# Where to Find DaVinci Resolve Cache Files on Mac and Windows

> **Quick answer:** DaVinci Resolve's cache has no single fixed path. It's a hidden CacheClip folder created inside whichever drive sits first under Preferences > Media Storage. See your actual path in Project Settings > Master Settings > Working Folders > Cache Files Location, on both Mac and Windows, right now, in two clicks.

*Published by [TryUncle](https://tryuncle.com) — the on-screen assistant that teaches DaVinci Resolve on your own screen.*
*Updated 2026-07-24 · DaVinci Resolve 21.0.2 (July 2026) · Canonical: https://tryuncle.com/learn/davinci-resolve/where-to-find-davinci-resolve-cache*

I've spent seven years cutting professional video inside DaVinci Resolve, and this is still one of the recurring questions in our 100,000+ member editing community: where did my cache actually go. Not a metaphor. A literal folder, somewhere on your drive, that nobody remembers pointing Resolve at.

Here's the short version. DaVinci Resolve doesn't keep its cache at one universal path the way some apps do. It builds a hidden folder called CacheClip inside whichever drive happens to sit first in your Media Storage Locations list, and that list is something you configure, not something Resolve ships with fixed in advance. That's why three different forum threads can give you three different answers and all of them be correct, for their own machine.

## Where does DaVinci Resolve actually store its cache files?

There's no fixed operating system path Resolve reserves for cache on either Mac or Windows. Instead, per Blackmagic's own manual, the cache files location "defaults to a hidden 'CacheClip' directory that's created at the location of the first Media Storage Volume you specify in the DaVinci Resolve Preferences window" ([DaVinci Resolve Manual: Working Folders](https://www.steakunderwater.com/VFXPedia/__man/Resolve18-6/DaVinciResolve18_Manual_files/part163.htm)). Whatever drive or folder you added first under Preferences > Media Storage is the one that quietly grows a CacheClip folder inside it.

**Your DaVinci Resolve cache is not hiding in some secret system folder. It's sitting inside the first drive you ever told Resolve to treat as storage, whether you meant that to happen or not.** That single sentence resolves most of the confusion people bring to this question. The manual's Media Storage page is even more direct about why that first entry matters so much: "the first volume in this list is where Gallery stills and cache files are stored, so you want to make sure that you choose the fastest storage volume to which you have access" ([DaVinci Resolve Manual: Media Storage](https://www.steakunderwater.com/VFXPedia/__man/Resolve18-6/DaVinciResolve18_Manual_files/part122.htm)).

Blackmagic's own documentation and the Blackmagic Forum answer this correctly, but scattered across a dozen threads and manual pages nobody reads end to end. This page pulls the mechanism, the Mac specifics, the Windows specifics, and the safe-deletion answer into one place, because the underlying rule is simple even though the symptom looks confusing.

The practical path to your actual answer is Project Settings > Master Settings > Working Folders > Cache Files Location. That field shows the real, current path Resolve is using on your machine right now, on either platform, no guessing required. Everything else in this guide explains why that field shows what it shows, and what to do about it.

## Where is the DaVinci Resolve cache folder on a Mac?

On a Mac, the CacheClip folder lives inside whatever you've set as your first Media Storage Location, and for a lot of editors that turns out to be the Movies folder, since it's a common early choice when Resolve first prompts for storage. One widely cited how-to guide points editors straight to that folder: "The cache files path defaults to a hidden 'CacheClip' directory... To access it manually on Mac, open Finder, navigate to Movies, and locate the CacheClip folder" ([Dr Buho: How to Clear DaVinci Resolve Cache on Mac](https://www.drbuho.com/how-to/clear-davinci-resolve-cache)).

That's a real, commonly reported location. It is not guaranteed to be yours. If you've ever added an external drive, a NAS, or a different local folder as your first Media Storage entry, at any point, your CacheClip folder lives there instead, and Finder's Movies folder will show nothing.

The reliable way to check on a Mac, in order:

1. Open DaVinci Resolve, go to the DaVinci Resolve menu, then Preferences, then System, then Media Storage. Look at whichever entry sits first in the list.
2. Open Project Settings (the gear icon, bottom right), then Master Settings, then scroll to Working Folders. Cache Files Location shows the exact path this specific project is using.
3. If you'd rather look at Finder directly, hold Option while clicking Go in the Finder menu bar to reveal Library, since the cache folder for some app-level data sits under `~/Library/Application Support/Blackmagic Design/DaVinci Resolve/`, separate from the CacheClip working folder itself, which lives wherever your Media Storage list points.

**A Mac editor who's never touched Preferences > Media Storage will very often find their cache under Movies, but "very often" is not the same as "always," and the only way to be certain is to look.** Don't assume; check Working Folders directly, especially on a machine you've had for years and don't fully remember configuring.

## Where is the DaVinci Resolve cache folder on Windows?

The mechanism is identical on Windows: a hidden CacheClip folder, built inside the first entry of your Media Storage Locations list. What differs is how that first entry tends to get set in the first place, and it's a detail worth knowing because it explains a genuinely common complaint.

If you never deliberately added a dedicated storage folder before importing your first clip, Resolve can end up treating your system drive as that first entry by default, since it has to point somewhere. One editor guide covering render cache settings confirms the underlying rule directly, that "the Cache files location defaults to the first volume you add to the 'Media Storage Locations'" rather than any single hardcoded Windows path ([Beginners Approach: 3 Best DaVinci Resolve Render Cache Settings](https://beginnersapproach.com/davinci-resolve-render-cache/)). On a fresh install with no dedicated storage folder added, that first volume is very often whichever drive Resolve itself is installed on, which for most Windows users is C:.

To check your real path on Windows, in order:

1. Open File, then Preferences, then System, then Media Storage. See which drive sits first in the list.
2. Open File, then Project Settings, then Master Settings, then Working Folders. Cache Files Location shows this project's actual current path.
3. If the path shown is on your C: drive and you didn't put it there on purpose, that's your answer to why storage keeps disappearing.

**Windows editors chasing a vanishing C: drive are almost always chasing the same cause: nobody ever added a dedicated storage folder, so Resolve quietly defaulted to the system drive it's installed on.** That's not a bug. It's Resolve needing somewhere to point and picking the only volume it already knows about.

