Is it completely safe to delete all files in .cache?

snowee

I have about 10GB worth of files in /home/user/.cache
Wondering if its completely safe to remove all of them.

I'm also aware of the sudo journalctl --vacuum-time=2d command, but didn't really dare to try it.

Any other files or folders that are safe to remove?

Thanks.

brent

snowee everything Harvey said. I've done this before. Sometimes you gotta flush 10GB of accumulation down the toilet. I've emptied /.cache3 times in so many years...

..personally no repercussions at all, but nothing comes with a guarantee.

some apps and browsers, as Harvey said, may have to re-learn some stuff fresh, but for me that was always negligible.

Some say 10GB of debris means little but I always feel better removing the dead-weight myself.
2 cents

Harvey

It is safe to delete everything in /home/username/.cache/ but keep in mind cache exists for a reason, it speeds things up. So if the data does not exist in cache it has to be generated again as needed.

Example:
If thumbnail cache is deleted next time you browse to a directory that has lots of pictures the thumbnails will be significantly slower to load the first time you go to that directory.

sudo journalctl --vacuum-time=2d simply prunes systemd journal logs keeping only the last 2 days worth. Completely safe to do to also.

I would recommend running this command too:
sudo eopkg dc

It clears the package cache which if you only use the command line for package installation / updates will never be cleared automatically.

AlphaElwedritsch

Some say this, others say that...
I have a 500GB SSD in my system because it was there. What do I care about a ridiculous 10GB cache... but it could be different. So it's all very individual.

But the @snowee question has been answered: yes, you can delete it without fear...
Everything else is philosophical discussion 😉

Axios

Space is cheap now days so to me its not really that, the reason I clear stuff on system
and browser is because of all the bad actors out their.
I keep a handy Icon with bleach bit setup and use it regularly just got remb with ssd
dont use secure delete on ssd.

It takes care of things and I feel happy.

brent

Axios the reason I clear stuff on system
and browser is because of all the bad actors out their.

bad actors always in the back of my mind like some chatty temp file etc...lots of places to hide the more dead-weight one accumulates. personally being digitally tidy has never done me wrong.

Sebastian

Shotwell photo manager for example generates preview thumbnails for photos on import and stores them in .cache/shotwell

This directory is the only cache directory I include in backups and I would never want to delete it.
So before deleting cache I would inspect it's contents to verify If there is anything stored that might be of value.

Axios

I started the Keep Computer Clean thing back in winders and over the years I could see it was a benefit.
But One has to do it with research and common sense or you can bork your computer real quick
Start out simple and progress from their.
I never regretted doing it.
Bleachbit for me is best way you can whitelist stuff and add your own to delete to.
But be careful with the default stuff sometimes it can bork stuff.
like i say something is better than nothing.
(Just info)