The EASIEST Way to Delete Your Shader Cache & Improve Performance | MSFS 2020

See the easiest way to delete you shader cache and how to delete your D3DS cache for better performance in Microsoft Flight Simulator. Also, how to delete your rolling cache without even starting MSFS.
Your ROLLING Cache file is here:
C:\Users\(your username)\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache
00:00 Start
00:32 Delete Your Shader Cache
01:17 How to Find Your Cache
04:45 DirectX Secret
06:25 Rolling Cache Secret
09:00 What to Expect!
10:05 IMPORTANT!! Last Step!

[@johnmageejr1026]

Note: If Windows blocks you from deleting the GL Cache, or DX Cache files, it's because Windows is still "using" them. You have to restart your computer after disabling Shader Cache in the NVIDIA driver settings.

[@sonnymayer]

Another good video. Thanks for posting it. St. Barts is one of my favorite Caribbean airports. That's a great pic. I will be in St. Maarten next week on a cruise and will go over to Maho Beach. Been there many times. Lots of fun. Thanks.

[@mikevadnais7722]

It's worth noting, if you really want better performance in MSFS, custom install it to it's own SSD. Once you do that, you can also custom set your Rolling Cache to a directory on the MSFS SSD. My Rolling Cache is located at E:\Cache Rolling. Good rule of thumb is to keep read/write intensive games like MSFS off your Windows Operating System drive. SSD's are fast, but every little bit helps. Good tips on cleaning all the video cache files. Thanks

[@LemonToGo]

How can I set my rolling cache to a custom location?

[@mikevadnais7722]

@LemonToGo When you setup rolling cache, you can change to the drive and directory of your choosing.

[@manic_miner]

Love the addendum :) - Thanks for another helpful video

[@jdtyper3196]

Worked great and no more stuttering! Thank you!

[@IslandSimPilot]

That is great!!

[@michaelwilliamson6061]

Thank, great info!

[@IslandSimPilot]

You're welcome!

[@cameronmartin428]

Do you recommend updating to the current Nvidia driver? I heard in one of your other videos that people were having issues with the current driver.

[@tvfd-thevirtualflightdispa978]

I agree with all the comments about MSFS on a separate SSD. I purchased a Samsung 990PRO 2TB m2.SSD and the only thing on that drive is MSFS. To the full extent possible, I keep my c drive for the OS only and any other non MSFS programs are on a third SSD which is not as fast at the 990PRO. Keeping the caches down properly, I should not get close to 2TB, but if I do, I will purchase a larger SSD and simply transfer the files.

[@StewCal65]

Why didn’t I think of that? Great suggestions!

[@IslandSimPilot]

I lazy, I always do things the easy way 😂

[@853massey]

Hi, do you have to do this every time you run MSFS? Thank you for such great content.

[@IslandSimPilot]

No, absolutely not! Only when you update the sim, update your graphics driver, or update things like the Frame Gen mod. :)

[@makini1126]

Thanks for the helpful video. I may have missed it if anyone asked previously but after the reboot, do you set your shader size cache back to 'unlimited'?

[@IslandSimPilot]

Yes indeed.

[@MikeWestBastion]

Thanks for your efforts, much appreciated! subb'd

[@IslandSimPilot]

Thanks for the sub and the support!

[@mikebarrett5890]

Thanks for the video. What about the PreDriverVersion folder located in the NVIDIA directory, should the data there also be deleted?

[@IslandSimPilot]

I haven’t been deleting that and I don’t know that you should. I think the DXCache folder is inside that if I remember correctly? The contents of that folder yes, but not the PreDriverVersion itself.

[@7579mc]

If I could add one thing, in order to completely get rid of everything and avoid the "unable to delete because the files in use" problem, make sure you're in safe mode. That allows you to safely delete every item in the cache folders.

[@IslandSimPilot]

Yeah, that is true!

