After Effects Disk Cache Full or Won't Clear

How to fix it

Try these in order — the most common fix is first.

1. 1. Purge and resize

   Copy steps
   1. Edit > Purge > All Memory & Disk Cache
   2. Preferences > Media & Disk Cache: raise Maximum Disk Cache Size
   3. Delete caches for old AE versions when prompted
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Move the cache

   Copy steps
   1. Preferences > Media & Disk Cache > Choose Folder
   2. Pick a fast dedicated SSD with free space
   3. On macOS grant AE Full Disk Access if purge hangs
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. If options are greyed out or Preferences crash

   Copy steps
   1. Create a comp, add a layer and run a preview, then reopen Preferences
   2. Reset preferences: hold Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Cmd+Opt+Shift on Mac) while launching
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

'Disk cache is full' warnings, cache growing past its limit, Empty Disk Cache greyed out, purge freezing.

Why it happens

• Cache limit set too low (e.g. 40 GB)
• Cache on a full or slow drive
• Cache path reset after an update
• Old-version caches not removed

This guide also covers

• after effects disk cache full
• after effects empty disk cache greyed out
• after effects purge cache not working

Other Adobe After Effects errors

• After Effects Preview Not Playing or RAM Preview Slow
• After Effects Render Failed in Media Encoder (Error Compiling Movie)
• After Effects Error: Crash / Can't Continue (GPU or Graphics Driver Issue)
• After Effects GPU Acceleration Not Available / Display Acceleration Disabled
• After Effects Missing Fonts or Missing Effects/Plugins
• After Effects Out of Memory / Unable to Allocate Memory Error
• After Effects Audio Out of Sync After Render
• After Effects Expression Error (Expression Disabled / Object of Type Found)