According to the official listing on the Steam store page, PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS asks for 40 GB of available space at minimum spec and 50 GB at recommended spec (checked 8 September 2026). That number is the free space the installer needs, though — it is not how much the game occupies on your drive once installation finishes. The only accurate reading of actual usage is the Storage tab inside Steam settings, and no official document publishes a fixed installed size for the game. So if your C drive is already tight, clearing exactly 40 GB and calling it done is risky: updates need working room while they unpack, Windows needs headroom of its own, and if you plan to keep your best rounds, recording files end up fighting for the same disk. Below you get the official requirements verbatim, the supported way to move an installed game to another drive without redownloading it, and the arithmetic for how much extra room recording really costs. If the hardware side worries you more than the disk, start with PC specs that account for recording.
So how much should you actually free up?
The short answer: clear 40 GB if you only need the game to install, and 50 GB if you want to match the recommended tier (Steam store, checked 8 September 2026). PUBG's own support article lists a separate competitive tier aimed at high-refresh play, and even there the storage line stays at 50 GB — so on capacity alone, 50 GB is effectively the ceiling the official docs ask for. Leave a little more than that for update headroom, because there is no official figure for how big a patch gets while it unpacks, and extra breathing room beats a number someone guessed on a forum. The real blocker is usually a full C drive, and that does not mean deleting and redownloading anything: Steam can relocate an installed game to another drive for you. If you already capture your matches, work out how bitrate turns into file size first, because the hourly cost tells you how much has to live off the game drive.
From checking the number to moving the drive
- 1Read today's requirement on the Steam store page — Open the system requirements tab on the store page and look at the storage line. As checked on 8 September 2026 it reads 40 GB minimum and 50 GB recommended, and the tab carries a Windows section only. Patches and store updates can change these values, so re-read it right before you install.
- 2Open Steam settings and check the Storage tab — In the Steam client, go to Settings and then Storage. You will see every drive that holds a Steam library and the size of each installed game. The default install path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\, and this screen is where you confirm which drive PUBG currently lives on.
- 3Add a library folder on another drive if space is short — At the top of that same Storage tab, use the plus button to create a new Steam library path on another disk, such as your D drive. Setting it up in advance means you can pick the destination at install time for future games.
- 4Use Move to relocate the game without reinstalling — Create the destination library path first, then in the Storage tab select the drive that holds the game, tick the game you want to relocate, and click Move — no redownload required. Steam also documents moving the whole Steam installation to a new location, but installing Steam on an external drive is not recommended because of performance, and backing up the steamapps folder first is advised.
- 5Verify the game files after the move — Right-click the game in your library and choose Properties, then the Installed Files tab, then Verify integrity of game files. Seeing a handful of files fail validation is normal for most Steam games and can be ignored. Do not run the check alongside heavy tasks like defragmentation or a virus scan, and do not verify several games at once.
- 6Budget recording space separately, on another drive — Recordings grow independently of the game install. If you know the bitrate you capture at, you can calculate the hourly cost yourself, then reserve that much on a drive other than the one holding the game. Splitting the two means a full recordings drive never stops the game from launching.
Official Steam requirements — minimum vs recommended (64-bit processor and operating system required, checked 8 September 2026)
| Spec | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| OS | 64-bit Windows 10 | 64-bit Windows 10 |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-4430 / AMD FX-6300 | Intel Core i5-6600K / AMD Ryzen 5 1600 |
| Memory | 8 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 2GB / AMD Radeon R7 370 2GB | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB / AMD Radeon RX 580 4GB |
| DirectX | Version 11 | Version 11 |
| Storage | 40 GB available space | 50 GB available space |
Final check before you install
- The target drive has at least 40 GB free, ideally the recommended 50 GB or more
- You are on 64-bit Windows 10 with DirectX 11 (Steam states a 64-bit processor and operating system are required)
- Settings then Storage in Steam shows the default install drive you actually want
- If you plan to record, a drive other than the game drive has room for your expected capture volume
- If you relocated the install, you have run the game file integrity check once
Space sorted — now keep the rounds worth keeping
Once the disk is tidy and the game sits where you want it, the point of all that free room is having something worth saving. DOR is a free Windows desktop app that detects supported games automatically, records the full match on its own, and cuts moments like kills into highlight clips that land in the in-app library. Encoding runs on NVIDIA NVENC hardware encoding by default, so the load during play stays light, and it captures game audio and your mic together, which means squad calls survive in the clip. Trim anything in the browser clip editor with nothing to install, then share it as a dor.gg link that plays straight in a mobile browser. Browse what other players are posting on the PUBG hub first, and when the recordings themselves start crowding your drive again, managing PUBG recording file sizes picks up exactly where this guide stops.
Sources and how to re-check them
Every spec figure above was read on 8 September 2026 from the PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS page on the Steam store, where the system requirements tab carries a Windows section only and states 40 GB minimum and 50 GB recommended available space verbatim. The same two numbers appear in PUBG's official support article on minimum and recommended requirements, which adds that the minimum tier only gets the game running rather than guaranteeing the smoothest experience, that the recommended tier targets 144fps in most situations, and that a separate competitive tier exists beyond what the store page shows; that page is stamped as updated 17 January 2023. Requirements and storage figures can change with patches or store revisions, so open both links again on the day you install and confirm the current values for yourself.
