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Alteryx Designer Desktop Knowledge Base

Definitive answers from Designer Desktop experts.

Error: Temp Drive is Getting Full

AndrewL
Alteryx
Alteryx
Created

Issue

A common error we see in Support is a pop-up error that calls out the temp drive. Users will typically see the message below:

The temp drive is getting full. Free up some disk space or Cancel.

Error.png

It is often met with a follow-up question about how to clean up Alteryx temp files, however generally this error is referring more to the total available space left on the hard drive of the computer rather than Alteryx temp files specifically.

Cause

If you are running workflows with a large volume of data, temp files can certainly contribute to a shortage of space. You do need to be careful when cleaning up your Alteryx temp directory as deleting files could impact currently running workflows or clear browse tools for open workflows resulting in the inability to view the data until you run the workflow again.

Solution

If you are encountering this message you'll want to check your available space on whatever hard drive you are running Alteryx on. To do so, simply open a Windows Explorer window and look at the drives by clicking on the "This PC":

CDrive.png

Most of the time this error is popping up because there is not enough space for the temp files to be written so you may need to work with your IT team to free up some space. If you have a situation where, like in the above picture, there is ample space on the drive but you are still seeing this message, you'll want to take a closer look at the workflow you are running. Alteryx does write out temp files and depending on what you're doing those temp files can get very large. You may be able to find inefficiencies and/or incorrect joins by tracing the data sizes in the workflow itself.

You can reduce the number of files being written by using fewer Browse tools or disabling them all together:

DisableBrowse.png

Using this option will prevent any data from writing to the Browse tools and can be handy once development of the workflow is done and you are running it in production. This way you don't have to delete them all in case you need to troubleshoot something later.

If you need/want to clean up the temp directory that Alteryx is using, you can find the directory in User Settings. Just go to Options > User Settings > Edit User

Settings:

tempdirectory.png

By default, Alteryx cleans up the temp files it writes when the program is closed so be very careful when manually deleting files, as mentioned above, it can have unintended results with currently running workflows.

Comments
bradley_barlow
5 - Atom

I keep running into this issue and can't seem to clear up enough space. I tried to change the temp location to a network drive, but get an error when trying to do so. Would I be able to attach a flash drive or external hard drive and have the temp files written there?