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How to Clear Windows Error Reporting (.WER Crash Reports)?



Windows Error Reporting & crash reports
What is Windows Error Reporting and why should I clean it?

Windows Error Reporting (WER) is the component that offers to send Microsoft a report whenever a program crashes, freezes, or the system itself faults. Whether or not you choose to send it, a local copy is kept as a .WER file, and it's one of the richest "evidence of execution" artifacts on Windows, available since Vista.

Windows stores these reports in up to four folders, two shared across all users and two specific to you:

  • %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive
  • %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue
  • %UserProfile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive
  • %UserProfile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue
A fifth location. PrivaZer also clears %LocalAppData%\ElevatedDiagnostics, a folder that holds diagnostic and crash data specifically from applications that were run elevated, with administrator privileges, a detail that doesn't show up in standard forensic references on this artifact.
What's inside a .WER crash report?
Structure of a Windows Error Reporting (.WER) file Vertical layout of one .WER crash report. Fields include the crashed application's full path and version, the precise crash timestamp, which module caused the fault, every module the application had loaded, and the operating system's version and edition. All of these fields are removed by PrivaZer. One report folder per crash or hang · named after the app, e.g. AppCrash_yourapp.exe_... Application path, name & version exactly which program, and which build of it Crash timestamp (EventTime) precisely when it crashed or hung Fault module & exception code which component caused the crash Loaded modules every DLL the app had loaded at the time OS version & edition architecture, build, and edition of Windows Removed by PrivaZer

Field What it reveals Processing by PrivaZer
App path, name & version Exactly which program, where it was installed Removed
Crash timestamp The precise moment it happened Removed
Fault module & exception code Technical detail on what went wrong Removed
Loaded modules Other components, sometimes other software, active at the time Removed
OS version & edition Details about the system itself Removed
What a real report looks like. A documented example shows an app crashing with a precise crash time, its full install path, its version number, and the specific DLL that triggered the fault along with a full list of every module it had loaded at that moment, effectively a snapshot of what else was active on the system when the crash occurred. That's a level of detail closer to what a debugger shows than a simple "this program ran" log.
Does PrivaZer clean Windows Error Reporting files?

Yes. PrivaZer removes the report folders from all five locations: the two shared ProgramData folders, the two per-user AppData\Local folders, and ElevatedDiagnostics. The shared, system-wide locations are cleared under the appropriate conditions (they're common to every account on the PC), while the per-user locations are always cleared for your account. It can target this on its own or as part of a full scan, no reboot is required.

Do WER crash reports survive after I uninstall the app?

Yes. Uninstalling the program that crashed doesn't remove its old crash reports. The full path, version, crash time and loaded modules can all still describe a program that's no longer on your PC. Cleaning Windows Error Reporting is what removes that leftover.

Is it safe to clean Windows Error Reporting files?

Yes. Clearing these reports doesn't affect your installed programs, your files or system stability, and it doesn't change whether WER itself keeps working going forward. The only visible effect is that your local crash history disappears from Windows' Reliability History / Problem Reports view until new crashes occur.

Will .WER files come back after cleaning?

Yes, if an app crashes or hangs again, a new report is generated, that's WER doing its job. Cleaning only removes the historical record up to that point. Run PrivaZer periodically to keep it short.

How is this different from Amcache, Shimcache and the other execution traces?

Amcache, Shimcache and UserAssist tell you a program ran. Windows Error Reporting tells you it crashed or froze, and with far more technical depth: the exact fault location, the module responsible, and a full list of what else was loaded at the time. Nothing else on this site captures that level of runtime detail about a single moment.

For the general execution-trace side, see: Amcache, Shimcache and UserAssist.

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Windows Error Reporting pairs well with the other execution-trace artifacts on this site. Amcache Shimcache UserAssist SRUM MUI Cache FeatureUsage Windows Timeline RunMRU WordWheelQuery Last Regedit Shellbags RecentDocs StreamMRU OpenSaveMRU LastVisitedPidlMRU CIDSizeMRU FirstFolder ARP Cache


For advanced users
Scan options - Other histories - Error Reporting
How to clear Windows Error Reporting (.WER) crash reports on Windows
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