[@mikevadnais7722]

Just reboot with the shader cache still disabled, and then the files delete just fine when you attempt to delete them again after startup. Then re-enable the shader cache. That is what happened to me.

[@simocampo344]

You mean Windows Safe Mode, right?

[@mikevadnais7722]

@simocampo344 you don't need to boot into safe mode. Just reboot with shader cache disable then delete the files you could not delete before the reboot. Then re-enable the Shader cache in Nvidia Control Panel.

[@simocampo344]

@@mikevadnais7722 thanks mate - all sorted. I was getting the ‘unable to delete’ problem despite having the NVIDIA cache set and saved as disabled. Restarting my machine seemed to sort it out to allow me to delete the files.

[@user-uc9uf4kg7z]

Giving this a shot, I have bad stutters, so hope it works, thanks for posting this, new sub

[@IslandSimPilot]

Hey Donald, do let me know if it works for you!

[@user-uc9uf4kg7z]

Sorry mate, bad news, the stutters seem to have gone, but the sim now freezes when I come into land. Tried this with landing at YBCG (Gold Coast Australia) and YBBN. Before, I used to get the stutters mainly over highly populated areas, that has improved. This is worse than the stutters, as the sim completely freezes, no mouse nothing and I have to shut it down and restart. I"ll try a flight north and see what happens, but I feel it will be the same.

[@user-uc9uf4kg7z]

did 4 flights today, so far no stutters, but every time I descend on the approach my computer freezes completely, I have to shut it down and reboot. Any ideas?

[@IslandSimPilot]

@@user-uc9uf4kg7z That's really bizarre. Anothier thing worth trying: do you have Rolling Cache enabled? If so, try disabling it completely, and give it another go. I turned mine off once to clear the caches and forgot to turn it back on. I only realized it a few weeks later, and in the interim my performance was great. Haven't turned it back on since. Let me know!

[@user-uc9uf4kg7z]

@@IslandSimPilot G'day mate, no it's off, I checked that yesterday after my first freeze, I also went back over your instructions in case I missed something. I also did a check disk search - all good. Guess I'll have to keep searching until I find a fix. Thanks Don

[@clivemcintosh5017]

This works for me. If I am allowed to make one suggestion it would be helpful if you were to list in print what you are working on in the videos for example GLCache. My hearing is not 100% and in this video it is very hard to read the printing as it is slightly blurred. Thanks for the work you put in.

[@IslandSimPilot]

Hey Clive, thank you so much for that suggestion! I shouldn't assume. I will do that in the future!

[@Britalex]

How often should we be doing this

[@SkyborneVisions]

Another way of deleting graphics cache files without having to disable and re-enable cache in the nVidia control panel, is to simply restart your computer in safe mode (hold down shift key while clicking on restart) and select the menu for troubleshoot>advanced options>startup settings menu... then pick "safe mode" when windows starts up again. You can then delete all the dx cache files, including a good housekeeping cleanup of the temp folder C:\Users\{user}\AppData\Local\Temp . Files in here have been known to sometimes conflict with installations and cause crashes.

[@alanbeasy1775]

I use MSFS2020 Map Enhancement program. (Much more realistic wiith Google maps rather than BING). Anyway, with this add-on, MSFS rollong cache is turned off. I am aslo wondering if the Map Enhncement add-on is the reason why the Frame Gen hack is not working in my system.

[@scoobymickey1]

I have a lot of those maps how do i know wich to remove i never deleted that

[@ScottGridleyPHD]

Does anyone use a batch file to accomplish this or is there a reason why that wouldn't work?

[@davidstorey4276]

Thanks once again. The shortcut tip for shader cache folders on the desktop is simple but no one has mentioned it before. Well done for the tip.

[@IslandSimPilot]

Glad it was useful for you!

[@underleft]

I mean, most PC gamers know this so it's not worth mentioning, just common sense really.

[@skyybirds]

i used to have GL Cache, it doesn't come up, any reason?

