My main drive has been running low on storage, so I used a disk-usage tool to find out what was taking up space. I found that an NVIDIA folder called DXCache is using about 18 GB. I'm not very experienced with PC maintenance— is this normal, and can I safely delete the files without causing problems?
4 Answers
You can clear the cache, but there usually isn’t a need unless you really need the disk space. The cache is meant to reduce repeated shader compilation and help prevent performance hiccups. After deleting it, games may need to rebuild those files, and the folder will gradually grow again.
If the cache seems unusually large or you’re having driver problems, a clean NVIDIA driver reinstall with a trusted display-driver cleanup utility is another option. That can remove old driver leftovers, but it’s more involved than simply deleting the DXCache folder, so I wouldn’t do it just to reclaim ordinary cache space.
Disabling shader caching is possible through the NVIDIA graphics settings, but it can make some games compile shaders repeatedly and may increase loading times or stuttering. Clearing the existing files is generally safer than turning the feature off entirely.
That folder stores compiled DirectX shaders created by games and applications. It’s normal for it to grow, and the files can be deleted safely because they’ll be generated again when needed. The downside is that some games may take longer to load or stutter briefly while the shaders are rebuilt.
So deleting the files should be fine, but I should expect some games to rebuild them and possibly stutter briefly afterward?