[{"categories":["Tech"],"collections":null,"content":"No more space for a new 100GB+ game? Reduce your game size with CompactGUI, a free and open-sourced tool.","date":"2026-06-02","objectID":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/","tags":["Utility"],"title":"Reduce your game size for free using CompactGUI","uri":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/"},{"categories":["Tech"],"collections":null,"content":"Problem it can also solve How to make ARK: Survival Evolved take up less space? ","date":"2026-06-02","objectID":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/:1:0","tags":["Utility"],"title":"Reduce your game size for free using CompactGUI","uri":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/#problem-it-can-also-solve"},{"categories":["Tech"],"collections":null,"content":"Prerequisite OS: Windows 10 and above Can only be used on game without DirectStorage API Internet connection ??? ","date":"2026-06-02","objectID":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/:2:0","tags":["Utility"],"title":"Reduce your game size for free using CompactGUI","uri":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/#prerequisite"},{"categories":["Tech"],"collections":null,"content":"What does it do? It reduce file sizes of game with negligible performance impact using a Windows 10 feature (compact.exe). ","date":"2026-06-02","objectID":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/:3:0","tags":["Utility"],"title":"Reduce your game size for free using CompactGUI","uri":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/#what-does-it-do"},{"categories":["Tech"],"collections":null,"content":"Example: ARK: Survival Evolved 259GB \u0026gt; 94.7GB (Size reduced by 63%) ","date":"2026-06-02","objectID":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/:3:1","tags":["Utility"],"title":"Reduce your game size for free using CompactGUI","uri":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/#example"},{"categories":["Tech"],"collections":null,"content":"Installation ","date":"2026-06-02","objectID":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/:4:0","tags":["Utility"],"title":"Reduce your game size for free using CompactGUI","uri":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/#installation"},{"categories":["Tech"],"collections":null,"content":"Method 1: Direct Download Navigate to its GitHub Repository. Find a stable version, preferably without beta. Download CompactGUI.exe Then just run CompactGUI.exe ","date":"2026-06-02","objectID":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/:4:1","tags":["Utility"],"title":"Reduce your game size for free using CompactGUI","uri":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/#method-1-direct-download"},{"categories":["Tech"],"collections":null,"content":"Method 2: Windows Package Manager (CLI) Open CMD (Command Prompt) or PowerShell and run: winget install CompactGUI ","date":"2026-06-02","objectID":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/:4:2","tags":["Utility"],"title":"Reduce your game size for free using CompactGUI","uri":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/#method-2-windows-package-manager-cli"},{"categories":["Tech"],"collections":null,"content":"How to use CompactGUI ","date":"2026-06-02","objectID":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/:5:0","tags":["Utility"],"title":"Reduce your game size for free using CompactGUI","uri":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/#how-to-use-compactgui"},{"categories":["Tech"],"collections":null,"content":"Compressing a game After starting it, navigate to Home. Then, select a folder and navigate to the game folder you want to compress. For example, by default steam\u0026rsquo;s game is usually located in: C:/Program Files/Steam/commonapp/downloaded/ARK: Survival Evolved If you added a game from steam, it will tell you the estimated file size saved with every compression ratio. I just choose the one with the most size saved, because there\u0026rsquo;s minimal performance impact anyways. Also if you experience any issues after compressing the game you can try ticking the Skip file types likely to compress poorly. ","date":"2026-06-02","objectID":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/:5:1","tags":["Utility"],"title":"Reduce your game size for free using CompactGUI","uri":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/#compressing-a-game"},{"categories":["Tech"],"collections":null,"content":"Game Compression Database Another feature is its database, everytime you compressed a steam game. It will collect the information about the compression (i.e. how much size is saved) and upload it to the database to allow other users to see. All the information can be viewed at the Database page. ","date":"2026-06-02","objectID":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/:5:2","tags":["Utility"],"title":"Reduce your game size for free using CompactGUI","uri":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/#game-compression-database"},{"categories":["Tech"],"collections":null,"content":"Watcher Feature Adding a folder in the watcher lists means that the game will be re-compressed automatically after game updates. However, for this feature to be active CompactGUI.exe need to be running in the background. ","date":"2026-06-02","objectID":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/:5:3","tags":["Utility"],"title":"Reduce your game size for free using CompactGUI","uri":"/posts/tech/reduce-your-game-size-for-free-using-compactgui/#watcher-feature"}]