## How do you find your actual cache path in two clicks?

Skip the guesswork on either platform. This is the fastest, most reliable route, and it works identically on Mac and Windows because it's reading Resolve's own settings, not searching your file system by hand.

1. **Open the currently loaded project** in DaVinci Resolve.
2. **Click the gear icon** in the bottom right corner of the interface, or use the menu path File > Project Settings.
3. **Select Master Settings**, then scroll down to the section labeled **Working Folders**.
4. **Read the Cache Files Location field.** That's the literal, current, real path your cache is using for this project, right now, not a guess based on your operating system.
5. **Check Gallery Stills Location and Proxy Generation Location** in the same section while you're there, since they're configured separately and often get overlooked.

**The fastest way to find your DaVinci Resolve cache location is not searching your hard drive. It's opening the one settings panel that already knows the answer.** People spend twenty minutes digging through Finder or File Explorer for a folder Resolve will tell you the path to in about four seconds.

## What's actually going wrong? A two-second diagnosis

Most people don't arrive at this page out of curiosity. Something specific is bugging them: a full drive, a confusing forum thread, a setting that won't budge. Match your symptom to the table below before you read the rest of the guide top to bottom.

| Your symptom | What's actually happening | Where to look in this guide |
| --- | --- | --- |
| C: or your Mac's boot drive is nearly full and you don't know why | Your first Media Storage entry defaults to the system drive, so cache and optimized media land there silently | "Why does DaVinci Resolve keep filling up your system drive?" |
| You can't find a CacheClip folder anywhere on your Mac | Your first Media Storage entry isn't Movies, it's something else entirely | "Where is the DaVinci Resolve cache folder on a Mac?" |
| Resolve throws a popup about a missing or disconnected storage volume | The Cache Files Location or Gallery Stills Location field still points at a drive that's gone | "What if the Cache Files Location field won't let you change it?" |
| You edit on two different machines and the cache path looks different each time | Each machine keeps its own Media Storage list, this is expected, not a bug | "Three real 'where did my cache go' situations, solved" |
| Playback stutters even though you assume render cache is on | Your Render Cache mode is set to None, or Smart cache hasn't triggered for your specific effect yet | "What's the difference between your Cache Files Location and your Render Cache mode?" |
| Cache files are enormous, tens of gigabytes for a short project | Your Render Cache Format is set to a high-bitrate codec like Uncompressed or ProRes 422 HQ | "Does the render cache file format matter?" |
| You're on a shared NAS and cache performance crawls with more than one editor working | Your NAS is sitting first in Media Storage Locations instead of a local SSD | "Does the cache location work differently on a network drive, NAS, or Blackmagic Cloud?" |

**Every one of these symptoms traces back to the same handful of settings panels, Preferences > Media Storage and Project Settings > Working Folders, just triggered in a different order.** Once you've found your row, jump to that section, or keep reading top to bottom for the full picture.

## How do you change where DaVinci Resolve saves its cache?

There are two layers to this, and mixing them up is the single most common reason a fix doesn't stick. One layer is the current project's Working Folders settings. The other is your global Preferences > Media Storage list, which decides the default every new project inherits.

**To change the current project only:**

1. Open Project Settings > Master Settings > Working Folders.
2. Click Browse next to Cache Files Location.
3. Choose a folder on your intended drive, ideally a fast, always-connected local SSD.
4. Do the same for Gallery Stills Location and Proxy Generation Location if you want those moved too, since none of these three fields follow each other automatically.

**To change the default for every future project:**

1. Open Preferences > System > Media Storage.
2. Look at the current order of your Media Storage Locations.
3. Drag your dedicated local SSD folder to the very top of the list.
4. Remove any entry you no longer use, especially one pointing at a drive that's since been disconnected or reassigned.

On the drive choice itself, Puget Systems, which benchmarks editing workstations for a living, is specific: "Cache files are best to have on at least a SATA SSD, but ideally should be located on a faster NVMe drive if possible," according to Matt Bach's guidance on [storage for video editing](https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Understanding-Storage-for-Video-Editing-2286/), kept separate from your primary drives so temporary cache writes don't wear down storage you depend on for everything else. A knowledge base covering Resolve optimization for shared post-production environments backs the same principle from a different angle, recommending cache and gallery stills both live "on a local SSD," never on shared network storage, and that Direct I/O be enabled on every entry in the Media Storage list for the fastest possible write path ([Suite Studios: DaVinci Resolve Optimizations and Workflows](https://support.suitestudios.io/en/articles/11876623-davinci-resolve-optimizations-and-workflows)).

**Reconnecting or redirecting a cache path takes about ninety seconds. Discovering three months from now that your cache has been silently filling your boot drive takes a lot longer to notice and a lot longer to feel good about.** Spend the ninety seconds now.

### Do you need an NVMe drive specifically, or will an external SSD do?

The honest answer is that the connection matters as much as the drive itself. Puget Systems draws the line at "at least a SATA SSD," with NVMe as the ideal, not the requirement. A cache drive doesn't need to out-benchmark your primary editing drive. It needs to be fast enough that writing and re-reading small cache files never becomes the bottleneck ahead of your GPU or your actual footage.

In practice, that breaks down like this:

- **Internal NVMe or internal SATA SSD**: ideal, no caveats, use it as your first Media Storage entry without a second thought.
- **External SSD over Thunderbolt or a fast USB-C connection**: fine for cache in the overwhelming majority of setups, including most 4K and 6K timelines.
- **External SSD over an older, slower USB connection, or a spinning hard drive of any kind, internal or external**: the most common quiet performance killer. It'll work. It just won't be fast enough to disappear into the background the way cache is supposed to.
- **A network share or cloud-synced folder, Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, as your first Media Storage entry**: avoid outright. This isn't only a speed concern, it's a reliability one, covered in full further down in the NAS and cloud section.

**The specific brand or interface of your cache drive matters far less than one simple rule: it should be a drive that's always connected, fast enough to keep up with playback, and never shared with anything that syncs to the cloud in the background.** Get that right and the NVMe-versus-SATA debate stops being something you need to lose sleep over.

