Microsoft is facing reports of a significant storage bug within Windows 11, tied to the Capability Access Manager service. This issue involves a specific file named CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal.
The database file can silently increase in size, potentially consuming vast amounts of system memory on a PC’s drive. While this file is designed to log app permissions—covering things like camera, microphone, location, and screen capture—it should typically remain small, usually under just a few megabytes.
Reports from users have highlighted the severity of the bloat. One user reported the file growing to approximately 200GB in a Feedback Hub post. Another incident mentioned a massive usage reaching around 513GB, though this included space allocated for pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys combined.
Users have cited various large instances of the issue, including reports of 70GB, 110GB, and up to 200GB bloatages. A notable concern is that the file does not stop growing on its own. Furthermore, Windows’ native Storage settings only categorize this excess data under general headings like “System files” or “System & reserved,” failing to identify the specific culprit.
Microsoft quietly acknowledged the existence of the problem. This confirmation appeared in a support document initially published on June 23 and updated on June 29. The acknowledgment was delivered without a public announcement specifically calling out the bug.
The official resolution is bundled into Windows 11 update KB5095093. Users can install this fix as an optional update, having access to it since June 2026. More broadly, the patch will be distributed to all users as part of the Patch Tuesday release scheduled for July 14, 2026.
To determine if a machine is affected, one should examine Settings > Storage and check the “System & Reserved” figure. If this number appears unusually large, the Capability Access Manager file may be responsible.
Journalists recommend using specialized tools like WizTree, TreeSize, or WinDirStat as an administrator to accurately sort files by size. Alternatively, users can execute a specific command in an elevated Command Prompt:
robocopy "C:ProgramDataMicrosoftWindowsCapabilityAccessManager" "%TEMP%CAMCheck" /L /B /R:0 /W:0 /BYTES /NPA healthy system’s CapabilityAccessManager folder should contain the whole directory under about 4MB. The .db-wal file itself is expected to be only around 1–2MB.
Any instance where this file measures several gigabytes, or if it continues to grow, indicates that the PC is impacted by this bug.
As a temporary workaround while awaiting the full patch release on July 14th, users have two options. They can either wait for the official fix or attempt to rename the .db-wal file; this action may prompt Windows to regenerate it. The source advises against deleting system files directly due to potential complications.