# Can I delete Python versions in ~/.pyenv/versions?

- URL: https://moreroom.app/folders/pyenv-versions
- Item: Python versions (pyenv)
- Location: `~/.pyenv/versions` (items inside)
- Verdict: Review first — Might hold something you care about. Look inside before removing it.
- Comes back on its own: yes
- Official command: `pyenv uninstall <version>`
- Source: MoreRoom rules catalogue (2026-10-17), by Yando Pte. Ltd.

## What is it?

pyenv builds each Python version you install from source and keeps it in its own folder under `~/.pyenv/versions`, together with every package installed into it. Virtual environments made with the pyenv-virtualenv plugin also live inside these folders. Each version takes typically a few hundred megabytes, more with packages.

## What happens if you delete it?

`pyenv install <version>` builds a removed version again, which takes several minutes. Packages installed into it, and any pyenv-virtualenv environments based on it, are lost.

## How to remove it properly

Run `pyenv versions` to see what is installed and which version is global, then `pyenv uninstall <version>` for each one you no longer need. This is pyenv’s own command and deletes permanently.

## Before you delete it

Look for `.python-version` files in your projects and keep the versions they and `pyenv global` rely on.