Program files
Program files may refer to any of the following:
1. When used as a singular noun, an application file or program file describes a file that stores the code to run a program. This type of file is commonly called an executable file. With more than one file, program files are the files that allow a program to run on your computer. Most programs have different types of files, for instance, DLL (dynamic-link library) files or data files used with the executable file.
2. Program Files is a folder first found in Microsoft Windows 95 and included in all later versions of Microsoft Windows that stores the programs installed on the computer.
How to open Program Files folder
By default, the Program Files folder is found on the root directory of the primary hard drive, with the C:\Program Files path. To open this folder on your computer, follow the steps below.
- Open File Explorer.
- Select This PC or Computer.
- Open the C: drive.
- Open the Program Files or Program Files (x86) folder.
What programs should be in the Program Files folder?
The Program Files folder and Program Files (x86) folders should contain the folders of the programs that are installed on the computer.
Can I delete Program Files or Program Files (x86)?
No. While it may be possible to delete these folders, they are both part of Windows and default locations where Windows installs your program files. If you delete either of these folders, all installed programs in the folder are also deleted.
To delete these folders to recover hard drive space, we suggest uninstalling programs and not deleting these folders. For help with uninstalling programs, see: How to uninstall software in Windows.
What is the progra~1 directory?
With early versions of MS-DOS and Windows that only supported the 8.3 file naming format, the "Program Files" directory was too long. For backward compatibility, the "Programs Files" directory would appear as "progra~1" (a maximum of eight characters). Today, because all operating systems support long file names this directory name is no longer seen.
Program Files translations
If you're using a version of Windows that isn't English, this directory may be translated into a different name, as shown in the examples below.
Danish = Programmer
French = Programmes
German = Programme
Italian = Programmi
Norwegian = Programfiler
Portuguese = Arquivo de Programas
Spanish = Archivos de programa
Swedish = Program