How To Clear Discord's Cache Files On Your Devices

Most apps that update feeds regularly have a cache, and as that cache starts to grow you may experience performance issues. The effects of a cache that's gone outside of its comfort zone can vary, but can include noticeable slowdown, crashing, or a failure to load various elements correctly. That's why it's important to clear those caches out every once in a while.

This applies to Discord as well, which caches all the links, images, and videos that load up across each of the servers you regularly visit. Leading to — you guessed it — slower overall performance and other possible irritations. Fortunately, cache-clearing can be applied to Discord as well, so there is a way to get things running smoothly again.

Keep in mind that if you use Discord on multiple devices they'll each have their own local cache. Emptying it out on your computer won't have an effect on the mobile app (and vice versa). You don't necessarily need to clear out the cache across every version you use all at once, especially if you don't use other versions very often, but it's worth considering doing periodically.

Emptying out Discord's cache is relatively straightforward no matter what device you're using, but the necessary steps will differ slightly. So if you're using a Windows PC:

1. Quit the Discord app.
2. Open the Windows search menu and search for the %appdata% folder.
3. Select the folder from the search results and open it.
4. Locate and open the Discord folder.
5. You're looking for three specific folders here: Cache, Code Cache, and GPUCache.
6. Delete all three folders by dragging them to the Recycle bin or by right-clicking and selecting Delete from the drop-down menu.
7. Start the Discord app.

Once you start Discord up again, it will create new versions of the three deleted folders automatically so you won't need to do anything else. If you were experiencing significant slowdown you should begin to see an improvement in performance, though you may not notice any difference if you're clearing the cache out as a preemptive precaution rather than a fix.

While the end result is the same across both macOS and Windows, Mac users will need to take a slightly different path to locate their Discord cache folders.

1. Make sure to exit out of the DIscord app.
2. From the Finder, select Go in the top menu followed by Go To Folder from the bottom of the drop-down menu.
3. Alternately, select the magnifying glass towards the top-right corner.
4. Type or paste "~/Library/Application Support/discord" into the search field and press Return or select the Discord folder from the results.
5. From the Discord folder, locate three folders: Cache, Code Cache, and GPUCache.
6. Delete all three folders by either dragging them into the Trash or by right-clicking on them and selecting Move to Trash from the drop-down menu.
7. Open the Discord app once more.

As with Windows, Discord will automatically recreate all three of the folders that were deleted once it starts running again, so the only action you have to take is starting the app once you've finished the steps above.

Things are a bit different on Android when compared to either computer option, as the operating system wasn't designed for more nuanced file browsing. Instead:

1. Open the Settings app and select Storage.
2. Choose Apps from the Storage menu.
3. Scroll through the list of apps and select Discord.
4. Find the Clear Cache option and select it, then wait for the cache to clear. You can also see just how much space the Discord cache has been taking up (before you clear it) under the Cache entry in this menu.
5. Reopen the Discord app.

Make sure to wait for the cache to finish clearing before you reopen Discord. This likely won't take more than a second or so, but the larger the cache the more there is to delete, and the longer the process will take. Once Discord is back up and running things should begin moving faster — or at least it will be a while before you'll need to do this again.

As streamlined as iOS tends to be, it doesn't offer direct cache-clearing for apps like Discord. Instead, you'll have to take a roundabout approach by deleting the app and then re-downloading it.

1. Open the Settings app (the gear icon) and choose General from the menu.
2. Select iPhone Storage (or iPad Storage if you're using an iPad), then scroll down the app list and select Discord.
3. Select Delete App, then choose Delete App again from the pop-up menu to confirm deletion.
4. Alternately, locate the Discord app icon on your home screen, then tap and hold either the Discord icon or an empty space on the home screen until the icon starts to wiggle.
5. Select the minus (-) sign, then choose Delete App from the pop-up menu, then select Delete from the new pop-up menu to confirm your choice.
6. Once Discord is deleted, open the App Store and re-download the app.

If you were already logged into Discord when the app was deleted, you should still be logged in when you open it back up after re-downloading it. The app's cache should now be significantly smaller — and by extension, it should begin running a bit more smoothly.