If you are a Discord user, you may receive hundreds of messages a day, not to mention countless images, memes, and links. All these images and messages are stored by the Discord application in a cache folder on your system. Over time, this cache folder can grow in size and start taking up a significant amount of disk space.
When the cache folder becomes too large, it can affect the system’s performance. There is also an increased likelihood of file corruption, which can cause issues when launching the Discord application, such as hangs and overlay issues. Fortunately, you can easily clear the cache folder on your Windows 11 computer by following just a few steps, which we explain below.
Clearing the App Cache
The approach you use to clear the Discord cache on your Windows 11 computer will depend on how you use the application. If you use a dedicated Windows app, you need to clear the app cache.
- Open the «Start» menu, type %appdata% and press «Enter» or select the first option.
- In the opened window, double-click on the «Discord» folder to view its contents.
- Next, locate the «Cache» folder and open it by double-clicking on it. Inside, you will find another folder called «Cache_Data.»
- Open the «Cache_Data» folder, select all the files in it, and delete them by right-clicking and choosing «Delete.» Make sure to fully close Discord before deleting the files. Don’t forget to empty the Recycle Bin afterward.
- To ensure all cache files are removed, also delete the contents of the Code Cache and GPUCache folders in the Discord folder.
You have cleared the cache folder and freed up disk space. However, this method only works if you are using the Discord app for Windows.
Clearing the Web Browser Cache
If you use Discord in a web browser instead of the app, all data will be stored in the browser’s cache folder. This means you need to clear the browser cache to get rid of files taking up space on your disk.
- Open Google Chrome and click on the three dots in the top right corner to open the dropdown menu.
- Click on the «Settings» option in the dropdown menu when it appears.
- On the Chrome settings page, click on «Privacy and Security» on the left, then «Clear browsing data.»
- In the popup window, make sure the «Cached images and files» checkbox is checked. Then click «Clear data.»
By clearing the Discord cache folder on your Windows 11 computer or browser cache, you can free up space on your computer and resolve performance issues. However, as soon as you start using Discord again, the cache folder will start filling up again. Therefore, you need to periodically clear it to avoid memory and performance issues.
