• Windows
  • Creative

Adobe's caches are larger than the applications, and there are four

Media caches, previews, autosaves and installer files across every Adobe app. Which are safe and the settings that cap them.

6 min read

Creative software is generous with disk in a way that is mostly defensible: caches make a timeline scrub smoothly and previews make a large document open instantly. What is not defensible is that almost none of it is cleared when a project ends.

The four kinds, and where they are on Windows

$paths = @(
  "$env:APPDATA\Adobe\Common\Media Cache",
  "$env:APPDATA\Adobe\Common\Media Cache Files",
  "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Adobe",
  "$env:PROGRAMDATA\Adobe",
  "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\Adobe"
)
foreach ($p in $paths) {
  if (Test-Path $p) {
    $s = (Get-ChildItem $p -Recurse -Force -File -EA SilentlyContinue | Measure-Object Length -Sum).Sum
    '{0,8:N0} MB  {1}' -f ($s/1MB), $p
  }
}
WhatWhereSafe to clear
Media cacheAppData\Roaming\Adobe\CommonYes, regenerated
Disk cache (After Effects)Set in preferences, often a project driveYes
Previews and autosavesBeside the projectAutosaves only when the project is safe
Installer and update filesProgramData\AdobeYes
Scratch filesThe scratch disk in preferencesYes, when the app is closed

The media cache is the big one

Premiere and After Effects write conformed audio and peak files for every clip they touch and keep them indefinitely. On a machine that has edited a few projects this is tens of gigabytes, and every byte regenerates from the source media.

There is a setting for it: in the app's preferences, Media Cache, there is an option to delete cache files older than a chosen number of days. Setting that once beats clearing it by hand every few months.

Photoshop's scratch disk

Photoshop writes working data to a scratch disk, which defaults to C. On a large document that is many gigabytes while the app is open, released when it closes cleanly. If space vanishes while you work and returns when you quit, that is the mechanism rather than a problem, and pointing the scratch disk at another drive is the standard fix on a machine with a small system drive.

Apps you no longer have

Get-ChildItem "$env:APPDATA\Adobe","$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Adobe" -Directory -EA SilentlyContinue | Select-Object Name

Adobe apps leave a lot behind when removed, and the Creative Cloud uninstaller is more thorough than Settings, Apps. Folders for versions you no longer run are leftovers, which is the general pattern on Windows.

Common questions

Where is the Adobe media cache on Windows?

In %APPDATA%\Adobe\Common, shared by Premiere and After Effects. It holds conformed audio and peak files for every clip touched and is regenerated from the source media.

Why does my disk fill up while using Photoshop?

Because Photoshop writes to a scratch disk while working, which defaults to C and can grow to many gigabytes on a large document. The space is released when the app closes cleanly.

How do I stop the Adobe media cache growing?

In the application's preferences under Media Cache there is an option to delete cache files older than a set number of days. That caps the folder permanently.

Is it safe to delete Adobe cache files?

Yes for the media cache and installer leftovers. Be careful with autosave files, which can be the newest copy of an unfinished project.

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