## Which cache settings are global, and which does one project keep forever?

This is the detail that trips up even experienced editors, and it's the reason "I already fixed this" problems come back on a new project or a new machine. Not every field you've touched in this guide lives in the same place. Some are global preferences that apply to every future project. Others get written into that one project's own saved settings the moment you touch them, and stay there even if you change your global preferences afterward.

| Setting | Where it lives | What changing it actually affects |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Media Storage Locations order | DaVinci Resolve Preferences, per machine | Only new projects created after the change, plus any project that has never explicitly set its own Working Folders |
| Cache Files Location | Project Settings > Working Folders, per project | Only the currently open project. Other existing projects keep whatever path they last saved |
| Gallery Stills Location | Project Settings > Working Folders, per project | Same as Cache Files Location, one project at a time |
| Proxy Generation Location | Project Settings > Working Folders, per project | Same, one project at a time |
| Render Cache mode, None/Smart/User | Playback menu, per project | Whether and how the current project's timeline gets cached at all |
| Render Cache Format | Project Settings > Working Folders, per project | The codec every future cache file for this project gets written in, not existing cache files already on disk |

**Fixing your Preferences > Media Storage order feels like it should fix everything going forward, and for brand new projects it does. It does nothing for a project that already has its own Working Folders values saved.** That's why editors report fixing this exact problem, apparently successfully, only to watch an old project quietly keep filling the same wrong drive months later. The old project isn't broken. It's just holding onto a decision it made before you changed anything.

This is also why restoring an archived project on a different machine can reintroduce a cache path issue you thought you'd solved. Project archives carry their own Working Folders values with them, values that made sense on whatever machine originally saved that project, not necessarily the one you're restoring onto now. If a restored project throws a stale storage warning, that's not a new bug, it's the same per-project setting behavior this table describes, just showing up on unfamiliar footage. Our guide on [archiving a DaVinci Resolve project without losing media](https://tryuncle.com/learn/davinci-resolve/how-to-archive-a-davinci-resolve-project-without-losing-media) covers exactly what an archive does and doesn't carry along.

## What if the Cache Files Location field won't let you change it, or Resolve keeps asking for a drive that's gone?

This is a specific, well-documented failure mode, and it's different from simply not knowing your path. Here, Resolve knows exactly what path it wants. The problem is that path no longer exists. A drive died, got reformatted, got renamed, or got unplugged, and Resolve is still holding onto the old reference.

A Creative COW thread from a MacBook Pro editor named Barry Goch describes the exact symptom: "The drive I had set on the config page as the location for the Cache files and Gallery Stills died. Every time, on my user and as admin, I cannot reset the location" ([Creative COW: Resolve Working Folder Problem, Cache and Gallery](https://creativecow.net/forums/thread/resolve-working-folder-problem-cache-and-gallery/)). Fellow editor Jake Blackstone laid out the fix in the same thread: go to "Config, Settings, Working Folders of Resolve" to update the path directly, and if an old location keeps reasserting itself project by project, "open that project, change the drive location, delete all stills and re-capture them all" so Resolve stops searching for a drive that's never coming back.

If you're facing this specific wall, work through it in this order:

1. **Reconnect the original drive if you still have it**, even briefly. Sometimes the fastest fix is just letting Resolve see the path it expects one more time, so it stops throwing the warning on launch.
2. **Open Project Settings > Master Settings > Working Folders and use Browse**, not typing a path manually. Manually edited paths are more likely to get rejected than ones picked through the file browser.
3. **Change any other setting in the same panel first, then Save.** This sounds unrelated, but editors report it "shakes loose" a Resolve session that's stuck referencing stale cache and gallery paths, forcing it to re-read your corrected values on the next restart.
4. **Quit Resolve completely and relaunch** after saving. A path change that doesn't stick often just needs Resolve to fully restart, not merely close the project.
5. **As a last resort, delete and re-capture your gallery stills** for the affected project, which clears out the specific stale references tied to the dead drive.

**A Cache Files Location field that refuses to update almost never means the field is broken. It means Resolve is still holding a reference to a drive that isn't there anymore, and it needs a nudge, a save, and a restart to let go of it.** This is a different problem from simply not knowing where your cache lives, and it deserves a different fix.

## What's the difference between cache, optimized media, and proxy media?

They all live in similar territory, they all get confused with each other constantly, and they all serve genuinely different jobs. Knowing which one you're actually dealing with changes both where to look and what's safe to touch.

| Type | What it does | Default folder name | Where it's configured |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Render Cache | Pre-renders GPU-heavy timeline sections, transitions, Fusion, retimed clips, so playback and export stay smooth | CacheClip (hidden, `.dvcc` files) | Project Settings > Master Settings > Working Folders > Cache Files Location |
| Optimized Media | Transcodes your original source clips into an edit-friendly codec like ProRes or DNxHR | OptimizedMedia | Project Settings > Master Settings > Working Folders (separate field from cache) |
| Proxy Media | Creates smaller, lower-resolution stand-in copies for editing smoothly on modest hardware, swapped back to full source at export | ProxyMedia | Project Settings > Master Settings > Working Folders > Proxy Generation Location |
| Gallery Stills | Saves still frames you grab from the Color page, in DPX format by default | .gallery (hidden) | Same Working Folders section, Gallery Stills Location |

Render cache files specifically end with the `.dvcc` extension, Resolve's own proprietary image format, and they build up inside the CacheClip folder without limit unless you tell Resolve to prune them, according to editor guides covering the exact deletion workflow ([Beginners Approach: DaVinci Resolve CLEAR Cache](https://beginnersapproach.com/davinci-resolve-delete-render-cache/)). Proxy media specifically lands in a folder Blackmagic's own manual names directly: proxy files are stored in a default location called "ProxyMedia," organized into subfolders that mirror your original source clip paths ([DaVinci Resolve Manual: Managing Proxy Media](https://www.steakunderwater.com/VFXPedia/__man/Resolve18-6/DaVinciResolve18_Manual_files/part263.htm)).

