Is it safe to delete the DirectX Shader Cache?

Yes, you can delete the DirectX Shader Cache, and the graphics driver caches like NVIDIA's DXCache, without breaking anything. They only hold shaders that have already been compiled for your graphics card, and they are rebuilt automatically. The catch: games may load slower and stutter for a while until the cache fills up again.

Quick verdict:

• Safe to delete: Windows' DirectX Shader Cache (via Disk Cleanup or Settings), NVIDIA DXCache and GLCache, AMD and Intel shader caches.
• Worth doing when a game stutters, crashes or shows glitches after a driver or game update, or when the cache has grown to many gigabytes and you need the space.
• Not worth doing as routine cleaning. It comes back, and you pay for it with compile stutter.

What is the shader cache?

Shaders are small programs that run on your graphics card to draw lighting, shadows and effects. They have to be compiled for your specific GPU and driver. Compiling takes time, so Windows and the GPU driver keep the results on disk. The next time a game needs the same shader, it loads it instead of compiling it again, which avoids hitches.

There are several caches, and Disk Cleanup only knows about one of them:

You can paste these paths, including %LocalAppData%, straight into the File Explorer address bar. %LocalAppData%Low works because it expands to ...\AppData\LocalLow.

Why does it grow?

Every game, every driver version and every graphics setting can produce new shaders. Modern games with lots of effects build large caches, and a new driver may start a fresh one. NVIDIA lets you cap the size with the Shader Cache Size setting in NVIDIA Control Panel (more on that below).

How much space does it use?

It varies a lot: a few megabytes on an office PC, several gigabytes on a gaming PC with many large games.

The built-in way: open Settings → System → Storage, click Temporary files, and look at the size next to DirectX Shader Cache. On older builds you can also run Disk Cleanup (search for it in Start) and look at the same entry. This only measures Windows' own cache, not NVIDIA's or AMD's.

For the driver caches: right-click the folder (for example %LocalAppData%\NVIDIA) and choose Properties.

With SquirrelDisk: on the home screen, click A folder and paste %LocalAppData%, then do the same for %LocalAppData%Low. The chart shows NVIDIA, AMD, D3DSCache and every other app folder by size, biggest first. Click a slice to look inside. SquirrelDisk is free and works without admin rights, which is fine here because these folders belong to your account.

How to delete it safely

Close your games, launchers (Steam, Epic, Battle.net) and anything else that uses the GPU heavily first.

Windows' DirectX Shader Cache

1. Open Settings → System → Storage → Temporary files.
2. Tick DirectX Shader Cache only, and untick anything you aren't sure about (especially Downloads).
3. Click Remove files.

Or run Disk Cleanup, choose drive C:, tick DirectX Shader Cache and click OK.

NVIDIA DXCache and GLCache

1. Close games and restart the PC if files are in use.
2. Open %LocalAppData%Low\NVIDIA\PerDriverVersion\DXCache and delete its contents. Do the same for %LocalAppData%\NVIDIA\DXCache and %LocalAppData%\NVIDIA\GLCache if they exist.
3. If a file won't delete because it's in use, skip it. It will be replaced over time.

Delete what's inside the cache folders, not the whole NVIDIA folder. Other NVIDIA software keeps settings there.

AMD

Use the built-in button rather than deleting folders: in AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition, open the Gaming → Graphics settings, expand Advanced, and click Reset Shader Cache.

With SquirrelDisk

You can also drag the contents of a cache folder into SquirrelDisk's collector and choose Move to Trash, which sends them to the Recycle Bin. SquirrelDisk asks for an extra confirmation because the files are inside AppData. Empty the Recycle Bin once the games run fine.

Risks and what to expect

Nothing breaks permanently. What you'll notice:

• Longer first loads. Some games show a "compiling shaders" screen after the cache is cleared.
• Stutter during the first sessions, as new effects appear and get compiled. It goes away as the cache fills up.
• No FPS gain. Clearing the cache fixes problems caused by a bad cache. It doesn't make a healthy system faster.

Don't delete the driver folders themselves (C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore or the program folders under C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation). That's the driver, not the cache. To reinstall a broken driver, use the vendor's installer.

How to stop it growing back

You can't stop it entirely, and you shouldn't. But you can limit it:

• NVIDIA: open NVIDIA Control Panel → Manage 3D settings → Global Settings, find Shader Cache Size, and choose a smaller size. Choosing Disabled saves the most space, but brings back compile stutter in every game.
• Storage Sense: under Settings → System → Storage → Storage Sense you can have Windows clean temporary files automatically. For a gaming PC, it's better to clear shader caches only when something goes wrong.

If your drive is full, games themselves are usually the bigger target. See also is it safe to delete temp files and what's inside AppData.