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How To Clear and Flush the Plex Media Server Cache Data

Introduction

The Plex Media Server caches data to improve performance. This cached data includes plugin/channel/agent HTTP requests, media cache files like thumbnails and temporary transcoded media, and database cache.

While caching generally improves performance, sometimes clearing the cache can resolve issues or free up disk space if the cache gets too large. This article explains where to find the Plex Media Server cache directories on various operating systems and how to clear the caches.

Locating Cache Directories

The location of the cache directories depends on your operating system:

Windows

The cache is located at:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server\Plug-in Support\Caches

macOS

Use Finder’s “Go > Go to Folder” and enter:

~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Plug-in Support/Caches

Linux

The location varies by distribution but is generally under:

$PLEX_HOME/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Plug-in Support/Caches

Clearing Plugin/Channel/Agent Cache

To clear the plugin/channel/agent cache:

  1. Navigate to the cache directory for your operating system
  2. Delete the subdirectories for the specific plugins, channels, or agents you wish to clear
  3. Restart your Plex Media Server

Alternatively, delete all subdirectories to completely clear the cache.

Clearing Media Cache

The media cache contains thumbnails and temporary transcoded media files.

To clear it:

  1. Go to the Cache directory under your Plex data directory
  2. Delete all files and folders inside Cache/PhotoTranscoder to clear photo thumbnails
  3. Delete all files and folders under Cache/Transcode to clear temporary transcoded media

Database Cache

The database cache size can be set under Server > Library > Database Cache Size.

To clear the database cache:

  1. Stop your Plex Media Server
  2. Delete com.plexapp.plugins.library.db under your Plex data directory
  3. Restart your Plex Media Server

Increasing the database cache size can improve performance for large libraries. The default size is usually sufficient.

Conclusion

Clearing the various Plex Media Server caches can resolve issues, improve performance, and free up disk space. Locate the appropriate cache directories for your system and delete unneeded cache data as necessary. Adjusting cache sizes can also help optimize system resources for your library size and usage patterns.

Additional Resources

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