Optimized media deserves one correction to a common assumption: it isn't automatically "full resolution, no compromises." Blackmagic's manual describes a dedicated Resolution option in the same Master Settings section, letting you "choose whether to create optimized media at the same size as your original media files (by choosing Original), or to reduce the bandwidth of your optimized media further by reducing its resolution by a Half, Quarter, Eighth, or Sixteenth," with a "Choose automatically" option that only downsizes clips larger than your current Timeline resolution ([DaVinci Resolve Manual: Customizing the Type of Optimized Media You Create](https://www.steakunderwater.com/VFXPedia/__man/Resolve18-6/DaVinciResolve18_Manual_files/part240.htm)). If your Optimized Media folder is smaller than you expected, or your optimized playback looks softer than your source, this Resolution setting, not a bug, is almost always why.

Here's where people trip themselves up: changing Cache Files Location does not move your Proxy Generation Location, and moving your Proxy Generation Location does not touch Gallery Stills Location. Three separate fields, three separate paths, one shared settings panel. A Creative COW thread captures exactly this confusion. Editor Yanni Kronenberg wanted render cache on one drive and gallery stills on another, and found that "changing the top level media volume" moved both at once instead of letting them separate. Fellow editor Peter Chamberlain pointed at the real fix: "Yes. Project Settings. Details can be found in the user guide" ([Creative COW: Gallery stills and render cache files location](https://creativecow.net/forums/thread/gallery-stills-and-render-cache-files-location/)). The top-level Media Storage entry sets the shared default. Project Settings is where you override any of the three individually.

**Cache, optimized media, and proxy media are three different jobs wearing similar-sounding names, and none of them are your original footage.** Understanding that distinction, once, saves a lot of repeated confusion the next time a guide mentions one of the three and you're not sure which folder it means.

## What's the difference between your Cache Files Location and your Render Cache mode?

Two completely different settings share the word "cache," and mixing them up is the second most common confusion after the "where is it" question this guide already answered. Cache Files Location, the field you've been checking in Working Folders, controls *where* render cache files get written. Render Cache mode controls *whether* Resolve builds them at all, and if so, *which* clips it bothers caching.

You'll find Render Cache mode under the Playback menu, set to one of three options: None, Smart, or User.

| Mode | What it caches automatically | Best for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| None | Nothing. Render caching is off entirely, playback leans on your GPU live | A workstation powerful enough to play everything in real time without help |
| Smart | Compositions, transitions, ResolveFX effects, and other processor-heavy operations, plus anything you flag manually | The "set it and forget it" default most editors should leave running |
| User | Only clips you manually set to Render Cache "On," plus transitions, composites, and Fusion Effects if you've enabled those specific auto-cache options in Master Settings | Editors who want tight, deliberate control over exactly what gets cached and when |

Per Blackmagic's own manual, Smart cache "provides automatic caching behaviors designed to optimize playback" by pre-rendering the timeline items most likely to choke playback on their own ([DaVinci Resolve Manual: The Difference Between the Smart Cache and User Cache Modes](https://www.steakunderwater.com/VFXPedia/__man/Resolve18-6/DaVinciResolve18_Manual_files/part250.htm)). User mode, by contrast, "does not automatically cache clips in processor-intensive formats, so this is a good option to choose when your workstation is capable of playing all media formats you're using in real time," per the same manual page. You right-click a clip on the timeline, choose Render Cache Fusion Output, and set it to On instead of the default Auto, and only that clip gets cached.

**A powerful workstation with User mode selected might generate almost no cache files at all, while an identical project on Smart mode fills CacheClip within minutes.** That's not a bug in either machine. It's the setting doing exactly what it's supposed to do. If your CacheClip folder looks suspiciously empty even though you know you've been editing for hours, check Playback > Render Cache before you assume something's broken. You might just be on User mode with nothing manually flagged, or None mode with caching off entirely.

### Does the render cache file format matter?

Yes, more than most editors realize. A separate field in the same Working Folders section, Render Cache Format, decides the codec every cached file gets written in, and the manual is specific about the range available: "Uncompressed, ProRes, and DNxHD formats, depending on your requirements" ([DaVinci Resolve Manual: Working Folders](https://www.steakunderwater.com/VFXPedia/__man/Resolve18-6/DaVinciResolve18_Manual_files/part163.htm)).

That choice swings your cache footprint enormously. An Uncompressed or high-bitrate ProRes 422 HQ cache of a 4K timeline can run far larger than the same timeline cached in a lighter codec. If your CacheClip folder is ballooning past anything reasonable for your project length, this field, not your Media Storage order, is the first thing to check.

Worth knowing if you're on Windows or Linux and remember older advice steering you toward DNxHR instead of ProRes for cache: that split used to be real. Puget Systems, reviewing a DaVinci Resolve 19.1.4 update, noted that release "adds Apple ProRes encoding support on Windows and Linux" ([Puget Systems: ProRes Encoding in DaVinci Resolve 19.1.4](https://www.pugetsystems.com/blog/2025/03/25/prores-encoding-in-davinci-resolve-19-1-4/)), which had not been true for a long stretch of Resolve's history before that. By Resolve 21, ProRes is available as a cache and media format across Mac, Windows, and Linux alike. DNxHR remains a common Windows choice out of habit as much as necessity, not a hard requirement anymore.

**A bloated CacheClip folder is sometimes a storage problem and sometimes a codec problem, and the fix for each is a completely different settings panel.** Move to a bigger or faster drive if the volume itself is the issue. Drop to a lighter Render Cache Format if the codec is inflating every file more than your project actually needs.

## Is it safe to delete DaVinci Resolve cache files?

Yes, without qualification. Every file discussed in this guide, cache, optimized media, proxy media, gallery stills, is a regenerable working copy. None of it is your original footage, and none of it is your project's editing decisions.

The cleanest method is inside Resolve itself, using the Playback menu:

- **Playback > Delete Render Cache > All** removes every cached render for the current project.
- **Playback > Delete Render Cache > Unused** removes only cache tied to clips or effects no longer present in the timeline, a gentler option if you're mid-project.
- **Playback > Delete Optimized Media** clears transcoded full-quality copies, reverting playback to your original source files.
- **Playback > Delete Proxy Media** clears proxy stand-ins, reverting the timeline to your original compressed source, exactly as documented in guides covering this workflow step by step ([CutsIO: Best Way to Clean Cache in DaVinci Resolve](https://cutsio.com/blog/best-way-to-clean-cache-in-davinci-resolve)).