[@anderskristensen2443]

Thank you very much for your video. I've been having issues with my FPS, running only between 18-27 FPS in 4K, TAA - after I did what you did... I took two flights, and now I'm consistently ranging between 60-87 FPS, even with custom airports. I'm still using the same settings on ULTRA. Thank you a thousand times!

[@underleft]

There's no way this gave you 40 fps increase. Something else was wrong.

[@jress9967]

There is no rolling cache in the MicrosoftFlightSimulator-8werkyb3d8bbwe LocalCache folder, how do I find the rolling Cache?

[@eltonhyland5485]

I have multiple DX CACHE items that show up when I search. Which one should I use / clear? MS Store version. Which location needs cleared I guess is what I'm trying to say

[@SolRayz]

At the end, do you go back into Nvidia cpl and re-enable Shader Cache Size to Unlim?

[@IslandSimPilot]

Yep!

[@davidgiles9751]

I just pinned my folders to Quick Access vs. on the Desktop. I also have my rolling cache turned off, as I have a great internet connection. Turning on rolling cache cause weird stutters for me.

[@IslandSimPilot]

Ya know I’ve always had rolling cache on and never considered turning it off. What are the advantages?

[@davidgiles9751]

@@IslandSimPilot For me it's a much smoother experience. From my understanding, the rolling cache is good if you have a bad Internet connection. If you have a good connection it seems like it can cause stutter type issues.

[@The_Apple_Sheep]

How many GB should I set me rolling cache to? I have it completely off currently because I’ve heard it’s useless. I have a 2TB drive

[@IslandSimPilot]

Opinions vary, but especially with a 2 TB HD, I would give unlimited a go.

[@garywiley3501]

I can’t locate my GL Cache folder. Any suggestions?

[@irk72ag]

So. If shader cache does stutters. Why not disable it and forget.

[@kxmode]

If some files in the DXCache or GLcache cannot be deleted (e.g. locked by something), then restarting Windows with Shader Cache disabled should make them deleteable.

[@stevenneill6605]

thanks mate for that.

[@gervanwilliams1409]

I searched DXcache in Appdata and got like 20 dxcache folders located in subfolders of Appdata. Many different subfolders have a dxcache folder.

[@IslandSimPilot]

Hey Gervan, could be from old driver versions. I would clean out the contents of the folders but leave folders themselves. And then when you restore the cache in NVCP, whichever of the folders is the active one will be refilled and you can delete the other ones. Does that make sense?

[@gervanwilliams1409]

@@IslandSimPilot thank you! I just don’t want to delete things that will cause issues with my computer.

[@IslandSimPilot]

@@gervanwilliams1409 Absolutely!

[@ScottSAS100]

@@IslandSimPilot and @gervanwilliams1409, I also observed the same thing. I am fine to go through each of these folders, and just clear them out. Any harm in doing so? My search found actually 43 DXCache folders, but many of them I can rule out (Windows Calculator, Start Menu, Search, etc). But there are a couple that I will focus on (NVIDIA, NVIDIA\PerDriverVersion). I am currently on a rolled back driver version.....so in my case, I will plan to clear out both of them, just to be safe.

[@The_Apple_Sheep]

After disabling my cache in the NVCP, nothing has been written to it in the last month even though I set it back to unlimited. Would you know why this is happening/ a fix?

[@IslandSimPilot]

Hey! Often a new driver will create a new DXCache folder. Who knows why. I’ve heard of people with a dozen different ones in different locations. Have a poke around and you’ll probably find that’s what it is.

[@jonathansims6062]

Hi, I have deleted the GL Cache but windows is blocking me deleting the DX Cache, any ides please?

[@IslandSimPilot]

Did you disable the cache in NVCP before trying to delete it?

[@terhohalme]

My rolling cache is in a ramdisk made by ImDisk (I have 64 GB, 16 GB is easyly reserved to rolling cache). So it is empty after shut down or restart.

