Windows Watchdog Crash Dumps (LiveKernelReports\WATCHDOG)

Bottom Line: It is 100% safe to delete files inside LiveKernelReports\WATCHDOG. Deleting WATCHDOG-*.dmp files will NOT cause GPU driver crashes or system instability.

What is the WATCHDOG Dump Folder?

Located at C:\Windows\LiveKernelReports\WATCHDOG, this directory is used by the Windows Display Driver Timeout Detection and Recovery (TDR) system.

When your NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel graphics card freezes during PC gaming, 3D rendering, or video playback, Windows resets the graphics driver silently in the background (avoiding a Blue Screen of Death). During the GPU reset, Windows writes a .dmp file (e.g. WATCHDOG-20260806.dmp) into the WATCHDOG folder.

If a GPU driver crashes frequently, WATCHDOG dump files accumulate rapidly, consuming 3 GB to 15 GB+ of storage.

Can You Delete WATCHDOG Dumps?

✅ Yes, it is completely safe to delete.

• Pure diagnostic dumps: Watchdog .dmp files are only needed if you are debugging GPU hardware errors in WinDbg.
• No gaming impact: Your graphics driver settings, games, and DirectX shaders remain 100% safe.

How to Safely Clean Up WATCHDOG Folder

Method 1: Delete via Command Prompt (Admin)

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator.
2. Purge all Watchdog dump files:

   del /f /q %WinDir%\LiveKernelReports\WATCHDOG\*.dmp

Related Guides

• Learn about deleting LiveKernelReports.
• How to clean up NVIDIA DxCache.
• Check if you can clean DirectX Shader Cache.