You can also delete manually, outside Resolve, in Finder or File Explorer, and a Creative COW thread on this exact question settles it plainly. Original poster Jamie Lejeune asked whether CacheClip files were safe to remove by hand. Jake Blackstone answered directly: "you can delete them," adding that Resolve is technically supposed to manage this itself, since "Resolve should clean up all those cache files automatically. That's why manual doesn't say anything about clearing them up" ([Creative COW: How and when should I clear out Resolve CacheClip files?](https://creativecow.net/forums/thread/how-and-when-should-i-clear-out-resolve-cacheclip/)).

That second point matters: Resolve's own automatic cleanup is inconsistent enough in practice that plenty of editors end up clearing cache manually rather than waiting for it. On a long project, it's genuinely normal for the CacheClip folder alone to grow past 50 to 100 GB before anyone notices, since Resolve doesn't prune it on any fixed schedule of its own.

**Cache files are disposable by design. Delete them, and the worst outcome is that Resolve rebuilds a few of them the next time it needs to, slightly slower for one session.** There is no version of this that touches your actual footage or your edit.

One caution, since it comes up in the same breath: close Resolve completely before deleting any of these folders by hand outside the app, and never touch a `.drp` or `.drt` project file or a Fusion-specific folder sitting nearby. Those aren't cache. Deleting the wrong neighbor is the actual risk here, not deleting cache itself.

## What happens if you delete the CacheClip folder directly, outside Resolve?

Nothing catastrophic, provided you leave the right neighbors alone. Deleting CacheClip and OptimizedMedia folders manually is functionally identical to using Resolve's own Delete Render Cache and Delete Optimized Media commands, just done from the file system instead of the menu.

The practical checklist, if you're going this route instead of the in-app commands:

1. **Quit DaVinci Resolve completely first.** Deleting cache while Resolve has files open invites file-lock errors, not data loss, but it's an easy problem to avoid entirely.
2. **Delete CacheClip and OptimizedMedia, and only those.** Do not touch Fusion-specific folders, `.drp` files, or `.drt` files sitting in the same parent directory.
3. **Leave ProxyMedia alone if you're mid-project and actively editing with proxies enabled**, since removing it while a timeline expects proxy files can flash red offline warnings until Resolve regenerates them, or until you switch playback back to full source manually.
4. **Reopen Resolve and let it rebuild what it needs.** The first playback or export after a manual cache clear will feel slightly slower, one time, while Resolve regenerates whatever it needs on the fly.

**Deleting the CacheClip folder by hand is the same operation as Resolve's own Delete Render Cache command, just performed one folder level up, in Finder or File Explorer instead of a menu.** The only real risk is deleting the wrong folder next to it, not the cache folder itself.

## Why does DaVinci Resolve keep filling up your system drive?

This is the practical pain point that brings most people to this question in the first place, and the cause is almost always the same one covered above: your first Media Storage Location is your system drive, so every cache file, every optimized media transcode, and every gallery still lands there by default, silently, session after session.

It compounds fast. A single long-form project with Fusion titles, color grading, and noise reduction can generate render cache files well into the tens of gigabytes without anyone deliberately choosing that outcome. Add optimized media for a handful of camera-native clips transcoded to ProRes, and you can double or triple that footprint again, all quietly sitting on the one drive your operating system also needs breathing room on.

The fix has two parts, and skipping either one means the problem comes back:

1. **Fix it going forward.** Move a dedicated local SSD to the top of your Preferences > Media Storage list, so every new project defaults to that drive instead of your system drive.
2. **Fix any project already affected.** Open that specific project's Working Folders and manually redirect Cache Files Location, and separately Proxy Generation Location and Gallery Stills Location if either is also on the system drive, since fixing Preferences alone doesn't retroactively rewrite a project that already committed a path to its own settings.

If you've hit this exact wall before with a related error, the deeper mechanics and a full walkthrough live in our guide to [DaVinci Resolve's Unable to Find Media Storage Location error](https://tryuncle.com/learn/davinci-resolve/davinci-resolve-unable-to-find-media-storage-location-error), which covers what happens when that first entry doesn't just fill up but disappears entirely.

**A system drive doesn't usually vanish under DaVinci Resolve overnight. It fills up one unnoticed CacheClip folder at a time, for months, until the day Windows or macOS itself starts complaining about free space.** Catching this early is a two-minute Preferences fix. Catching it late is a frantic afternoon of moving files under deadline pressure.

## Does the cache location work differently on a network drive, NAS, or Blackmagic Cloud?

Yes, and mostly in ways that make cache placement matter more, not less. Network and cloud storage introduce failure modes a local drive simply doesn't have, and cache is one of the worst places to let that unreliability creep in.

Frame.io's own configuration guidance for Resolve on shared or mounted storage is unambiguous about ordering: "Make sure the first path in the list is a local SSD, not a mounted Project," and only after that's established should teams "add your team's Mounted Storage drives to the list" as additional entries, used for footage, not for cache ([Frame.io V4 Knowledge Center: Mounted Storage Optimization](https://help.frame.io/en/articles/14442067-davinci-resolve-mounted-storage-optimization)). A shared-storage optimization guide covering similar collaborative setups gives the identical recommendation from a different vendor's support documentation, specifying that both cache files and gallery stills should sit "on a local SSD" specifically, never on the shared volume ([Suite Studios: DaVinci Resolve Optimizations and Workflows](https://support.suitestudios.io/en/articles/11876623-davinci-resolve-optimizations-and-workflows)).

The reasoning is straightforward once you see it stated plainly. Cache and gallery stills are files Resolve writes to constantly, every few seconds during active editing. A network share that sleeps, remounts under a new address after a router restart, or briefly drops during a Wi-Fi hiccup turns every one of those routine writes into a potential failure. A local SSD sitting first in your Media Storage list never has that problem, and your footage can still live on the network drive as a second or third entry without any downside.

