# Is it safe to delete old .iso files in Downloads?

- URL: https://moreroom.app/folders/downloads-iso
- Item: Old disc images in Downloads (.iso)
- Location: `~/Downloads` (items inside)
- Verdict: Review first — Might hold something you care about. Look inside before removing it.
- Comes back on its own: no
- Source: MoreRoom rules catalogue (2026-10-17), by Yando Pte. Ltd.

## What is it?

Disc images of operating systems such as Linux distributions or Windows, or of software, often used to install a virtual machine in Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion or UTM. Each typically takes a few GB.

## What happens if you delete it?

Not recreated; most can be downloaded again from the publisher.

## How to remove it properly

Check in your virtualisation app that no virtual machine still has the .iso attached as a CD/DVD drive, then move it to the Trash.

## Before you delete it

Some virtual machines refuse to start if an attached .iso disappears: detach it in the VM’s settings first.