchive once it has been offered for upload. A matching per-user copy lives under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\WER. The reports are diagnostic material for Microsoft and developers; nothing on your PC depends on them being present.
Growth is driven by crash frequency, not report size: a single report is usually well under a megabyte, but an app that fails on every launch can generate dozens of reports a day. If the archive eats gigabytes, the honest diagnosis is that something on the PC is crashing constantly. That makes the folder a useful symptom to read before you empty it — the newest .wer file names the app that keeps failing.
How to clean it out
The gentle built-in route is Settings → System → Storage → Temporary files, where “Windows error reporting files” appears as its own line with a size next to it. The same category exists in Disk Cleanup after you click “Clean up system files”. Both remove the queued and archived reports without touching dumps that live elsewhere, like C:\Windows\Minidump.
For a complete sweep, delete the folder contents directly. Nothing inside is needed for Windows, and the folders themselves are recreated the moment a new report arrives, so removing their contents is the whole job. An elevated command prompt handles all of them in seconds:
- %PROGRAMDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive — archived reports, the main space consumer
- %PROGRAMDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue — reports waiting to be uploaded or dropped
- %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\WER — the per-user mirror of both folders
- rd /s /q "%PROGRAMDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive" — the one-liner from an elevated prompt that empties the biggest folder
Stopping the reports from piling up again
Windows lets you switch error reporting off entirely: Control Panel → System and Security → Security and Maintenance → Problem Reports Settings, then “Never check for solutions”. That stops new reports from being created for most crashes and keeps the folders at zero. What diagnostic data Microsoft itself receives is governed by separate settings, which you can trim in Settings → Privacy & security → Diagnostics & feedback.
The better long-term move is fixing whatever crashes: an app that writes reports every day is an app with a problem, so update it, reinstall it or check its entry in Event Viewer before blaming the folder. An app that keeps failing will refill any folder you empty. For hands-off housekeeping, Kleaner PRO includes the WER archive in its junk scan, so the reports never get the chance to quietly pile up again.
Questions and Answers
Is it safe to delete the WER ReportArchive folder?
Yes. It contains nothing but queued and archived crash reports — disposable diagnostic data. Windows does not need it, and deleting it cannot cause crashes or instability.
How do I delete Windows Error Reporting files?
Open Settings → System → Storage → Temporary files and tick “Windows error reporting files”, or run Disk Cleanup with system files. Manually, an elevated rd /s /q on the ReportArchive and ReportQueue folders does the same.
Why does the WER folder keep growing?
Because something keeps crashing: every failure adds a report. If the folder refills quickly, open the newest .wer file in Notepad — the app named there is your culprit — and update or reinstall it.
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