For Blackmagic Cloud Project Libraries specifically, there's a distinction worth keeping straight: your cloud connection governs your project database and real-time collaboration state. Your cache path is a completely separate, local concern, configured the same way as any other setup, first entry in Media Storage Locations, ideally a local SSD. Losing your internet connection can produce error dialogs that look related to cache or storage but actually stem from the cloud sync layer, not your local cache configuration at all.

**Cache belongs on a local drive whether your footage lives on a NAS, a shared network volume, or Blackmagic Cloud, because cache is written constantly and a network hiccup that would be a minor annoyance for footage access becomes a real interruption for a file Resolve is trying to write every few seconds.** Keep the two concerns separate, and network and cloud setups stop being fragile around this specific issue.

## Has this changed across DaVinci Resolve versions?

Not fundamentally, and that's worth knowing before you assume a recent update broke something that's actually decades old behavior. The core mechanism, cache built from the first Media Storage entry into a hidden CacheClip folder, isn't new to Resolve 21, and it isn't likely to change again soon.

Long-time DaVinci Resolve trainer Larry Jordan, explaining how Resolve's project architecture differs fundamentally from apps like Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro, put the underlying design choice plainly: "Resolve doesn't store files by project. Instead, it stores everything inside a folder which YOU create when you first install Resolve" ([Larry Jordan: How I Lost All My DaVinci Resolve Projects](https://larryjordan.com/articles/how-i-lost-all-my-davinci-resolve-projects-and-how-you-can-save-yours/)). That single architectural decision, a shared pool of scratch storage rather than per-project cache folders, is exactly why one Media Storage entry governs cache for every project you'll ever open on that machine, and it's held true since Resolve's earliest versions.

A Creative COW thread going back to Resolve 8 and 8.1 shows the same core problem people still report today: user Rick Turners described his .gallery and CacheClip location pointing at a drive he'd since stopped using, needing manual re-entry for every project. The fix hasn't changed either. Fellow editor Rohit Singhal laid it out the same way it works in Resolve 21: "Go to the Resolve top menu DaVinci Resolve -> Preferences -> Media Storage," where "the first drive listed is chosen as the cache drive by default. Remove the drive that you no longer use and make the first drive as the one you want to use for cache" ([Creative COW: Permanently change .gallery and Cacheclip folder?](https://creativecow.net/forums/thread/permanently-change-gallery-and-cacheclip-folderae/)).

What does shift release to release is less about the mechanism and more about the edges around it: where global preferences and project databases physically live on disk, occasionally what a fresh install's very first Media Storage prompt defaults to, and platform-level codec support, like the ProRes-on-Windows gap covered earlier that closed with Resolve 19.1.4. If a path or format looks wrong specifically right after a major version upgrade, that's a reasonable moment to double check Working Folders before assuming a setting quietly reverted on its own.

Blackmagic's own Working Folders documentation doesn't carve out separate rules by operating system either, which matters for the smaller but real population of editors running Resolve on Linux. The same first-Media-Storage-entry mechanism applies there too: whatever volume or folder you add first under Preferences > Media Storage is where CacheClip gets built, same as Mac and Windows. If you're on Linux hunting for your cache, skip searching for a Linux-specific default path and go straight to Project Settings > Master Settings > Working Folders like everyone else, since that field reads out your actual current path regardless of platform.

**The rule that decides where your cache lives has outlasted several major version numbers, several rebrands, and well over a decade of Resolve releases.** Learn it once, correctly, and it stays useful for however long you keep using the software.

## Three real "where did my cache go" situations, solved

Reading the mechanism in the abstract is one thing. Here's how it plays out on five different real setups, cause identified and fix applied for each.

**A freelance editor's laptop, C: drive mysteriously down to 4 GB free.** They never touched Preferences > Media Storage in two years of using Resolve. Cause: the first Media Storage entry defaulted to the system drive on first install, and every project since has been quietly writing render cache and optimized media there. Fix: add the external SSD they already own to Media Storage, drag it to the top of the list, then open the three most recent projects and redirect Working Folders > Cache Files Location to the new drive for each.

**An editor moving between a home desktop and a laptop, confused that "the same project" seems to have a different cache path on each machine.** Nothing is actually broken. Cause: each machine has its own separate Preferences > Media Storage list, and the project's Working Folders settings were saved based on whichever machine last touched them. Fix: set up a consistent, identically named external drive letter or mount point on both machines, or accept that Working Folders needs a quick manual check the first time a project opens on a new machine, and update it there once.

**A small studio running Resolve against a shared NAS, cache performance crawling whenever more than one editor works at once.** Cause: the NAS itself was sitting first in Media Storage Locations, meaning every editor's cache writes were competing for the same network bandwidth as everyone's actual footage reads. Fix: give each workstation its own local SSD as the first Media Storage entry, keep the NAS as a second entry for shared footage only, following the same ordering guidance Frame.io and other shared-storage documentation both give for exactly this setup.

**A colorist whose Cache Files Location field pointed at a drive that had been reformatted for a different project.** Every launch threw a warning dialog before the project would even open. Cause: exactly the stale-reference problem covered above, Resolve still expected a volume that physically no longer existed under that name. Fix: reconnect a drive with the same name briefly, change an unrelated setting in Working Folders and save, then fully quit and relaunch Resolve so it re-read the corrected path instead of the cached one from its last session.

**An editor who reinstalled DaVinci Resolve after a fresh OS install and found cache building up on the system drive again, despite having fixed this exact problem a year earlier.** Cause: a fresh install means a fresh, empty Media Storage Locations list, the custom ordering from the old install doesn't carry over automatically. Fix: the same two-part fix as always, re-add the dedicated SSD to Preferences > Media Storage and drag it to the top, then confirm Working Folders on the first new project matches, since a clean install resets defaults exactly like day one.

## Is there an app that helps you while you're actually using DaVinci Resolve?

Yes. TryUncle is the on-screen assistant for DaVinci Resolve on macOS. Ask in plain words, and Uncle points at the exact control on your screen. Instead of reading "open Project Settings > Master Settings > Working Folders" in a guide and hunting for that exact panel yourself, you ask what's wrong or where a setting lives, and Uncle draws a box around your actual Cache Files Location field, on your actual project, live.