[@lurchilurch5507]

What's the point then? Helpful when flying in big circles?

[@kevinbarrett1362]

So i did a search in the appdata folder and got nothing. I eventually found the msfs2020 folder in the roaming folder but i couldn`t find DXcache folder anywhere i did find a folder named cache i opened and that had another folder named 0. So now i knew that is the "DXcache" folder iv`e been looking for. As for the rolling cache folder iv`e actually purchased a 1 tb portable samsung T7 ssd and loaded my rolling cache into that drive i currently have 500gig so i'm gonna leave it until i want to reconstitute other Photogrammetry later on.

[@IslandSimPilot]

Yeah that is the thing with having it on another drive. But you were able to delete the caches?

[@kevinbarrett1362]

@@IslandSimPilot Yup, i also manually created short cuts for the cache locations for the folders in the appdata for future references. The Rolling cache i`ve actually deleted because i can just rebuild all the photogrammetry files i need for my purchased/freeware sceneries for later on.

[@davidhinson3104]

I have several (dozen or so) older DXCache files, the newest about 5 months old. Do I delete all the old files ?

[@IslandSimPilot]

You can, sure. They keep moving the shader file location, so the old ones aren't relevant at this point, but there's no harm in deleting the old ones.

[@davidhinson3104]

@@IslandSimPilot Thanks

[@tonyml88]

I dont have a DX folder. Have the GL right where you said. Maybe cause I have the Steam version?

[@IslandSimPilot]

That could very well be! If you don’t have the DXCache folder I wouldn’t worry about it.

[@tonyml88]

Thank you for that quick response. I'm using the Dynamic LOD that you suggested. Its great. The newest graphics update really caused issues on my 4090, but the LOD has fixed it. Thanks again☝@@IslandSimPilot

[@tomc1380]

I have the Steam version and found this ok. Just found a few (x5) multiple ones and just deleted their contents.

[@IslandSimPilot]

@@tomc1380 Yep, that's the way to go!

[@peterkelberg6592]

where is it i have the steam version@@tomc1380

[@bobdee2584]

I don't have a GLCache folder, only DXCache

[@FinlandGuy747]

I have like 20 different DXcache folders. How do i know which one is the rìght

[@IslandSimPilot]

In this case I would delete the contents in all of them, and then once you turn the shader cache back on, see which one gets filled up again. The reason why you have so many is from different driver versions. Once you figure out which ones do not get filled up again, you can delete those DXcache folders entirely. Let me know if that makes sense.

[@FinlandGuy747]

@@IslandSimPilot Thanks!

[@einherz]

any cool file manager that you can found will make life much more easy:) i use total commander from 90x but i guess there many competitors that can do same things. you just choice, and after all you'll save the time. there you can save tabs to paths you need have two or in some other managers 4 different area with opened 4 different paths. when i see people do this in one window i feel real pain:) shader cache can be easy deleted after restart pc, before any 3d soft has been started. btw i long time ignore this shader trick, because i use ddu and this thing delete cache itself. however today, after heavy freezes in msfs i restart pc make gl and dx folders empty and msfs was smooth like was first time i had in the summer 2020 lol. so now i looking for software, that can delete that automatically when pc start:)

[@mattewandenry]

I can't delete files in DLCache folder because W11 says that those files are open in System.......there's a way to delete them ?

[@SkyborneVisions]

Just restart computer in safe mode, then you can delete all those files.

[@RobKohinoor]

Why not write a batch program to for-fill these tasks?

[@IslandSimPilot]

Because I can’t 😂

[@kentbergstrom3020]

The easiest way is to use DDU to delete the older driver, that will Delete all all Nvidia related folders, eg, all cache, then install the new driver and all will be fixed.

[@IslandSimPilot]

Really? I wasn’t aware of that. I usually clean all the folders before I do the DDU process (which I’m actually not going to bother with anymore anyway). I’ll have to try this. That might explain all the different cache file locations.

