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Kodi's Thumbnails folder: why a media centre grows to gigabytes of artwork, and how to reset it

Kodi caches artwork for every film, show and album it has seen, and never trims it. Where the cache is on a Mac, how to clear it, and how to keep it small.

4 min read

Kodi downloads posters, fan art and thumbnails for everything in your library, and for everything add-ons have shown you, then keeps them. On a large library, or after years of browsing add-ons, the artwork cache can be several gigabytes on its own.

Where it is on a Mac

cd ~/Library/Application\ Support/Kodi/userdata
du -sh Thumbnails Database addon_data 2>/dev/null
du -sh ../addons/packages 2>/dev/null
FolderWhat it holdsSafe to clear?
userdata/ThumbnailsCached artworkYes, Kodi downloads what it needs again
userdata/Database/Textures*.dbThe index of that artworkYes, together with Thumbnails
addons/packagesZip files of installed add-onsYes, they are installers
userdata/Database/MyVideos*.dbYour library and watched statusNo

Resetting the artwork cache

  1. Quit Kodi completely.
  2. Move the Thumbnails folder to the Trash.
  3. Move the Textures database file (for example Textures13.db) from userdata/Database to the Trash. Leave every other database there.
  4. Start Kodi. Artwork reappears as you browse, which is slow the first time.

Clearing both together matters. Clearing only the folder leaves the database pointing at images that are gone.

Keeping it smaller

  • Remove add-ons you no longer use. Each brings its own artwork and data in userdata/addon_data.
  • Clear addons/packages now and then.
  • Kodi's advanced settings file can lower the resolution artwork is cached at. That is documented on the Kodi wiki under advancedsettings.xml.

For media apps more generally, see Plex and media servers and library caches.

Related: the IINA thumbnail cache.

Common questions

Where is the Kodi Thumbnails folder on a Mac?

In ~/Library/Application Support/Kodi/userdata/Thumbnails. The matching index is the Textures database file in userdata/Database.

Is it safe to delete Kodi thumbnails?

Yes. Quit Kodi, remove the Thumbnails folder and the Textures database together, and Kodi downloads artwork again as you browse. Keep the other databases, which hold your library.

What is the addons/packages folder in Kodi?

It holds the zip files Kodi used to install add-ons. They are not needed after installation and can be cleared.

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