Could the Daedalus wallet use less space on laptops?

Question

I use my laptop to store some of my ADA. Unfortunately, running low on disk space, I cannot afford to store the whole ADA blockchain locally.

What are the options for people like me that need to run the Daedalus wallet on low disk space?

Answer 1

Do you need to run the full Daedalus wallet? On low-storage system I'd suggest looking at Yoroi which is a 'light wallet' that doesn't require its own local node.

Answer 2

One solution I have found for now on macOS is to move part of the Daedalus files to an external volume.

To do that on macOS:

1. Ensure you went through Daedalus onboarding (to let it create its directory structure)
2. Close the Daedalus wallet (even if it isn't done syncing the Blockchain)
3. Open a terminal, and run:

   export EXTERNAL_DRIVE_PATH=/Volumes/<enter the drive name here>/Daedalus/chain
   mkdir -p "$EXTERNAL_DRIVE_PATH"
   mv "~/Library/Application Support/Daedalus Mainnet/chain/immutable" "$EXTERNAL_DRIVE_PATH/immutable"
   ln -s "$EXTERNAL_DRIVE_PATH/immutable" "~/Library/Application Support/Daedalus Mainnet/chain/immutable"
   

4. Open the Daedalus wallet, and let it synchronise normally

These commands move the ~/Library/Application Support/Daedalus Mainnet/chain/immutable folder to an external drive and alias it back so that Daedalus knows where to write.

This solution might break in future versions of Daedalus, and I would only recommend it as a temporary workaround. Also, I assume disconnecting the drive with Daedalus still open would somehow break it but I haven't tested this scenario.

Answer 3

For Windows environment, this page on the Cardano forum has the solution. It works!

https://forum.cardano.org/t/storing-the-cardano-blockchain-on-another-hard-drive-flash-drive/3699