[@charlesmarschall1375]

When I did the search for DXCACHE I got 17 hits (folders). How do I know which is the right folder?

[@IslandSimPilot]

Yeah that's a real pain, they keep moving the location and the old folders just sit there. You can delete everything IN all of them, and then I would delete all of the folders except the one with the files that are dated the most recent. If that makes sense. You can also leave all the empty files on your PC and just check which one gets refilled, and then delete the others.

[@charlesmarschall1375]

@@IslandSimPilot Thanks for the help. I spent some time looking at them, and only one of them was dated yesterday, when I had last run MSFS 2020. The remainder were dated five days earlier, and looking at their addresses makes me think that they are cache files for other apps, like Adobe, Micosoft camera, Microsoft store, etc. That also might be the last time I updated the Nvidia driver, which could explain why they were all dated the same day. I'm guessing that, since they're cache files, deleting the contents wouldn't do any harm, but I'm also guessing that they only affect performance when I open that particular app. The one dated yesterday was in a LocalLow folder, and the rest were in the Local folder. I have lots of room on my C: drive and plenty of RAM, so I deleted the file in the most recent folder, and that seemed to work with no problems. Don't know if this info is helpful, but I hope it might be to some. Thanks for your time and help.

[@eziomarcori4158]

I found the DXcache folder, but I can't find any GLcache folder

[@IslandSimPilot]

I think they’ve gotten rid of the GLCache folder in the meantime.

[@jdub4221]

I don’t have a GLCache folder anywhere that I can find. Is that possible?

[@IslandSimPilot]

It is possible I suppose. Do you have Steam version perhaps?

[@jdub4221]

@@IslandSimPilot yes steam. And thanks as always for the great vids!

[@jdub4221]

@@IslandSimPilot is it better to have a direct version rather than Steam?

[@IslandSimPilot]

@@jdub4221 I'm not really sure, I think direct is easier to manage.

[@jdub4221]

@@IslandSimPilotthanks!

[@brucewayne4211]

Just as you made the short cut to DXCache and GLCache folders you can also create a shortcut to the "Disk Cleaner" and have all three shortcuts together on your desktop..

[@saminaneen]

@brucewayne4211, I also recommend, everybody, get "Ultimate Defragger", it is so much better, than just the Microsoft defragger.

[@justanotherday1345]

Windows won't let me "Completely Empty" the DX Cache folder. Leaves about 8 files not deletable. Not sure why..... Thanks for the tips

[@IslandSimPilot]

Did you turn off the cache in NVCP?

[@justanotherday1345]

Yes, I did.. @@IslandSimPilot

[@BenedictC]

@@justanotherday1345 Restart your pc after disabiling cache

[@justanotherday1345]

@@BenedictC ok, we’ll give it a try. Thanks.

[@justanotherday1345]

That did it, I neglected to restart after disabling cache. Good to go. Thank you

[@kevinreed3236]

I cant delete my DX Cache file says..... file in use The action cant be complete because the file is open in Windows Explorer..... Close the file try again. I try again and still get the same message.. Im on windows 11 if this helps. Thanks

[@IslandSimPilot]

Hey, did you disable the cache in NVCP?

[@kevinreed3236]

@@IslandSimPilot yes sir I did. Not sure why I’m getting the error

[@tomc1380]

Maybe you either didn't save that in your nvidia cp after changing it? I've done that before, lol! Also, maybe a PC restart may help? Also make sure to use Global and check that this is carried over to msfs if you have separate program settings.

[@kevinreed3236]

@@tomc1380 yes sir I saved it and also did a restart. It’s driving me nuts! Lol.

[@tomc1380]

@@kevinreed3236 Maybe just search you whole PC for it. Also allow hidden files to show up. Otherwise, not sure why???

[@farshadtimkvist]

What happend if you not re-enable shader cache to unlim ?

[@IslandSimPilot]

Well you should set it to whatever you had before, but if you don’t enable it, your sim will use more RAM and be more unstable.

