almost 6 years ago - Lore - Direct link

We’re actually testing some new improvements that allow the client to share the majority of game data between installs, so you don’t need multiple copies of the entire game in order to test things on PTR.

To use this, you’ll need to be using the Beta version of the Battle.net app (Click the Blizzard logo in the upper left -> Settings -> Beta -> “Switch to Beta”). Then, when you install the PTR, it’ll only need to download about 2.5gb of data. Note that if you have the PTR already installed, you’ll need to uninstall and reinstall it to use this new tech.

Once it’s installed correctly, you’ll see a new folder called “_ptr_” under your World of Warcraft folder, which should be MUCH smaller than a completely separate install.