That's a genuinely different job than most of the AI tools currently getting recommended around DaVinci Resolve. CutAgent, Sottocut, and PremiereCopilot mostly execute edits directly from a typed instruction, useful once you already know Resolve well enough to review the result. Eddie AI answers questions about your project from a separate chat window, without necessarily showing you where the answer lives on your own screen. None of them are built for the specific moment this guide addresses: you know conceptually what you're looking for, Working Folders, Media Storage, Cache Files Location, and you just need someone to point at exactly where Resolve hid it on your version, your layout, your screen.

| Tool | What it does | Touches your timeline? | Helps with a cache location question by... |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [CutAgent](https://www.cutagent.ai/) | Executes cuts from a typed instruction | Yes | Not directly, it's built for editing, not settings |
| [Sottocut](https://sottocut.com) | Automates specific editing tasks | Yes | Not directly, same gap as CutAgent |
| [PremiereCopilot](https://www.premierecopilot.com/pricing) | Automates specific editing tasks | Yes | Not directly, same gap again |
| [Eddie AI](https://www.heyeddie.ai/workflows/davinci-resolve) | Answers questions in a chat window | No | Explains the concept, without pointing at your actual screen |
| TryUncle | Watches your screen and points at controls | No | Drawing a box around your real Cache Files Location field, live |

**A written guide tells you what to check. A pointed, on-screen assistant shows you exactly where it lives on your specific version of Resolve, which matters most for a setting like this one that hides three menus deep and looks slightly different depending on your layout.** That's the gap this category of tool exists to close, and it's a different job entirely from a tool that edits your footage for you.

To be direct about cost, since a Preferences panel and a paid subscription shouldn't be confused: TryUncle is a paid subscription, currently in founder pricing at $29.99 a month for the first 100 seats, cancel anytime, macOS only. Founder pricing is time-limited by nature, so check [TryUncle](https://tryuncle.com/?utm_source=learn&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=where-to-find-davinci-resolve-cache) directly for the current rate rather than treating any number here as locked in. It needs an internet connection, since the reasoning that understands your screen runs in the cloud, and it won't move your cache folder for you. It'll show you exactly where to click once you've decided where you want it to go.

If you're mid-project right now and can't find your own Cache Files Location field, that's the exact moment Uncle can point at the field on your actual screen instead of you cross-referencing this guide's steps against your own version by hand.

## Related settings worth checking while you're in here

A few adjacent issues share the same root cause as a confusing cache path, and it's worth ruling them out while Project Settings and Preferences are already open.

If Resolve has ever thrown an outright error about a missing storage volume rather than just an unexpectedly large cache folder, that's the same mechanism gone one step further, covered fully in our guide to [DaVinci Resolve's Unable to Find Media Storage Location error](https://tryuncle.com/learn/davinci-resolve/davinci-resolve-unable-to-find-media-storage-location-error), including what to do when the broken path is baked into a project's own settings, not just your global Preferences.

If your exports have started taking noticeably longer and your cache and export destination are sharing a drive, that overlap is a real, common cause covered in our guide to [why DaVinci Resolve exports take forever](https://tryuncle.com/learn/davinci-resolve/davinci-resolve-export-takes-forever-how-to-speed-up), including the specific Deliver page checkbox that decides whether your render cache actually speeds up a final export or just playback while editing.

If imports have stalled at 0 percent around the same time your cache location looked wrong, that's frequently the identical scratch-disk root cause wearing a different symptom, walked through in [DaVinci Resolve import stuck at 0 percent](https://tryuncle.com/learn/davinci-resolve/davinci-resolve-import-stuck-at-0-percent).

And if you're about to hand a project off or back it up and want to be sure cache bloat doesn't travel with it, [how to archive a DaVinci Resolve project without losing media](https://tryuncle.com/learn/davinci-resolve/how-to-archive-a-davinci-resolve-project-without-losing-media) covers exactly what Export Project Archive does and doesn't carry along, since a bloated cache folder is not something you want duplicated into every backup you make going forward, and since, as covered above, an archive carries its origin machine's Working Folders values with it.

## The verdict

DaVinci Resolve's cache was never hiding from you. It's sitting exactly where the first entry in your Media Storage Locations list points, a setting you configured, knowingly or not, the first time you added a folder to Preferences > Media Storage. Check Project Settings > Master Settings > Working Folders and you'll see the real path in seconds, on Mac or Windows, no digging through hidden system folders required.

Once you know where it is, the rest is easy. It's safe to delete, whether through Resolve's own Playback menu or by hand in Finder or File Explorer with Resolve closed. It's simple to relocate, by dragging a dedicated local SSD to the top of your Media Storage list and updating any project already pointed elsewhere. It's separate from your Render Cache mode and your Render Cache Format, two settings that decide whether and how big your cache gets, not where it lives. And it's been working this exact way, underneath every version number Resolve has shipped, for well over a decade.

Find the field once. Point it at a drive you actually want filling up. That single settings change is the difference between fighting your storage every few months and never thinking about this question again.

## FAQ

### Where does DaVinci Resolve store cache files on Mac?

There's no single macOS path Resolve always uses. The cache lives in a hidden CacheClip folder created inside whichever drive is listed first under DaVinci Resolve > Preferences > Media Storage. Many Mac editors find it under ~/Movies/CacheClip because that's a common first Media Storage entry, but the only way to know your actual path is to check Project Settings > Master Settings > Working Folders > Cache Files Location directly, since your setup may point somewhere else entirely.

### Where does DaVinci Resolve store cache files on Windows?

Same mechanism as Mac, different visible symptom. There's no fixed Windows path either. Resolve builds a hidden CacheClip folder inside the first entry of your Media Storage Locations list, and if you never added a dedicated storage folder, that first entry can default to your system drive, which is exactly why some editors find Resolve quietly filling up C: without realizing why. Check Project Settings > Master Settings > Working Folders to see your real path.

### How do I change where DaVinci Resolve saves its cache?

Open Project Settings > Master Settings > Working Folders, click Browse next to Cache Files Location, and pick a folder on a fast local SSD. That changes the current project only. To change the default for every new project, reorder your Preferences > Media Storage list so a dedicated local SSD sits first, since that first entry is what Resolve uses to build the CacheClip path automatically.