[@farshadtimkvist]

@@IslandSimPilot thanks , thats all i have to know

[@IslandSimPilot]

@@farshadtimkvist You're very welcome!

[@S_KillerQ]

it is work with A card?

[@IslandSimPilot]

I don't know that this works for AMD.

[@JeffGreenNV]

Why doesn't nvidia just have an option to reset the cache, like AMD does? It's one click...

[@IslandSimPilot]

Good question!

[@fsxdude04]

I've never done this, been playing msfs since launch 😂 will it make a difference?

[@jbninjah1776]

oh yeah

[@andy70d35]

Yep, my rolling cache was over 8Gb

[@UD503J]

@@andy70d35 Yeah but keep in mind, the rolling cache is ALWAYS going to be at the limit if you've been playing, that's why it's a rolling cache. The oldest data is always dropped off when new data comes in. If yours is 8 GB, it's because the cache size is set to 8 GB.

[@UD503J]

In your case, the shader cache will give the most benefit, because older stuff can get caught in there. The rolling cache will only make a big impact during sim updates and with new scenery. I'd even do a rolling cache cleanout if you downloaded custom scenery (like a new airport or a traffic mod like FSLTL.) EDIT: Re: rolling update, I said sim update, I meant world update, but heck do it both times. It won't hurt anything, it will just make the next flight take a little more time for the scenery to come in.

[@unclealig]

video title says "easiest way...", but it only includes nvidia. how about AMD?

[@UD503J]

The procedure is basically the same, the folders are even named dxcache still, they're just going to be in an AMD folder instead. You may need to boot into safe mode to completely delete them. AFAIK, the AMD driver package automatically clears the cache when a new driver is installed though, so you'd only need to do it manually when a sim update drops. You can also use Driver Uninstall Utility (google DDU) to delete shader caches, and it's also a good idea to do this everyonce in a while if you install the graphics drivers frequently.

[@corvette2834]

Great video but the video is too blurry

[@IslandSimPilot]

Sorry about that, I had to run through Adobe Premier and that happens sometimes.

[@FinlandGuy747]

You don't even know how hard this is when your PC is not in English and you have yo find all the coorect settings.

[@RiemsAI]

DO NOT set your shader cache to unlimited, it will cause stutter as the size gets bigger. Plus this is what cause you to have to clear shader cache in the first place. I set mine to unlimited earlier and you can see the stutter in the videos in my channel. Just let it use you RAM instead. But if you have only 16GB then youre out of luck.

[@saminaneen]

@RiemsAI, What do you set, yours at?

[@skyybirds]

nevermind, found it

[@jujuu1339]

Hey IslandSimPilot! I used your guide to add FSR3 FG to MSFS, and I used "Lossless Scaling" to double the fps again. 30FPS --> 120FPS but I am getting stutters and artifacts (I'm not knowledgeable of msfs enough) tell me if u want me to change anything: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWLYe4RmZ5KhZ7M

[@IslandSimPilot]

This is crazy!!! Looking at it now!

[@mattcrazy7070]

You know MSFS has a shit engine, when an entire KZbin channel is grown from performance tips in one game

[@IslandSimPilot]

Well it is based on FSX code, so…

[@johnglubney3228]

This is becoming a pain in the ass

[@IslandSimPilot]

You don’t have to do this but it does improve performance.

[@andrewbennett2582]

I wish you would go back to making the actual flying videos I used to enjoy so much, rather than all these nonsense clickbait placebo settings videos.

[@IslandSimPilot]

While I appreciate the point (I'd rather be making flying videos, too), these are not placebos.

[@sep2345]

What are you talking about? These settings and setup videos are certainly not placebo! Everyone’s system is different and thus everyone gets different results. Just because you haven’t noticed improvements (or maybe you haven’t even tried them) doesn’t mean these tips don’t help! It’s not all about you! ISP, please know that the majority of us here truly appreciate your efforts!