# How to Clear Spotify Cache on Windows and Check Downloads

Spotify can keep several gigabytes on a Windows PC even when you mostly stream. Start with its own Clear cache button, because temporary playback data and music saved for offline listening need different treatment. Emptying a folder called Storage can remove both.

## Decide What You Want to Remove

[Spotify distinguishes cached playback data from offline downloads](https://support.spotify.com/us/article/storage-information/). Cache helps avoid fetching the same audio repeatedly, while downloads are content you deliberately keep available without a connection. Account data and preferences are another category, and your own audio files remain personal files.

| Content | First action | What you give up |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Temporary playback cache | Use Spotify's Clear cache control | Spotify fetches playback data again |
| Downloaded albums and playlists | Remove their downloads inside Spotify | Offline playback until you download them again |
| Settings and signed-in state | Keep the profile and package folders | A broader reset may require sign-in and setup again |
| Your own audio files | Keep their original folders | Deleting originals can lose music Spotify cannot replace |

Before starting, note Spotify's storage figures, the displayed storage path and free space on that drive. If you need music for a trip, check which playlists are downloaded before changing anything.

## Clear the Cache Inside Spotify First

On the Windows desktop app, click your profile picture, choose Settings, scroll to Storage and click Clear cache. This is the desktop route in [Spotify's current instructions](https://support.spotify.com/us/article/storage-information/), rather than the mobile Settings and privacy route.

Read the confirmation before accepting. Choose the cache action, not a download-removal action or a Windows app reset. Once it finishes, compare the cache figure, play a track and check a downloaded playlist. Do this before trying a second method, so you can tell what the first action changed.

If the button is missing or does nothing, restart Spotify and check again. Record the app version and installation channel if the problem persists. Reinstalling is a broader repair: [Spotify says downloads must be downloaded again after reinstalling](https://support.spotify.com/us/article/listen-offline/), so it is a poor first step when you want to keep them.

## Find the Folder for Your Installation

For the desktop installer, inspect `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Spotify\Storage`. Paste it into File Explorer's address bar rather than looking for a visible AppData folder. This is the location recognized by Mole's Spotify Storage rule, but a changed storage location can put the active data elsewhere. Compare it with Spotify's settings before treating it as the folder in use.

For a Microsoft Store installation, look under `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages` for a family beginning `SpotifyAB.SpotifyMusic_`. The asterisk in `SpotifyAB.SpotifyMusic_*` means the suffix varies, not a literal folder to paste. Microsoft's [packaged desktop app documentation](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/msix/desktop/desktop-to-uwp-behind-the-scenes) explains why packaged apps can have private AppData locations.

To identify a registered package, run this read-only query in Windows PowerShell:

```powershell
Get-AppxPackage -Name '*Spotify*' | Select-Object Name, PackageFamilyName, InstallLocation
```

[Get-AppxPackage queries the current user's packages](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/appx/get-appxpackage?view=windowsserver2025-ps). A result identifies a packaged installation, though another Spotify installation can coexist. A successful query with no match means no matching package was found for this user, not that Spotify is absent from the PC. An error proves neither.

Store layouts vary. A [2021 Spotify Community discussion](https://community.spotify.com/forum/en/discussion/5153299/localstate-folder-and-localcache-folder) describes `LocalCache\Spotify\Data` and `LocalState`, but its accepted answer is from a volunteer, not Spotify staff. Do not turn that older layout into a rule that everything under LocalCache is disposable. Use the path your app shows, and keep the package root intact.

## Use a Manual Folder Reset Only When You Can Lose Downloads

If the built-in action works, stop there. No current vendor instruction reviewed here establishes a universal Windows folder whose entire contents are guaranteed to be playback cache alone. Spotify's [reply about a Store cache folder](https://community.spotify.com/forum/en/discussion/5536525/delete-the-cache-in-cache-data) also warns that folders can contain account-related streaming information and downloads.

For the desktop Storage folder, a manual reset is an option only if you accept downloading offline content again. Note the path, quit Spotify completely, then open Task Manager with Ctrl+Shift+Esc and confirm Spotify.exe is no longer running. If it remains, check its executable path before ending that specific process.

Open the confirmed `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Spotify\Storage` folder and move only its contents to the Recycle Bin using ordinary Delete, checking the Windows prompt. Do not use Shift+Delete. Leave `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Spotify`, `%APPDATA%\Spotify` and the Store package root alone. If the path is absent, different from the active path or still locked, stop rather than deleting a neighboring folder or changing permissions.

Reopen Spotify and test playback before discarding the recycled contents. They remain recoverable only while retained in the bin, and restoring them does not guarantee Spotify will recognize every offline download. For a Store build without a confirmed narrow target, stay with the in-app action instead of emptying LocalCache or LocalState.

## Remove Downloads or Change Their Location Separately

To reclaim space occupied by offline music, open a downloaded album or playlist in your library and turn off its download using the download button. [Spotify's offline guide](https://support.spotify.com/us/article/listen-offline/) separates this from cache clearing. Verify the download indicator changes before repeating it for more content.

To change storage, return to Settings › Storage and use Change location if available. Record the old and new paths, let Spotify finish any work it requests, then reopen settings and verify the destination. The current support page describes this as moving the cache location, not a guarantee that all offline downloads migrate or that the old folder is emptied automatically.

Keep the previous folder until the new path is confirmed and the downloads you need play offline. Moving storage to another drive reduces pressure on the original drive only when the old data actually leaves it. Your own tracks handled through [Spotify's Local files feature](https://support.spotify.com/us/article/local-files/) should stay in their source folders.

## Check Space and Playback Afterward

Refresh the same drive's free-space reading and compare it with the smaller cache folder. Contents moved to the Recycle Bin still occupy disk space, so a successful move can leave free space unchanged. Review those specific entries before permanently removing anything, rather than emptying unrelated bin contents.

Some cache growth after listening is expected. If Spotify downloads whole playlists again, check whether their downloads were removed or the storage path changed. If it asks you to sign in again, stop further deletion and check that you used the cache control or the intended narrow folder, rather than resetting the profile. Sign in to the same account and verify your library before rebuilding downloads.

If Spotify's footprint is now small but the drive remains full, use [the broader Windows cache guide](/windows/blog/windows-cache-cleanup) to distinguish other caches from personal data.

## Where Mole Fits

In Mole for Windows, Clean can list `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Spotify\Storage` as Spotify Storage, initially unchecked because it can include offline downloads. Spotify running holds the row back, and selecting Select all can include it once available. If you choose it, its removable contents go to the Recycle Bin regardless of the ordinary cache-removal setting. This rule does not cover Spotify's Store package storage or follow a custom Spotify storage location, and it does not target Spotify's program or profile parent folders. The [Spotify tested-app guide](/windows/tested-apps/spotify) covers uninstall review separately.

## FAQ

### Will Clearing the Cache Delete My Playlists?

Use the app's cache action for temporary data, then verify your library and downloads. Clearing a whole Storage folder is broader and can remove offline copies. A missing offline copy and a playlist missing from the signed-in library are different problems.

### Why Does the Cache Come Back?

Spotify stores playback data as you listen. Reappearance alone does not mean clearing failed. Compare the immediate result before playback with later growth, and check downloads separately.

### Can I Delete the Whole Spotify Package Folder?

Keep it. It holds app state as well as storage, and its name does not identify a cache-only target. Use Spotify's own controls first, with reinstalling reserved for a repair where you accept losing local downloads.


Canonical: https://mole.fit/windows/blog/clear-spotify-cache-windows