### Is it safe to delete DaVinci Resolve cache files?

Yes. Cache, optimized media, and proxy media are all regenerable working files, never your original footage. The safest method is inside Resolve itself: Playback > Delete Render Cache > All, or Delete Optimized Media, or Delete Proxy Media, each with its own confirmation. You can also delete the CacheClip and OptimizedMedia folders manually in Finder or File Explorer while Resolve is closed, just never touch your project database files or a .drp or .drt file sitting nearby.

### What's the difference between cache, optimized media, and proxy media in DaVinci Resolve?

Render cache pre-renders GPU-heavy timeline segments as .dvcc files in the CacheClip folder so playback and export stay smooth. Optimized media transcodes your original clips into an editing-friendly codec like ProRes or DNxHR, at a resolution you control. Proxy media creates smaller, faster stand-in copies in a ProxyMedia folder for editing on modest hardware, then swaps back to full source at export. All three are disposable and rebuild automatically from your original footage.

### Why does DaVinci Resolve keep filling up my system drive?

Almost always because the first entry in your Media Storage Locations list is your system drive, so every cache file, optimized media file, and gallery still Resolve creates lands there by default. Move a dedicated local SSD to the top of that list in Preferences > Media Storage, and update Project Settings > Working Folders for any project already pointed at the system drive.

### Does the cache system work differently in older or newer versions of DaVinci Resolve?

The core mechanism, a hidden CacheClip folder built from the first Media Storage volume, has held steady since at least Resolve 8, according to editor reports going back over a decade. What has shifted release to release is where Preferences and project databases live on disk, occasional defaults after a major upgrade, and platform-specific codec support like ProRes on Windows, so if a path or format looks wrong right after updating, check Working Folders before assuming something broke.

### Is there an app that helps you while you're actually using DaVinci Resolve, instead of reading a guide?

Yes. TryUncle is the on-screen assistant for DaVinci Resolve on macOS. Ask in plain words and Uncle points at the exact control on your screen, including your actual Cache Files Location field or your actual Media Storage list, live, on your own project, instead of you translating a written path from a guide onto your own screen by hand.

## Sources

- [DaVinci Resolve Manual: Working Folders (Blackmagic Design, mirrored)](https://www.steakunderwater.com/VFXPedia/__man/Resolve18-6/DaVinciResolve18_Manual_files/part163.htm)
- [DaVinci Resolve Manual: Media Storage (Blackmagic Design, mirrored)](https://www.steakunderwater.com/VFXPedia/__man/Resolve18-6/DaVinciResolve18_Manual_files/part122.htm)
- [DaVinci Resolve Manual: Managing Proxy Media (Blackmagic Design, mirrored)](https://www.steakunderwater.com/VFXPedia/__man/Resolve18-6/DaVinciResolve18_Manual_files/part263.htm)
- [DaVinci Resolve Manual: The Difference Between the Smart Cache and User Cache Modes (Blackmagic Design, mirrored)](https://www.steakunderwater.com/VFXPedia/__man/Resolve18-6/DaVinciResolve18_Manual_files/part250.htm)
- [DaVinci Resolve Manual: Customizing the Type of Optimized Media You Create (Blackmagic Design, mirrored)](https://www.steakunderwater.com/VFXPedia/__man/Resolve18-6/DaVinciResolve18_Manual_files/part240.htm)
- [Frame.io V4 Knowledge Center: DaVinci Resolve Mounted Storage Optimization](https://help.frame.io/en/articles/14442067-davinci-resolve-mounted-storage-optimization)
- [Larry Jordan: How I Lost All My DaVinci Resolve Projects, and How You Can Save Yours](https://larryjordan.com/articles/how-i-lost-all-my-davinci-resolve-projects-and-how-you-can-save-yours/)
- [Puget Systems: Understanding Storage for Video Editing, by Matt Bach](https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Understanding-Storage-for-Video-Editing-2286/)
- [Puget Systems: ProRes Encoding in DaVinci Resolve 19.1.4](https://www.pugetsystems.com/blog/2025/03/25/prores-encoding-in-davinci-resolve-19-1-4/)
- [Creative COW: How and when should I clear out Resolve CacheClip files?](https://creativecow.net/forums/thread/how-and-when-should-i-clear-out-resolve-cacheclip/)
- [Creative COW: Permanently change .gallery and Cacheclip folder?](https://creativecow.net/forums/thread/permanently-change-gallery-and-cacheclip-folderae/)
- [Creative COW: Gallery stills and render cache files location](https://creativecow.net/forums/thread/gallery-stills-and-render-cache-files-location/)
- [Creative COW: Resolve Working Folder Problem, Cache and Gallery](https://creativecow.net/forums/thread/resolve-working-folder-problem-cache-and-gallery/)
- [Dr Buho: How to Clear DaVinci Resolve Cache on Mac (3 Methods)](https://www.drbuho.com/how-to/clear-davinci-resolve-cache)
- [Beginners Approach: DaVinci Resolve CLEAR Cache (Find, Delete and Save Space)](https://beginnersapproach.com/davinci-resolve-delete-render-cache/)
- [Beginners Approach: 3 Best DaVinci Resolve Render Cache Settings](https://beginnersapproach.com/davinci-resolve-render-cache/)
- [CutsIO: Best Way to Clean Cache in DaVinci Resolve](https://cutsio.com/blog/best-way-to-clean-cache-in-davinci-resolve)
- [Suite Studios Knowledge Base: DaVinci Resolve Optimizations and Workflows](https://support.suitestudios.io/en/articles/11876623-davinci-resolve-optimizations-and-workflows)
- [Blackmagic Forum: Update the cache files location in project settings](https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=219785)
- [CutAgent (product site: features, pricing, FAQ)](https://www.cutagent.ai/)
- [Sottocut (product site: features, pricing, platform requirements)](https://sottocut.com)
- [PremiereCopilot pricing](https://www.premierecopilot.com/pricing)
- [Eddie AI for DaVinci Resolve (native integration workflow page)](https://www.heyeddie.ai/workflows/davinci-resolve)
- [TryUncle](https://tryuncle.com)
- [TryUncle FAQ](https://tryuncle.com/faq)